Regional
Global North media thrives in serving as propaganda tools for Rwanda terror Kingpin
Albert
Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting
different results. This is exactly what the global north media has been doing
while lobbying for the case of Rwanda’s terror kingpin Paul Rusesabagina.
They have willingly accepted to be vehicles of
false propaganda spearheaded by his adopted daughters Carine and Anaise
Kanimba, and a worldwide network of his lobbyists.
Rusesabagina,
a former hotelier, was tried and found guilty of charges including financing
terrorism, murder as an act of terrorism, formation of an irregular armed
group, and membership of a terrorist group, among others.
The
Rwandan High Court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Prosecution found this
sentence too lenient and appealed. The Court of Appeal will decide either to increase Rusesabagina’s sentence to
life imprisonment, or not.
But
despite overwhelming evidence linking Rusesabagina to the terrorist acts, his
family and a cabal of advocates continue to argue that the charges against him were
fabricated because, they allege, he’s just a humanitarian who became a fierce
critic of the current Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
They
always remind people of his Hollywood fame which he gained from the blockbuster
fiction film “Hotel Rwanda” which wrongly attributes to him saving more than
1,000 refugees during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
They
add that he’s a recipient of the Presidential Medal awarded to him by former
President George W. Bush for allegedly saving those lives.
To
attract more sympathy, the daughters claim that their father is a cancer
survivor they wish released on humanitarian grounds. Most western publications
kowtowed this false narrative and have all run articles exculpating
Rusesabagina of his crimes, using his cosmetic glorious past to advocate for
his immediate release.
Those
publications opted to work as mouthpieces of the Rusesabagina family. They
include The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Hill in the US, the
Guardian and Mirror in the UK.
The
latest to join the fray is Politico which also run an article aimed at
rekindling empathy for Rwanda’s terror mastermind by reminding of his fake past
heroism. The story titled “Can Biden save the man who inspired ‘Hotel Rwanda’?
by Max Tani and Alex Thompson, on February 17, is aimed at egging US President
Joe Biden to use all leverage over Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame to interfere
in the judicial process and free Rusesabagina.
They
wrote: “PAUL RUSESABAGINA’s harrowing real-life story of survival during the
Rwandan genocide of 1994 captured the public imagination and inspired the
Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda in 2004. But long after Hollywood toasted his
heroism, Rusesabagina found himself at odds with increasingly autocratic
President PAUL KAGAME, which ultimately landed him in jail, sentenced to life
in prison for terrorism-related charges.”
In
the above excerpt, Rusesabagina is wrongly described as a survivor, and not
someone who cosied up with ringleaders of the genocide including Col Theoneste
Bagosora, Gen Augustin Bizimungu, and Col Tharcisse Renzaho who were
spearheading the extermination of the Tutsi.
It’s
also on record that Rusesabagina used his newly gained fame to propagate
genocide denial and revisionism around the world in well-paid speaking
engagements. It’s the same money that Rusesabagina used to prop up his
terrorism activities.
What’s
clear from this article is that Rusesabagina’s daughters continue to nurture
pipe dreams that the international community can exert pressure on President
Kagame to release their father.
It’s
highly hypocritical for all these media outlets to be subservient to a
misplaced campaign by Rusesabagina’s family while they have never showed any
sympathy to his victims.
But
they need to know that Rwanda, as a sovereign state, will never cow to any
propaganda. The President will never interfere in the judicial process, like
any leader wouldn’t do anywhere in the world. If Biden cannot do it, why do
they expect Kagame to do it?