The proposed law consists of 15 Articles, and aims at separating genocide related crimes from the current penal code.
The State Minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana said that the current law is limited to the Genocide Against the Tutsi, while Rwanda repeatedly asked countries to include genocide ideology and related crimes’ law among their laws.
“In the past, you heard politicians especially members of parliament in different working visits under countries’ parliaments cooperation requesting their counterparts to introduce laws penalizing genocide against the Tutsi ideology and deniers. There was a problem because we used to request other countries to do what we also did not do,” he explained.
“This law will punish anyone who will negate or trivialize the genocide against Jews. The current one was not doing so. It means that we used to request others what we were not doing,” he explained.
He said that the move will facilitate Rwanda to request other countries to introduce laws penalizing deniers of the genocide against the Tutsi.
“This will help us to request other countries to put articles penalizing deniers of genocide against the Tutsi in their laws or develop particular laws penalizing deniers and trivializers of the genocide against the Tutsi. This law penalizes all deniers and trivializers of all genocides that are recognized by the United Nations or International Courts,” he explained.
The draft law has reduced the punishments for convicts from between five and nine years to between two to four years.
MP Evariste Kalisa wondered why the punishments were reduced to genocide related crimes, while they were raised to other crimes like corruption and embezzlement among others.
“While punishments to other crimes were raised, the genocide ideology crimes related punishments are reduced, I don’t understand the rationale behind, we should have been discouraging people not to involve in such crimes,” he said.
MP Théoneste Begumisa Safari said that during commemoration period, genocide ideology cases were registered. He said that punishments should not be reduced, but elevated.
Minister Uwizeyimana said that the punishments based on how the genocide ideology cases were reduced referred to the reports by National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) and National Commission of the Fight Agaist the Genocide (CNLG).
Leave a Reply