The survivors of the genocide will look to South Africa to arrest and hand over one of the most sought-after fugitives responsible for the Tutsi genocide, so he will be brought to book.
It all began last week with Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (RMICT) complaining to the UN Security Council about the lack of cooperation from some countries in arresting the remaining Genocide fugitives.
The Mechanism took over from the 2015 shop-closing International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), having been created by the UN to address Genocide masterminds against the Tutsi.
Brammertz informed the UN Security Council on Wednesday last week that his office has approached a number of Member States, including South Africa, seeking collaboration to apprehend fugitives, but this has not happened.
He did not mention South Africa’s suspect.
However, it turns out that due to their critical role in the genocide in which more than a million persons died, its Protais Mpiranya, one of the three most wanted fugitives that the UN tribunal named the ‘ Big Fish. ‘
The two remaining ‘ Big Fish ‘ are former businessman Felicien Kabuga, the alleged Genocide Financier, and former Defense Minister Augustin Bizimana.
Seven other suspects have been indicted by the court but remain at big as part of the completion policy of the court.
Mpiranya was the commander of the notorious presidential guards, known during the Genocide for their vicious killing of people.
According to their Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), South Africa has “taken note of” the prosecutor’s request, reported in the press.
“South Africa expresses its gratitude to the prosecutor and for the commendable work of the IRMCT and reaffirms that it takes its international obligations seriously,” DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela told the media.
He said, however, that in carrying out the UN Prosecutor’s application, South Africa faced “certain challenges,” but did not disclose such challenges.
Like the other two ‘ Big Fish ‘ he would be handed over to MICT based in Arusha, Tanzania if Mpiranya were to be apprehended today.
However, it remains unsure whether the South African government will cooperate to take him to court with the UN Court.
In the ex-Rwandan armed forces, Mpiranya was a major.
He commanded the Presidential Guard, an elite unit believed to have taken charge immediately after the death of former President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6, 1994, and is accused of killing top politicians as the genocide unfolded.
Among the politicians killed was then Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and her security detail of ten Belgian peacekeepers slaughtered a few hours after the downing of Habyarimana’s plane blamed extremist elements within his party and military.
It is said that the attack on the house of the former Premier was led by Mpiranya himself.
Eugene Eric Murangwa, a Genocide survivor living in the UK, said the move of the South African government — if genuine — is commendable while speaking to The New Times.
Although it is coming quite late, he said, it should serve as a useful instance for other fugitive Genocide harboring nations.
He said: “Genocide is not a ‘simple’ crime like any other. It ravages communities and peoples for generations to come. To fail to bring those responsible to justice is a bloody stain on the international community’s supposed ‘just and fair’ justice system and helps in increasing genocide denial.”
Murangwa stressed that 25 years of no justice is a long waiting time for survivors.
“Why are perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi not treated with the same concern as terrorists? Survivors wonder why the international community’s negligent failure to pursue justice for Genocide victims results in impunity for this crime,” he said.
He gave the example of a long-standing case of five renowned Genocide fugitives – Dr. Vincent Bajinya, Emmanuel Nteziryayo, Charles Munyaneza, Celestine Ugirashebuja, and Celestin Mutabaruka – who live in the United Kingdom despite the fact that court proceedings against them are prima facie.
No nation should be a secure haven for supposed Genocidaires, he said, including the UK.
“If UK cannot send these Genocidaires back to Rwanda it must investigate and put them on trial here – it is why the law was changed in 2009 and the UK government has a moral duty to survivors and its own citizens,” he added.
More than one million innocent citizens were massacred in 100 days after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Murangwa said today that the judicial systems of the United Kingdom and other nations fail to bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice “only increases Genocide denial.”
“Rwanda is committed to remembering its past, but it has refused to be defined by it. It has not let wounds fester but has sought healing through its commitment to justice.
All we are asking the world is to be fair and help us to judge and punish the perpetrators, in doing so the world would have then stood with survivors.”