The United Kingdom should either extradite to Rwanda or prosecute the five men arrested in May last year accused of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Chief Justice Sam Rugege has said.
Four of the men had been arrested before but were freed after the British Crown Prosecution found it could not have them tried in the country, while a court premised on a 2009 ruling by the ICTR to reject their extradition to Rwanda for trial, on grounds that Rwandan judiciary could not Guarantee a fair trial.
However the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) was later to change its position after major reforms in the country’s judiciary, and has since transferred two suspects.
In an exclusive interview with The New Times, last week, Prof. Rugege wondered why it has taken the British so long to make a decision on the fugitives.
“I can’t see why they don’t try them if they don’t want to send them to Rwanda. We have confidence in their legal system, but they continue being reluctant to go ahead with the prosecutions,” he said.
The five men who were arrested by the British police’s extradition unit include three former mayors; Emmanuel Ntezirayo, Charles Munyaneza and Celestine Ugirashebuja.
The mayors and a former head of the national population office, Dr Vincent Bajinya, who has since changed his name to Brown, had been freed in 2009.
The other suspect arrested in a coordinated operation that took place in different parts of the UK where the men reside is Celestine Mutabaruka, who worked for an NGO during the Genocide.
Half-served justice
According to the Chief Justice, extradition is critical for the Genocide survivors to see justice served.
He said when trials are conducted in Rwanda in the proximity of those whose families were killed, “then justice will not only be done but also seen to be done.”
“I think part of the criticism about international prosecution of these suspects is that it is done so remote from people who really have interest, which to me leaves justice half-served,” he said.
He said that Rwanda’s judiciary has won the confidence of not only the ICTR but other jurisdictions, including Canada and Norway, which have extradited Genocide suspects.
He also cited the European Court of Human and People’s Rights, which has also ruled that the judiciary in Rwanda can ably try a suspect of international stature.
During the interview, the Chief Justice also appealed to African states to give clout the African Court of Human and People’s Rights, saying that it is capable of providing an alternative to the International Criminal Court.
If the African nations can be serious about the African Court of Human Rights, there is no reason why African suspects should be sent to the ICC… the only thing we lack is the political will for our countries to give sufficient support and clout to the African court,” he said.
African countries have persistently derided the Hague-based ICC, saying it was only targeting Africans, since all the suspects in its custody and all known investigations concern Africans, despite war crimes being committed in different parts of the world.
The New Times
