US President Barrack Obama slapped a ban on issuance of visas to people who committed Genocide and mass atrocities and ordered the creation of the Atrocities Prevention Board (APB) to coordinate more effectively the response to unfolding human rights atrocities around the world.

The US as a world power should take the lead in bringing to justice perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.It’s a milestone in seeking justice for the victims.

Preventing Genocide should be a collective and individual responsibility of the international community.

The International Court Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established by the United Nations Security Council by its resolution 955 of November 1994. 

ICTR creation was a result of the genocide conclusion drawn from recommendations by the experts and tasked to prosecute the perpetrators.

This action should serve as a reminder to the international community that they need to cooperate if all those who participated in the genocide, are brought to justice

Rwanda has on several occasions, and in various global forums, called on countries that harbour the Genocide fugitives, to cooperate in bringing the suspects to book, but the response has not been satisfactory.

Genocide is the most atrocious crime against humanity. There are laws that compel the international community, to do all within its means to ensure that no perpetrator goes unpunished, wherever they may be.

It is important that the countries where suspects are hiding cooperate with Rwandan institutions like the National Public Prosecutions Authority’s Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit to help arrest the perpetrators.

The culture of impunity does not only undermine the spirit of universal justice, but also compromises efforts to make sure such crimes never happen again.

It’s time western powers and other countries harboring genocide fugitives took their international obligations seriously and help bring these fugitives to book.

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