Leaders of countries that harbour Genocide fugitives should do their best to make sure that they are tried and punished for the crimes they committed, the Speaker of Kenya’s Senate has said. Kenneth Lusaka made the remarks on Thursday after touring Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi, and being briefed on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed over a million lives. “We must hand over anybody who committed such crimes, if they are there, anywhere on the planet,” Lusaka said. “They can run but they cannot hide. I am telling you, the blood of any human being like this can never go unpunished. Wherever they are, they will be found, and will be handed over anywhere”. Realising the magnitude of the Genocide, he said that those who carried it out would never be forgiven wherever they are, adding that they may suffer psychologically if they are still alive. “This is extremely sad, it should never happen anywhere on the face of the planet. May those who did this suffer forever. May God rest the souls of those who perished in eternal life. God Bless Rwanda,” Lusaka wrote in the guest book at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Given the scale at which the Genocide was committed, he said, it had everything to do with bad leadership “because the common person really cannot mobilise himself or herself to do this.” “So, by coming here, it is a great lesson as a leader and other leaders that have come with the delegation of senators from Kenya,” he stated. “This is a great lesson, [it] is a big scar on our continent and all of us should try our level best for this never to happen again anywhere on the face of this planet as long as we are alive,” he indicated. On the matter of countries where violence against humanity is still being committed, he said such countries that are still hyping ethnicity and tribalism must use this [Rwandan case] as a lesson to rethink about their role because history will never forgive them. “Leaders need to take responsibility, we must be accountable to our people,” Lusaka said. Since the establishment of the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit in 2007, the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) has issued 1,012 indictments and international arrest warrants against Genocide suspects in 32 countries in Africa, Europe, North America, Canada and New Zealand. Figures from NPPA indicate that foreign jurisdictions have so far tried 22 suspects in their domestic courts, while Rwanda has received 19 fugitives up to now (some have been extradited, others transferred or deported). editor@newtimesrwanda.com
