Zambia denies shielding Rwanda genocide suspects
- Saturday, November 28, 2009, 17:09
- Breaking News
- 6 comments
Zambia on Saturday denied reports that it had failed to help Rwandan authorities find and arrest 1994 genocide suspects believed to be living in Zambia.
Acting Foreign Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha said Zambia had offered vital information to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), directly and through the International Committee on the Great Lakes region, to ensure that genocide suspects were handed over to prosecutors.
Shikapwasha was reacting to media reports that the head of the Rwandan unit tracking genocide suspects, Bosco Mutangana, had said that Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique were not willing to extradite suspects of the genocide in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over three months in 1994.
“It will be important that we are informed of the specific cases that they are talking about. Let them tell us the people we are unwilling to extradite,” Shikapwasha told Reuters.
“This highly sensitive issue has been addressed neither to me nor to our ambassador in Tanzania, who is accredited to Rwanda,” Shikapwasha said.
Mutangana was quoted as saying hundreds of “fugitives” were living in southern Africa despite several diplomatic attempts to have them extradited to face prosecution.
He said Rwanda’s chief prosecutor had visited Zambia and Mozambique twice, in 2007 and 2009, and was still waiting for an appointment with Malawi authorities. Authorities in all three nations had the names and addresses of the suspects but were apparently not willing to have them extradited, he said.
He was quoted as accusing African countries of “dragging their feet” compared with the way Europe had dealt with requests from Rwandan prosecutors.
Officials of the three countries had been handed files on the suspects and invited to Rwanda, but had failed to come and carry out their own investigations, Mutangana was quoted as saying.
Reuters
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Mr.Minister,
Please just hand-over the five criminals.Its not worth the hostlity to shield these criminals. Its no secret that Zambia has 5 Hutus who under the tentacles of the catholic have filtered in our country and assimilated under the auspicies priesthood:
1-Charles Mulenzi-changed name to Fr.Frank Bwalya
2-Kennedy Bhashibiye-changed name to Father Augustine Mwewa
kuku you must be funny; you mean Frank Bwalya is not from northern province and Bemba and you think Mwewa is not from Lwapula and ushi by tribe and speak fluent bemba why do you want to sell them away. you must prove it and arrest them yourself. why do you have such hatred for these priests
Darkness always detests Light!
If they are going to face the death penalties, please do not send them back to Rwanda but hand them over to international bodies who will preside over the matter. Do we have any extradition treaties with Rwanda?
Its very worring to hear such things are happening in our country,Zambia,please in order for us to keep the right track lets hand over the suspects to Rwandan govt for prosecution period. Zambia is not for Killers,its not the safe Heaven for criminals. Mr Shikapwasha tell the nation the truth,we know alot of Rwandese in Zambia and they are doing businesses very freely kanshi they are murderers. Let them face the Law and pay for their evil things,KALASI(thats all). God bless ZAMBIA and not what we are seeing in some countries people are slaughtered like chickens. We will come and show crips to Zambian to see and those thinking of war or bloodshed to stop. Its bad and i repeat its baaaaaaaaad.
I repeat, please just hand-over the five criminals.Its not worth the hostility to shield these criminals. Its no secret that Zambia has 5 Hutus all here assimilated in the Catholic society under the tentacles of the priesthood. They are the ones who have imported their Genocide agenda here of “Change or Die Zambia”.They have filtered in our country and changed names under the auspices Ngos:
1-Charles Mulenzi-changed name to Frank Bwalya
2-Kennedy Bhashibiye-changed name to Augustine Mwewa
3-Javier Murenzi-changed name to Simon Kabanda
4-Joseph kaluya-
We all know there addresses, activities and Rwandese operatives must just be covertly brought in to shadow them period.They are not worth defending or antagonizing our warm relation for.We should ask ourselves what value do these criminals have to our national interest?