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The Zambian government says it cannot extradite Rwandan nationals living in the country that are wanted in Rwanda on allegations of participating in a 1994 genocide that claimed more than one million lives in that country.Commissioner for Refugees Jacob Mpepo told journalists yesterday that the Zambian government could not extradite any Rwanda national back to their homeland because of the absence of an extradition treaty with Kigali.
He said Zambia had extradition treaties with a number of countries worldwide but Rwanda was not among these, making it difficult for the government to respond to requests from the central African country.
Zambia currently has around 5,000 Rwandan nationals living in the country, most of whom have refused to return to their country despite the peace prevailing there and several attempts by the Rwandan government to get them to return.
The Rwandan government has indicated that according to its records some of the people on its wanted listed for crimes during the genocide were hiding in Zambia under claims of seeking asylum from political persecution.
Mpepo said although the Zambian government was constrained from expatriating the Rwandan nationals back to their country, this did not mean they could not be arrested and tried for other crimes committed in Zambia. – APA.
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