Rusesabagina trial exposed west's double standards

It is astonishing how quickly state actors, human rights organisations, the global north media rallied behind Paul Rusesabagina after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for terrorism on September 20.

Despite the fact the trial took place in public, and was done with due diligence, those groups immediately cried foul add painted the process as a sham trial, citing baseless allegations.

The most vocal critic of the trial and conviction of Rusesabagina is maybe Sophie Wilmes, Belgian deputy PM and Foreign Minister who castigated the entire process.  She declared that Rusesabagina did get a fair trial especially regarding the rights to defence.

She referred to the refusal by the High Court to accept Rusesabagina’s foreign lawyers like Belgian Vincent Lurquin to represent him during the trial. On this point, the Rwanda’s bar association regulations are clear. For a foreigner to operate in Rwanda as a barrister, there must be an agreement between his bar association and the Rwandan one. As Wilmes knows, there is no such cooperation between Rwanda and Belgium.

That is why an adventurer called Luquin who came to Rwanda to represent Rusesabagina was kicked out of the country. In addition to Wilmes, the other critical voices came from the US State Department, and Senator Marco Rubio. Their condescending attitude incensed Rwandans.

But most difficult to understand is how the global north media also jumped onto the bandwagon and portrayed Rusesabagina as a victim of his success as a Hollywood hero who saved over 1,200 refugees at the Hotel des Mille Collines and a fierce critic of President Paul Kagame.

This is the same unfounded claim made by Human Rights Watch’s Lewis Mudge, and Amnesty International. In a statement by HRW released on the day of the verdict, Mudge writes: “Rwanda: Paul Rusesabagina convicted in flawed trial” and added: “But process and fair trail violations undermine verdict.”

The Washington Post, The New York Times, the BBC, Channel 4 News, and several others echoed these frivolous allegations. What is shocking is the sheer lack of empathy to the victims of the terrorist attacks by Rusesabagina’s militias which he bragged about in interviews with international media outlets like VOA and BBC Kinyarwanda-Kirundi Service (Gahuzamiryango).

It is as if the celebrity status of Rusesabagina takes precedence over any crimes he committed and the lost lives of innocent Rwandans do not count.  There is no single mention of these victims and the lasting scars on the survivors left by those deadly attacks.

In the words of Dr Phil Clark, lecturer of Politics at SOAS University, London, “most of the human rights orgs & commentators lambasting the #Rusesabagina verdict are suddenly quiet on the transnational financing of crimes. Any reaction to the evidence of his financing of FLN, discovered through investigative cooperation in Rwanda, US, Belgium & Germany.”

What is clear is that Rusesabagina and his backers are not really interested in justice.  All they want is their Hollywood hero absolved of any crimes. Despite ample evidence against Rusesabagina, and his own pronouncements, the global north media repeated the denials and lies from Rusesabagina’s family, especially her adoptive daughter Carine Kanimba and Western lawyers.

Evidence obtained from FBI, the Belgian Prosecution, and testimonies from his 20 co-accused pin Rusesabagina on being the mastermind of terrorist activities which he openly bragged about in interviews with international media.

Dr Clark tweeted: “Most of the human rights orgs & commentators lambasting the #Rusesabigina verdict are suddenly very quiet on the transnational financing of crimes. Any reaction to the evidence of his financing of FLN, discovered through investigative cooperation in Rwanda, US, Belgium & Germany.” What is incensing is also how quickly most Western media outlets joined the bandwagon and criticised the verdict.

At the same time, they also depicted Rusesabagina as humanitarian who saved over 1,200 refugees at his hotel during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. They allege that his only crime was being a dissident, a vocal critic of President Paul Kagame.

Similarly, most Western media started dancing on the same tune, depicting Rusesabagina as “a prisoner of conscience.” However, Rwandans have been outraged by this arrogance and callousness of Rusesabagina’s backers. For Olivier Mushimire, saving lives in 1994, even if it were true, cannot excuse Rusesabagina for the crimes committed by his armed militias.

The same way being a genocide survivor couldn’t be defence for Nsabimana Callixte against charges of genocide denial and minimising the genocide against the Tutsi. Rwandans will not take it. Rwandan lives matter.