Rwanda Calls for Speedy Transfer of Genocide Suspects for Trial

The Rwandan government has asked the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to speed up the process of transferring top genocide convicts and fugitives to Rwanda for trial.

According to the Minister for Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, Rwanda has already built a capable judicial sector. “We want the ICTR to transfer the remaining genocide cases to Rwanda. The process has been delayed, but we want to assure them that we have a very sound judicial system that has capacity to handle such cases effectively,” he told APA by telephone on Saturday.

Apart from allaying fears of incompetence by Rwandan courts of law, Karugarama said the Kigali establishment has created better prison facilities for such ‘special’ genocide cases that were being tried at an international level.

The Rwandan judges have processional capacity, he says. “They have been trained how to make judgments that measure up to international standards,” he said.

What Rwanda now wants is for the ICTR to speed the process of transferring these top genocide suspects and convicts for trial, and subsequent detention at home, according to the Rwandan minister.

For a country that has so far dealt with over a million genocide cases using both the traditional courts (Gacaca) and the conventional courts, the task of handling the top genocide fugitives would not be any difficult, the minister said.

He said it is a matter of transferring the necessary dossiers and jurisprudence from the Arusha (Tanzania) based ICTR to Kigali.

“I think our prisoners are the most well treated compared to others the world over. We allow our prisoners to move freely in public with a few guards, greeting their relatives and enjoying fresh air unlike in other parts of the world, where they are kept behind large walls,” Karugarama said.

Meanwhile, the development comes at a time when the Rwandan government and the United Nations have signed an agreement on the enforcement of sentences imposed by the ICTR.

Source African Press Agency

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