There is need to enforce justice in all circumstances to prevent people from taking the law in their own hands, the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye said.
There is need to enforce justice in all circumstances to prevent people from taking the law in their own hands, the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye said.
He was addressing a group of Senior Police Officers from ten African countries that are undertaking Police Senior Command and Staff course at Rwanda National Police College (NPC) in Musanze District.
The students had visited the Ministry of Justice on Monday to be enlightened on justice, peace and security.
The discussions were carried out under the theme 'The Role of Justice as a Pillar to Peace and Security'.
"Peace and security are not imposed by force, but by justice, by fighting impunity and making sure people respect others' rights," he said.
He told the officers that when justice system contributes to impunity and chaos it obviously results into a situation of volatility.
Take an example if two societies collide and you tell them to take action, what will happen is war. That's why I tell you that the presence of justice in society prevents chaos, war and insecurity, Busingye told the police officers.
Rwanda's experience
Speaking about Rwanda's experience in implementing justice, peace and security, Busingye said that before 1994 the justice system was characterised by impunity, discrimination, corruption without rule of law or respect of human being.
He added that after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the country had to rebuild afresh by putting in place laws and institutions to administer justice as well as handle a huge number of genocide cases that were awaiting trial.
He said Rwanda introduced home grown solutions like Gacaca and mediators (abunzi) which contributed a lot in problems resolution.
"You're managers of people, security and also managers of good politics. The price of divisionism is genocide, you must not tolerate any form of divisionism," Busingye urged the senior police officers, speaking about the causes of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
He reminded police officers against tolerating impunity in their every day job.
"You might be doing a good job, but when the system of justice is not running well, you will fail. You do not manage people by force, you manage us by the law, so in whatever you do fight anything that could lead to impunity," he urged.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Ismael Keita from Sierra Leone said they enjoyed the discussion, saying it was very educative as they had learnt a lot of theories in class and took it as an educative practical presentation.
Keita told journalists that what they learnt was helpful and would be supportive when they are applied appropriately.
"We shared a lot of experience. Even though we are from different backgrounds but we are all from African countries, so there are a lot of similarities in terms of system and cultural traditions, so those are good practices we will pick," Keita said.
The commandant of NPC, Commissioner of Police Felix Namuhoranye told the media that the police officers are doing a one-year course that offers strategic command and leadership skills as well as Master’s programme in Peace Studies and Conflict Transformation.
He said when they are about to conclude their studies, they visit different institutions and industries in order to link what they learnt in theory with practice.
The trainees are from Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda.