17 May 2008
Arusha — Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazer and Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson this week announced the renewal of the "Rewards for Justice" (RFJ) War Crimes program to bring to justice those responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
This campaign aims to secure the arrest of 13 individuals indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), who remain at-large for perpetrating, financing and providing supporting for the 1994 genocide and crimes against humanity.
The continued impunity of these individuals and their presence in the region, according to the US Department of State press release, presented a threat to regional stability and reconciliation.
Among the individuals sought include former government ministers indicted for adopting and directing a policy of genocide; former senior military and local officials accused of directing and facilitating massacres; and Félicien Kabuga, who is accused of financing and providing logistical support to Interahamwe militias.
The Department of State is cooperating with other governments, the UN, and with the ICTR to make it more difficult for these fugitives to elude justice. The Rewards for Justice War Crimes initiative announced today is one element of an international effort to tighten the net around the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide and crimes against humanity.
This initiative is a critical element of our continuing efforts to bring peace to the Great Lakes Region. Since 2004, we have demonstrated U.S. commitment to prevent further conflict and support conflict resolution through the facilitation of the Tripartite Plus process.
This process is a confidence-building measure amongst the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, which aims to end the threat of illegal armed groups in eastern DRC. The U.S. is also engaged in the disarmament process as enshrined in the Nairobi Communiqué and Goma Agreement, which are designed to return stability to the Great Lakes by disarming Rwandan and Congolese armed groups, re-building civil society, and establishing sustainable dialogue between all parties.
There are three different Rewards for Justice programs: counter-terrorism; counter-narcotics; and war crimes, all geared toward bringing perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. The Rewards for Justice program for war crimes is administered in Washington by the Office of War Crimes Issues and in DRC by U.S. Embassy Kinshasa. Rewards of up to $5 million are available to individuals providing information that leads to arrests.
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