CSOs want law on genocide

AMBROSE GAHENE

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs); comprising HURINET-Uganda, the International Coalition on Responsibility to Protect (ICR to P) and the National Committee on Prohibition and Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (UNCP-GMA) want government to enact into law the Protection of Genocide Commission Bill 2015, now pending in Parliament.

“The East Africa Community (EAC) region has experienced widespread acts of genocide, mass atrocities and other human Rights abuses for a long time, which is why the protection of Genocide Commission Bill should be enacted into law to prevent the future occurrence of these heinous crimes”, said HURINET-Uganda executive director, Mohammed Ndifuna.

He cited the examples of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Civil wars in Burundi,

Uganda, South Sudan and the 2007 post election violence in Kenya, as some of the atrocities countries should not allow to re-occur.

ICR Program officer Brittany Roser said: “This is in a bid to reflect on what could be done to strengthen the prevention of mass atrocity crimes and to place special emphasis on the benefits that would derive from dealing with the past and addressing the deficits of democracy and

governance”.

She added that; the symposium is important purposely for the formulation, presentation and adoption of a joint communiqué, to be tabled before the third forthcoming Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC 111) Symposium slated to take place in Kampala, from 23rd to 25th

May 2018.

Central African Republic President for the National Committee on prevention of Genocide and other atrocities, Hyacintne Bruno Gbiegba, called upon African States to put in place punishments against impunity by Genocide perpetrators.

He further encouraged States to promote the spirit of reconciliation between Genocide Perpetrators and victim, as a way of eradicating the culture of impunity.

“We have to teach perpetrators not to repeat acts of mass atrocities”, he said.