Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) received a total of 52 cases of genocide ideology and associated crimes during the initial week – from April 7 to 13 – of commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, resulting in the arrest of 39 suspects.
According to RIB spokesperson Thierry Murangira, comparing these figures to the previous year, there has been a slight change. In 2023, RIB received 56 cases, leading to the arrest of 62 suspects, with six still at large, it was noted. Generally, in 2023, a total of 234 people were arrested for genocide ideology and related crimes during the entire 100 days of commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Murangira detailed the breakdown of the cases received during the commemoration week. Abuse of genocide survivors accounted for 40.4 percent of the cases, followed by genocide ideology at 32.7 percent, revisionism of genocide at 17.3 percent, genocide denial at 3.8 percent, discrimination at 1.9 percent, and justification of genocide at 3.8 percent.
In terms of demographics, out of the 53 suspects, 42 were male and 11 were female. The age distribution revealed that 24 suspects were between 31 to 44 years old, 13 were between 17 to 30 years old, 12 were between 45 to 58 years old, and four were aged 50 years and above.
Geographically, Eastern and Southern provinces each accounted for 27.5 percent of the suspects, followed by the City of Kigali at 17.6 percent, Western Province at 15.7 percent, and Northern Province at 11.8 percent.
Murangira emphasized that the complaints received indicated a decrease in both the frequency and severity of genocide ideology and related crimes among the population.
Data from RIB spanning the past five years (2020-2024) shows a consistent decrease in related crime reports during the initial commemoration week, with an average decrease rate of 7.2 percent.