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EU urged to try Rwanda genocide suspects

03 Apr 2007 16:34:17 GMT
Source: Reuters

BRUSSELS, April 3 (Reuters) - European countries should put on trial 37 suspects of the 1994 Rwandan genocide who are living in Europe, human rights groups said on Tuesday.

They accused major European governments including France and Belgium of giving the suspects safe haven.

Speaking ahead of the 13th anniversary of the genocide, when 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered in 100 days of state-sponsored killings, rights group REDRESS and the International Federation for Human Rights said delays in putting suspects on trial were inexcusable.

"Thirteen years after the Rwandan genocide, it is unacceptable that perpetrators continue to live freely in Europe," they said.

Suspects were living in Belgium, France, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway, the groups said.

Alain Gauthier, a human rights campaigner representing Rwandans in France, said there were "political brakes" in France to putting suspects on trial, while lawyer Jeanne Sulzer said the judiciary lacked resources in Belgium.

REDRESS director Carla Ferstman said gaps in British law did not allow it to prosecute the suspects.

Bernadette Trachte-Mukagasana, a Rwandan living in Belgium, said it was a shock for genocide survivors to find genocide suspects living freely in Europe.

A Belgian court sentenced two Rwandan half-brothers to 10 and 12 years in prison in 2005 for helping Hutu militias slaughter 50,000 people during the genocide.

Victims included members of her family, Trachte-Mukagasana said, calling for more trials.

The Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has until the end of 2008 to complete its trials, and until 2010 to hear appeals. It will not be able to try all suspects, the rights groups said, urging European states to prosecute those living in Europe.

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Last updated:Tue Apr 3 16:34:40 2007