EAC
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Former Tanzania president asks for regional fair justice
SALUTED RWANDA: Mkapa advised the region develops an early warning system to guard against genocidal violence.
ARUSHA, Tanzania - Former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa has urged the EAC Partner States to enhance the region’s early warning systems to identify and spotlight genocidal violence, so that appropriate measures can be taken to avoid the consequences.
Mkapa wants the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
He said: “Rather than refer cases to the International Criminal Court at the Hague, why not enable our Courts to handle these cases?”
Addressing a gathering that met to mark the 1994 Rwanda Genocide at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, the former President saluted the Rwandan government and army for their efforts at national reconciliation and nation building.
He praised President Paul Kagame for having shown great vision and mobilized great contributions nationally and internationally in the project to recreate a single nation in which all citizens can live freely and securely.
“EAC is supposed to share with the people of Rwanda the peace, stability, security, progress, respect for human life and togetherness the region enjoys. These are the key tenets of our regional integration,” he said.
He applauded the EAC Heads of State for spearheading the extension of the Jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice.
At their 15th Ordinary Summit held on November 30th, 2013 in Kampala, Uganda, the EAC Heads of State directed the Council of Ministers to work with the African Union on the matters regarding the extension of the Jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice to cover crimes against humanity. He said this was a good step forward.
The Rwanda High Commissioner to Tanzania, Amb. Dr. Ben Rugangazi lectured the attentive audience on the Rwanda experience since the 1994 Genocide.
The theme EAC chose for the commemoration was; ‘United for Solidarity and Peaceful co-existence’.
The choice of the theme was based on the EAC’s desire to show solidarity with the people of Rwanda during this period of grief and promote the fundamental principles of peaceful co-existence and good neighbourliness and peaceful settlements of disputes enshrined in the EAC Treaty and the Common Market Protocol.
At the commemoration, the International Crime Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was represented by the Chief of Judicial and Legal Affairs Mr. Anees Ahmed.
By Elisha Mayallah, Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014