Hundreds of Rwanda genocide suspects still at large - UN

Arusha. With the Rwanda genocide in 1994 marking its 30th anniversary in April, concerns are rising over the suspects who are still at large.

Over an estimated 1,000 alleged perpetrators of the horrific killings that shocked the world have yet to be apprehended.

They are hiding in various countries in Africa, Europe, North America and elsewhere, out of reach from the arm of the law for prosecution.

"That so many suspected perpetrators have not yet been prosecuted for their alleged crimes is deeply distressing to the victims and survivors," said the UN Tribunal chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz.

He expressed his concerns during a visit to Kigali early this week for high-level discussions with the Rwanda officials on how to bring all suspects to justice.

Mr Brammertz, the chief prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), said the fugitives should be brought to justice.

The Mechanism, he went on, would assist Rwandan and other national authorities to bring these fugitives to justice “wherever they may be found".

During his mission to Kigali, he met senior Rwandan government officials, including the Minister of Justice, the Inspector General of Police and the Prosecutor General.

"We need them to provide a range of investigative and prosecutorial support to national partners," he said, according to a statement from the Arusha-based tribunal.

Mr Brammertz also reached out to members of the diplomatic community in the Rwandan capital for discussions on how to improve multilateral law enforcement cooperation.

The desired cooperation should focus on locating, arresting and prosecuting fugitive genocidaires currently residing in other countries.

Prosecutor Brammertz also met with representatives of the victims and survivors of the three-month genocide in 1994 which largely targeted the Tutsi ethnic community.

During her recent visit to the United Nations in New York, the President of the Tribunal (Mechanism), Judge Graciela Santana hinted on the likelihood of release of an alleged architect of the genocide.

This is, as the mandate of the Tribunal which has two branches, one in Arusha and another in The Hague, Netherlands is drawing to an end.

"The Mechanism has transitioned to its truly residual phase," she revealed when she tabled the Tribunal's 23rd progress report to the UN Security Council.

The report provided an update on recent decisive events, in particular the completion of active trials and appeals related to core crimes.

Referring to the case against Mr Kabuga, Lady Justice Santana said there was a likelihood that he could soon be released on health grounds.

She added that the tracking responsibilities of the Mechanism for the remaining fugitives of the genocide was nearing a close.

This, according to her, follows a recent confirmation of the death of Aloys Ndimbati, who was the first to be indicted by the now disbanded International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Currently there remain only two fugitives, both of whom, she said, are expected to be tried in Rwanda in line with the relevant referral decisions.

The 90-year-old Kabuga is not only alleged to be the mastermind of the killings in Rwanda in which nearly one million people were hacked to death, the former businessman is also alleged to be the financier of the massacre which was triggered by the killing of ex-president Juvenal Habyarimana.

He was arrested at a hide out in a Paris suburb in May 2020 after being on the run for about 25 years with a $5million bounty on his head.

Ever since, he has been undergoing trial for the alleged crimes that took place in his home country 30 years ago at the UN detention centre, at The Hague.

Efforts to bring him to Arusha for prosecution hit a brick wall on health grounds as the doctors ruled that he was in poor health to travel for the trial.

The Mechanism was established by UN Security Council Resolution 1966 (2010) to complete the remaining work of the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which closed in 2015 and 2017, respectively.