Zambia pledges to track down Genocide fugitives

The prospects of an extradition treaty between Rwanda and Zambia appear to be strong, Fulata Lilian Siwunyi, the Zambian director of public prosecution authority, said yesterday. Siwunyi and a delegation of other Zambian officials of the justice sector have been in Rwanda for the past three days on a reciprocal tour seeking to learn from Rwanda’s experience on safety of crime witnesses. Although tracking of genocide suspects was not top on the agenda, Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Richard Muhumuza said there was a brief discussion on the history of genocide in which he reiterated Rwanda’s wish to have genocide suspects in Zambia extradited. Muhumuza said Zambia is one of the southern African states that have been very cooperative on matters of genocide fugitives while the rest are still reluctant. “In June, we signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) related to the awaited extradition treaty. As it stands today, we are still waiting for the Republic of Zambia to answer our request. When we share with them what happened here, by showing the great impact it entails, it is also another opportunity to remind them about Genocide as a crime against humanity and that it is their role to bring to justice suspects residing on their territory,” Muhumuza said. Siwunyi said Zambia remained committed to international obligations that bind humanity to fight against atrocious massacres although the extradition request is yet to be honoured. “With regards to prosecution, our internal laws do not have jurisdiction over fugitives, but the government was reliably informed on the matter and we started some process with the government of Rwanda to honour the request to extradite fugitives,” she said. Muhumuza (R) and Siyunyi address a press conference in Kigali yesterday. Siwunyi explained that the MoU signed with Rwanda in June is being followed up by the two governments through ministries in charge of foreign affairs and co-operation. Muhumuza stressed the need for political will to have extradition treaties signed. He cited Zimbabwe and DR Congo among the countries still reluctant to surrender suspected genocidaires. Out of hundreds of genocide fugitives roaming freely around the world, Zambia is said to host at least 10 suspects. Rwanda has always maintained that under universal principles, countries have an obligation to deliver justice mostly on international crimes, but priority has always been that justice is served where the crimes were committed. Different media house attends the press conference yesterday. However, it is the choice of hosting countries to decide whether to try suspects on their soil or extradite them to Rwanda where witness accounts abound. There are about 6,000 Rwandans said to be living in Zambia, many of whom lost refugee status under the UNHCR secession clause.

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Zambia pledges to track down Genocide fugitives