Genocidaire’s 20-year jail sentence a call to countries harboring fugitives

Author: Daniel Gatimu

• 2024-08-29 06:00:00

The Court of Appeal in Rwanda sentenced Wenceslas Twagirayezu to 20 years in jail after finding him guilty of genocide crimes, on July 31. The 56-year-old was accused of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Twagirayezu was extradited from Denmark in 2018 following an indictment and a subsequent arrest warrant issued by the Rwandan prosecution.

Earlier this year, in Kigali, the High Court Chamber for International Crimes (HCCIC) acquitted Twagirayezu, a decision that the prosecution immediately appealed.

Twagirayezu, who was a teacher at College Baptiste Gacuba II in Gisenyi, now Rubavu District, Western Rwanda, was accused of participating in killings on April 7, 8, and 9, in 1994, in different parts of Gisenyi, including Busasamana and Gacamena, where many Tutsi perished.

In the appeal’s verdict, he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Twagirayezu was pinned on several crimes during the Genocide against the Tutsi. One witness, who also participated in the Genocide, testified that on April 7, they started to carry out killings in Mudende areas. On April 8, they went to Busasamana. Twagirayezu was with the killers on both days at Gacuba as they dumped bodies in a pit.

A genocide survivor also said that Twagirayezu was among the militiamen who attacked the Mudende school on April 8 1994, where they had fled.

Twagirayezu’s sentence serves as an example to all foreign countries harboring genocidaires, that it is not too late for justice to be served.

In a statement released on August 5, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, urged countries hosting genocide fugitives to prosecute or extradite them.

“Only when all perpetrators have been held into account will we be able to uphold the expectations that all victims rightly possess: that their voices are heard and their suffering acknowledged, and that there is justice for the crimes committed against their loved ones,” Nderitu stated.

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi which was fueled by decades of ethnic tensions resulted in the massacre of more than a million people.

Today, there are still more than 1,000 genocide fugitives at large.

Linking accountability with prevention, Nderitu stressed the strong connection between accountability and prevention, warning that lack of accountability for past transgressions will sow the seeds for the violations of the future. She underlined genocide as the gravest of all crimes due to its intention “to erase a national, ethnical, racial or religious group from the face of the Earth,” adding that “the wheels of justice must keep turning, the voices of victims must continue being heard, and all perpetrators must be held to account for their actions.”

Justice is an essential prerequisite for healing and reconciliation. However, the international community still gives no hope as the plight of the genocide victims is rarely considered.

Building a future free from crimes of the past requires sustained efforts by both those in positions of leadership as well as by all citizens within their respective communities.