Rwanda, Uganda jointly pursuing genocide perpetrators - envoy

The governments of Uganda and Rwanda have an understanding to pursue the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide that left about one million Rwandans dead, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda has said.
Maj Gen Frank Mugambagye said this while addressing journalists at his office in Kampala on Friday ahead of this month’s 24th commemoration of the genocide.

April 7 is the day the genocide started and by the time it ended, millions of Rwandans had fled into neighbouring countries.
The genocide against Tutsi was conducted by Hutu radicals.
Gen Mugambage said many of the genocide perpetrators are scattered all over the world and that they must be arrested and tried.
He said Rwanda has been providing the Ugandan government information and case files of the suspects to help in arresting and extraditing such suspects to face trials for crimes against humanity.
“Rwanda’s justice system is continuing to investigate and information about genocide actors, on who we have sufficient evidence, is given to the governments in countries where they are. We have a number of cases files provided to the Uganda government,” he said.

He added that where necessary, such suspects when arrested are extradited on request by the Kigali established or are put on trial wherever they are because they committed crimes against humanity which can be tried anywhere in the world.
The Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, Mr Ofwono Opondo, said it is not a secret that Uganda is cooperating with Rwanda in handling genocide perpetrators so long as legal processes are followed in cases of extradition.
Mr Opondo said Uganda’s support to Rwanda started in 1994 through efforts of ending the genocide, helping the Rwanda Patriotic Front that ushered in president Paul Kagame’s leadership and also playing host to Rwanda refugees.
“There is no contradiction in what Gen Mugambagye said because we are handling perpetrators of the genocide so long as there is a legal process being followed.

Our only problem is about people being waylaid in Uganda and taken back to Rwanda without our knowledge,” Mr Opondo said.
Mr Opondo said, however, that for the case of suspects that have been granted asylum through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees arrangement, no arrests and extraditions are permissible under the United Nations legal system since Uganda has no authority over them.
He added that such arrests and extraditions can only be done when there is “sufficient evidence and through indictment”.

Uganda and Rwanda have recently gone on a collision path and one of the areas of contention is alleged illegal extradition of Rwandan nationals from Uganda.
Top police officers accused of participating in the illegal extraditions are currently undergoing trial in the army court. The individuals extradited to Rwanda, however, were not connected to the 1994 genocide but had fallen out with Kigali.