08.04.10 - ICTR/GENOCIDE - ICTR PROSECUTOR WANTS GREAT LAKES REGION TO ACT OVER GENOCIDE FUGITIVES

Arusha, April 8, 2010 (FH) - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Hassan Bubacar Jallow Wednesday reiterated his call to member states of Great Lakes region to arrest and transfer the most wanted genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga and ten other top suspects to the UN Court for trial.

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"I would like to seize the opportunity to call upon all member states particularly those in the Great Lakes region and in this respect the Republic of Kenya, to fulfill their legal obligations of cooperation with the ICTR and to arrest and transfer Kabuga and the other ten fugitives to the ICTR for trial," stressed the Gambian-born Prosecutor.

Despite ICTR claims, Kenya has repeatedly stated that Kabuga had left the country.

Speaking during the 16th commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, Justice Jallow said: "the tracking and arrest of the remaining 11 fugitives will continue to be a top priority and will be pursued more vigorously."

He warned the fugitives that the crimes for which they stand charged bear no time limits for prosecution.

"Whenever they are arrested they will be prosecuted, either at the ICTR or at a residual mechanism following the closure of the Tribunal or in a competent national jurisdiction to which the case will be referred," he insisted.

Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) Alloys Mutabingwa said it was painful to note that to-date such high ranking suspects like Kabuga and many others were still on the run and given custody here and there. Mutabingwa is the former special representative of the Rwanda government to the ICTR.

"Some of them, supported by greedy and mediocre politicians, were pursuing a contemptuous agenda to re-open the wounds of genocide. They want to see Rwanda going back to genocide,'' he said, adding that some were busy tormenting genocide victims by their negationistic speeches.

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