Australia continues to betray Genocide survivors

Author: Josephine Kalembe

• 2024-04-29 05:30:00

Since 2019, the Australian Parliament annually welcomes event organized by the so-called Rwandan Association of Queensland Inc (RAQ), a group openly propagating the double genocide theory, a form of genocide denial; while ignoring the outrage and strong objections of Rwandans, especially genocide survivors, to hosting such an event.

From April 7, countries around the world have hosted commemoration events remembering the more than one million victims of the 1994 Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda but some countries such as Australia decided to give genocide ideologues, genocide fugitives, and their families, space to carry out the last stage of genocide; genocide denial, with impunity.

On April 20, the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, in Australia, hosted one such event organized by the so-called Rwandan Association of Queensland Inc (RAQ), a group openly propagating the double genocide theory, a form of genocide denial.

Since 2019, the Australian Parliament annually welcomes this event, ignoring the outrage and strong objections of Rwandans, especially genocide survivors, to hosting such an event.

The Australian government is clearly on a mission of peddling genocide denial and revisionism. Rwandans and friends of Rwanda should not be surprised since this is the same government hosting genocide fugitives, despite all the overwhelming evidence against them.

The Australian security apparatus and authorities have failed to either investigate, prosecute, or extradite individuals alleged to have committed genocide who are living in their country.

Worse still, Australia has, on purpose, welcomed and granted citizenship to FDLR members. The FDLR is a group formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. It has been, for the past 30 years, actively operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

These individuals namely; Francois Karake, Gregoire Nyaminani and Leonidas Bimenyimana, in 1999, were involved in a deadly attack in Bwindi National forest, in DRC, resulting into the killings of nine tourists including two American nationals.

The criminals were deported to the United States of America to face trial, but were acquitted in 2006. Later, Rwandan authorities repeatedly requested the US government to send them to Rwanda so that they could be put on trial for their Genocide crimes, to no avail.

Instead, in November 2019, through a secret refugee swap deal signed between US and Australia, the trio were transferred to Australia as asylum recipients.

Today, these murderers are roaming freely in Australia as legitimate citizens, while Genocide survivors are still waiting for justice to be served.

Rwandans know that the US did not chose Australia to host these individuals by accident. The US administration was very much aware that the Australian government is, and will successfully offer safety to these genocidaire, as it has always done in the past.

By hosting genocide fugitives, and giving a platform to genocide deniers, the Australian government is betraying Rwandans and the entire human race. By allowing this traversity of justice to go on, for so long, they are sending a message of encouragement to the Genocide ideologues.