ICTR blames DRC conflict on Genocide fugitives

ARUSHA - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Hassan Bubacar Jallow, has called for a quick arrest of Genocide fugitives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if the conflict is to end. While addressing the press yesterday in Arusha, Jallow said that the Eastern part of the DR Congo was now a suitable ground for the Genocidaires who are protected by local militias. “The biggest remaining numbers of wanted fugitives are living in the eastern part of the DR Congo and we are concerned about this because unless they are arrested, the Congo crisis may never come to an end. Conditions there are favorable for them (Genocidaires) as people who are escaping justice,” he said. The UN court issued indictments to ninety four Genocide fugitives out of which 13, regarded as masterminds of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, are yet to be arrested. Jallow further said that for as long as the suspects remain in the DR Congo, the prospects for restoring peace won’t be possible. He added that there must be concerted efforts from the international community to find a solution. His remarks come in the wake of renewed fighting in the DR Congo’s Northern Kivu Province between government forces (FARDC) and rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) led by General Laurent Nkunda. The DRC conflict has largely been blamed on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the remnants of the former Rwandan army ex-Far and Interahamwe militia who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide of Tutsis which claimed the lives of over one million people. On the arrest of Felicien Kabuga, a man believed to have co-funded the Genocide, Jallow said that the onus was on the Kenyan government to provide information on whether he is still in or outside the country. “We got all the information about his entry into the country and the business activities he conducts in it, so it is up to the government there to let us know about his exit as well if he has left the country,” Jallow said. He argued that the Kenyan leadership hadn’t done enough in assisting the court in its investigations saying that Kenya had only made a move this year by confiscating some of Kabuga’s property. Ends