Robert Kayinamura, Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the UN has said that the rising genocide denial and glorification of criminals are eroding the steps taken in delivering justice.
He was speaking at the UN Security Council debate on International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on December 12.
While there has been commendable progress in bringing genocide fugitives to book, Kayinamura said that the international community remains silent on the need to stop and punish genocide deniers.
"Genocide denial concerns us all because it undermines justice that was so painstakingly obtained for the victims," he noted.
Protecting the truth from deniers and serving justice for victims of the genocide is the best action the UNSC can take to prevent genocides from re-occurring, he said while indicating that the first step to take is to pass laws at national levels which criminalize the denial of genocide.
"Passing laws prohibiting the denial of genocide would greatly contribute to setting the record straight and reducing the chances of political leaders and opinion makers holding shameful discourse about genocide."
Gatti Santana, President of the IRMCT, reiterated the same call of remaining steadfast in commitment to the fight against impunity, while underscoring the need to continue countering genocide denial, revisionism and the glorification of war criminals by defending and disseminating the truth.
"Justice and peace are the most pressing needs of today's world."
'Effective cooperation in fugitive tracking'
While the office of the Prosecutor has viable leads on the whereabouts of some of the remaining fugitives, the major challenge remains the lack of timely and effective cooperation by some Member States, Kayinamura highlighted.
"Survivors and victims, hope to see action and to hear concrete proposals by the Council on how to deal with this continued problem of failure of Member States to cooperate pursuant to several Security Council Resolutions, requiring them to cooperate with the Court and the office of the Prosecutor to bring to account the fugitives."
The same call for cooperation in fugitive-tracking was echoed by the Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, when she paid tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi during her visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial on September 3, 2021.
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All in all, Kayinamura emphasized that Rwanda will not tire to seek justice for the more than one million lives exterminated during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.
"The Genocide against the Tutsi was perpetrated by an extremist Government with the complicity of a passive international community."
In relation to Felicien Kabuga case, Santana commended the innovative and efficient conduct of the trial proceedings, saying that 20 out of the approximately 50 in-court Prosecution witnesses are expected to be heard by the end of this year.
Knowledge transfer
The mechanism put in place in 2010 to conclude the remaining tasks of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in bringing to book Genocide perpetrators has played its part, even though there are still a lot of pending cases.
Kayinamura recommended the Security Council to provide the Mechanism and the prosecutors with all the necessary support, including the financial resources needed to fulfill their mandate.
On the other hand, he insisted that expertise and knowledge of the Court should not end with the court but rather assist member states, like Rwanda, in capacity training and knowledge transfer to assist countries in hunting down the remaining fugitives.
"We believe that it is the responsibility of the international community to assist Rwanda to bring to justice the remaining known fugitives and those yet to be known."
Rwanda has sent out over 1000 indictments to 34 countries around the world, requesting cooperation in arresting and prosecuting fugitives or transferring them to the country to face justice.
