Germany police chief urges cooperation on genocidaires

The Vice-President of the Bundeskriminalamt (German Federal Criminal Police Office), Jürgen Stock, has called for stronger cooperation between countries to help apprehend fugitives responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Stock, who is in Rwanda on a three-day visit, specifically called for information sharing among countries to ensure that the fugitives are brought to book.Yesterday, he led a delegation of German Police officials to a meeting with senior officers at the Rwanda National Police led by Inspector General of Police Emmanuel Gasana.Addressing the media, Stock said there was need to intensify cooperation between countries to ensure persons responsible for the Genocide in which more than a million people were senselessly butchered, do not remain scot-free.“Germany justice took action. We were able to arrest some fugitives as you may know. There is close cooperation between German police, prosecutor and justice ministry here in Rwanda. Criminals should not have any place in the world to hide,” Stock said.“We have impressive cooperation and we have been in position to arrest few of the fugitives due to good cooperation and sharing of intelligence and we shall continue to cooperate,” he said. Onesphore Rwabukombe, a former mayor of Muvumba Commune, is currently on trial in Germany for his alleged role in the Genocide following his arrest in 2008.Others on trial in Germany are the leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) Ignace Murwanashyaka, the president, and his deputy Straton Musonera.Although they were not arrested over their role in Genocide, the FDLR militia are infamous for their ties to the Genocide perpetrators and deniers, and its largest composition are fugitives wanted for their role in the massacre.Similar crimesStock said apart from Genocide fugitives, Rwanda and German face similar crimes challenges, adding that it remains their obligation as police forces to see how they can collectively curb crimes.“We are all facing the same threats from criminals like international terrorism, organised crimes, drug trafficking and cyber crimes, so we need to intensify bilateral partnership in international security architecture prevent these challenges.”The official, who also sits on International Police (Interpol) executive committee, said drug and human trafficking are prevalent in Africa and Europe, and called for collective approach to combat the vices.IGP Gasana commended the existing bilateral relationship between both police forces, saying there was a lot to learn from each other. He lauded the German government on the arrests made.The IGP, who also sits on the Interpol executive committee representing Africa, said Rwanda intends to host the international conference on genocide war crimes next year.German ambassador to Rwanda Peter Fahrenholtz commended the Rwanda National Police for showing professionalism and protecting the human rights.Fahrenholtz said his country will continue to be a significant partner to Rwanda in all areas of development to help the country achieve the Vision 2020Germany, through its cooperation agency GIZ, funds many activities in the country, including the construction of a regional peace support training centre at the Police Training School in Rwamagana District.