The Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), Serge Brammertz has accused the South African government of refusing to apprehend genocide fugitive Fulgence Kayishema who has reportedly been living in the Southern African country for years.
He was addressing the United Nations Security Council on Monday, December 14, about the courts’ judicial workload and its progress amidst the Covid-19 challenges.
Brammertz told the council that Kayishema was located in South Africa but he remains at large because of this country’s failure to provide effective cooperation over the last two and a half years.
He said that South Africa refused to arrest Kayishema based on claims that he had refugee status adding that it had been later verified that the suspect had no refugee file.
"Why didn’t South African authorities take obvious measures after being informed that an internationally wanted fugitive indicted for genocide was present in their country? It remains most important and South Africa should empower its operational services to work directly with the Office of the Prosecutor on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
He reminded that his court is still determined to account for the remaining fugitives and to complete tracking activities but this would only be possible with the Security Council member states cooperation.
"All of us owe nothing less to the victims and survivors of the 1994 genocide. We urge full cooperation with the Prosecutor General of Rwanda as he seeks to account for hundreds more fugitives who remain at large,” he said.
In 2012, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which was replaced by the mechanism, handed over Kayishema’s file to the Rwandan Prosecutor General’s Office. The tribunal ruled that upon arrest, Kayishema should be returned to Rwanda to face trial. The suspect is the former head of the judicial police in the then Kibuye prefecture.
According to the ICTR indictment, Kayishema is accused of four counts of Genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity, conspiracy in Genocide and conspiracy in committing Genocide.
Frustrations
Despite the steps being made, Brammertz recently admitted issues remain just like he highlighted, mid last year, when he briefed the same council on efforts underway to arrest the eight Genocide fugitives indicted by the UN court.
In a recent interview, Brammertz told The New Times that like he has informed the Security Council before, he has issues with some countries which are not keen on cooperating to arrest the criminals.
"For more than a year, we have sent requests to verify these individuals with some of the identities we know have been crossing borders.”
"We have, unfortunately, delays or no cooperation from a number of countries in the region; in East Africa, which are not answering our requests for cooperation. This makes it very slow and difficult”.