The survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are appealing to Western countries to apprehend genocide fugitives who are loitering freely in their countries and bring them to Rwanda to face justice.As Rwanda remembers the victims of the Genocide that claimed over one million lives, the perpetrators are moving freely in foreign countries.Jean de Dieu Kayiranga, a survivor said that he is disappointed by the countries that have failed to arrest the Genocide suspects who are moving freely in their territories yet they have a big case to answer back home.“I lost all my relatives in the genocide and the people who killed them are having a good time in the western countries. We want these genocide perpetrators to be brought back to Rwanda and face justice,” Kayiranga said.Kayiranga a resident of Kacyiru sector, Gasabo district was speaking Thursday evening during the commemoration of the genocide in Kacyiru sector.He observed that although he lost all his relatives, he has managed to complete University education thanks to Fund for Support to the Genocide Survivors (FARG) which facilitated his education.Another survivor, Jean Baptist Sakindi whose family was brutally killed during the genocide said that Western countries harbouring the fugitives are mocking survivors.“I don’t know the reason why, these countries are not arresting them? They have been indicted by the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU) but still move freely in Western and some African countries,” he said.Speaking to The Sunday Times, John Bosco Siboyintore the head of GFTU in National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) said that Rwanda has tried a lot to punish those suspected of committing Genocide unfortunately very few have been extradited by Western countries. “The 18 years after genocide has seen high profile fugitives moving freely and living harmoniously in the capitals of Europe without being apprehended and brought to Justice. Most of the genocide planners and architects are the ones who had the means that enabled them to flee justice,” said Siboyintore.“Those suspected of committing genocide and living abroad, many are in category one and they are still moving freely in some capitals, this is a shame and a legal challenge to the whole international community and international humanitarian law if rights of victims are to be observed.”Siboyintore noted that justice has to be observed, throughout the world but particularly, survivors of genocide want to see perpetrators tried.“Justice delayed is justice denied, this legal norm should remind those countries unwilling to try genocide suspects or taking long to bring them before their courts of law that they should do it now, 18 years after genocide without bringing those suspects to book is too much to bear,” Sibonyintore said.Since the establishment of GFTU in 2007, the office has issued indictments against 1092 fugitives living in various parts of the world, and these resulted into some arrests, especially in European countries.Out of the 1092 files, 132 Indictments and Arrest warrants have been issued in 23 countries.About seven top genocide fugitives have been brought to Rwanda to face justice in the last 18 years. In Africa, many Genocide fugitives live in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo Brazaville, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. A big number of indictments and arrest warrants have been issued in DRC, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. In Europe, a big number have been identified in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Other European countries where fugitives have been identified are United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, and Finland. There are also those that have been identified in New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. At the start of the 18th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, President Paul Kagame said that it was hypocritical for countries to mobilise in the search for criminals responsible for acts of terror on their soil, yet continue to harbour genocide suspects.
