You can run but you cannot hide. That is a lesson Jean Twagiramungu learnt the hard way. The Genocide suspect had been on the run for decades and finally holed up in Germany where he has been fighting extradition for the last few years. Germany is one of the few European countries that have not only collaborated with the Rwandan judiciary to bring Genocide suspects to book, it tried and sentenced to life in prison a notorious genocidaire, Onesphore Rwabukombe. Twagiramungu’s extradition is yet another counter argument that those sent to Rwanda will not get a fair trial. That is one excuse that countries such as the United Kingdom continue to cling to and now have their territories crawling with Genocides suspects. Previous trials of extradited suspects have helped allay fears of unfair trials and encouraged many countries to send suspects to Rwanda. But some, such as France and the UK, are still intransigent, obstinately holding onto beliefs that have not been tried and tested. But it is not just France and the UK that have shown reluctance to deal with Genocide cases, many African countries are also to be faulted as there is no political – leave alone judicial – will to bring to book many living within their borders. Even those whose dossiers are posted on the Interpol Red Notice do not seem to be bothered. That state of matters must be very discouraging for the Rwandan judiciary, seeing all their hard work to bring to book notorious genocidaires; but they should not give up. They should instead use examples such as the latest German one to drive home the point that the country has professional judicial institutions in place capable of meting out fair justice.
