Prosecutors and investigators meet over genocide ideology

The Gasabo court of high instance Friday held a one-day meeting with prosecutors and investigators working in all police stations and respective courts of Gasabo and Bugesera districts.

Monday, March 02, 2009

The Gasabo court of high instance Friday held a one-day meeting with prosecutors and investigators working in all police stations and respective courts of Gasabo and Bugesera districts.

The meeting was called to discuss fighting and reporting the genocide ideology. The discussions also dwelt on child sexual abuse and rape.

"We don’t just convict anyone of a crime, rather we investigate to see really the nature and the facts of the crime and relate it to the laws and forward the full dossier to the prosecution,” Bonaventure Ruberwa from the National Prosecution Authority told the meeting.

He urged the judicial practitioners to stay alert and report any case on genocide ideology and let justice take its course. The judicial practitioners also discussed how to have a full and appropriate dossier that can be presented to court.

The Principal Prosecutor of Gasabo Court of high instance, Beatrice Ntawangundi, cautioned the participants to enhance good cooperation and partnership in all judicial sectors since the community demands a lot from them in their day to day activities.

According to Ntawangundi, the meeting was planned purposely for all justice stakeholders in Gasabo to have the same understanding in dealing with specific crimes basing on their nature.

"The partnership and cooperation of the investigators and the prosecutors is paramount from the beginning of the dossier until the hearings,” Ntawangundi stressed.

The meeting that attracted 14 prosecutors and 20 investigators at ST. Paul raised some issues concerning some rape victims who don’t have means to go for medical examinations noting that it delays the compiling of prosecution dossiers.

Speaking to The New Times, after the training Augustine Nkusi who was among the participants, said that some crimes are so challenging due to their nature.

He however said that he believes that the criminal law which is under amendment will solve and point out the nature of the crimes.

Ends