In the wake of the confirmation of the death of the last two fugitives suspected of involvement in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, experts reflected on the legacy of UN courts established to track down and bring to justice the key figures responsible for the killings.
On Wednesday, May 15, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) announced that all fugitives indicted by the now defunct International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi have been accounted for.
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The Office of the Prosecutor concluded that the last two fugitives, Charles Ryandikayo and Charles Sikubwabo, are deceased. The two were the final individuals at large out of the 93 people indicted by the ICTR. The confirmation of their death prompted, once again, reflection on the UN tribunal's achievements in bringing genocide fugitives to justice.
Richard Gisagara, a France-based Rwandan lawyer, highlighted key positives in the UN courts' work but also noted several shortcomings.
"For me, there are two things that I can say I appreciate about the courts. One is the jurisprudence that they provided, especially after their decision in the case of Édouard Karemera, confirming that there was a genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda," he told The New Times.
Karemera was the vice-president of the ruling Mouvement Révolutionnaire Nationale pour le Développement(MRND) party at some point during the genocide. He was among the key leaders, at the time, who wielded authority and effective control over Interahamwe militia that killed thousands of innocent people throughout the country.
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The lawyer also pointed out that the courts' judgments in cases like those of Karemera and Jean Paul Akayesu serve as important precedents for courts and legal systems trying similar crimes across the world. Akayesu, the former Mayor (Bourgmestre) of Taba, in present day Kamonyi District, was the first person to be tried and convicted by ICTR - the first time that rape was recognized as a weapon of war; a war crime - in September 1998.
However, Gisagara noted that the courts had significant shortcomings, including the fact that they only tried slightly over 90 suspects despite spending vast amounts of money on their operations.
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Tom Ndahiro, a genocide researcher, also told The New Times that while the UN tribunals made efforts to do deliver justice, they faced numerous challenges from countries unwilling to extradite genocidaires hiding within their borders.
He said: "They tracked the fugitives; several were tried and convicted, while others were set free. The failure to arrest some until they were confirmed dead cannot be blamed on the ICTR or the mechanism but on the countries that harboured these fugitives and allowed them to continue enjoying impunity."
Ndahiro emphasised that he feels that the IRMCT understands the gravity of the crime of genocide, and this is even reflected in their latest announcement confirming the deaths of Ryandikayo and Sikubwabo.
The announcement highlighted that since the first indictments, nearly 30 years ago, the ICTR faced significant challenges in tracking fugitives, including political unwillingness from countries to execute arrests and sophisticated efforts by fugitives to conceal their identities and locations.
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Fulgence Kayishema, one of the most wanted genocide fugitives who was arrested in May 2023, in Paarl, South Africa, had, among others, disguised himself as a Burundian national and then as a Malawian, and used multiple names and aliases, to avade arrest. To evade arrest for over two decades, the former head of the genocidal government's judicial police in Kivumu Commune in the former Kibuye Prefecture, relied on a network of supporters, including family members, members of the former Rwandan army and DR Congo-based FDLR militia, and others aligned with the Hutu Power ideology.
In February, the IRMCT announced that it will close its Kigali field office on August 31, after almost 30 years of operations in the country.
