International
Global north media's last attempt to cleanse Rusesabagina of terror charges
As
we approach Judgement Day in the case of Paul Rusesabagina and 20 co-accused of
crimes of terrorism, the global north media is involved in a last-ditch effort
to sanitise him and pre-empt any verdict expected on September 20.
The
Prosecution initially requested a life behind bars for the man who stands
accused of funding and leading a terrorist organisation, the Rwandan Movement
for Democratic Change (MRCD) and armed wing, the National Front for Liberation
(FLN), which caused terror in parts of south-western Rwanda.
Aoife
Kavanagh, of the Irish Times in “Calls from Rwandan jail: Rusesabagina’s family
campaign for father’s release,” (August 14), repeats the usual shiny image of
Rwanda’s Oskar Schindler and wrote: “as a manager of the Mille Collins during
the genocide, he saved the lives of more than 1,200 Hutus and Tutsis by helping
them to hide out in the hotel.”
This
depiction of a selfless man eager to protect the Tutsi from marauding armed
Hutu militias has been disputed by survivors from that hotel and documents
which show that Rusesabagina, among other things, charged the refugees money
for occupying the rooms.
What
is bewildering in this article is the diversion from a man accused of serious
terrorism charges to the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from
President George Walker Bush in 2005. The writer forgets that other celebrities
like Bill Crosby also received the same medal but later ended up in a
penitentiary because of serious crimes.
What
is disingenuous also is alleging that Rusesabagina’s troubles started that day,
while we all know that this was not the case. Like many other reporters before
him, Kavanagh swallowed Rusesabagina’s adoptive daughter Carine Kanimba’stronghold
lie that the sole crime that his father committed was to “outshine (President)
Kagame.”
No
wonder the family and supporters dispute the 2018 video in which Rusesabagina
publicly calls for an armed overthrow of the government in Rwanda while praising
violent attacks of his FLN terrorist outfit which claimed many lives and
destroyed a lot of property. They claim Rusesabagina’s words in plain English
were taken out of context.
By
so doing, they ignore overwhelming evidence of his terrorist activities
collected from the Belgian Prosecution, the FBI, the co-accused and testimonies
from people like Dr Michelle Martin, who worked with him.
It
is also disturbing to see how Chris McGreal, a Guardian’s correspondent based
in Johannesburg distorts the truth and paints Rusesabagina not as an alleged
terrorist but as “a high-profile critic of Paul Kagame,” whose sole crime was
standing up against him.
The
title of the article “From hero of Hotel Rwanda to dissident facing life in
prison” published in the London-based The Observer on August 15, represents the
extent to which the global media would go to mislead its readers.
Rusesabagina
is not pursued for being a critic of President Paul Kagame but for his alleged
terrorist activities, as evidence during the months-long trial indicated. McGreal
also resorts to the mythic Rusesabagina, Hollywood hero who saved the Tutsi
from machete-wielding Hutu militiamen and who received the White House Medal of
Freedom. What he does not want to report is how such a man changed into
proponent of a violent armed insurrection against his country of origin.
McGreal
veers into a revisionism narrative, a favoured theme of the global north media.
He wrote: “underpinning the case are accusations by the two men that the other
is a fraud with blood on his hands. But beyond the personal dispute, the
confrontation reflects an increasingly bitter divide over Rwanda’s recent
history and the legitimacy of Kagame’s 27-year rule.”
But
who is questioning Kagame’s legitimacy? It is not 13 million Rwandans but
Rwanda’s detractors who have found a good listening ear in the corrupt global
north media like The Guardian.No wonder McGreal also rehashes Rusesabagina and
company’s often trumped accusation of double genocide.
All
this is evidently a distraction because Rusesabagina is in trouble because of
terrorism-related charges. The Agence France Press (AFP) article in French
published on August 17 conveys similar arguments as in The Observer’s painting
Rusesabagina as dissident.
However,
it also runs the Rwandan government counterargument to allegations that
Rusesabagina’s trial is politically motivated. AFP quotes Yolande Makolo, the
government’s spokesperson saying: “Les Africains/Rwandais ne doivent pas se
protéger contre des attaques de groupes terroristes? Ou faut-il refuser la
justice aux victimes civiles parce que l’un des 21 suspects est célèbre à l’étranger? »
(Africans/Rwandans should not protect themselves against attacks from terrorist
groups? Or is it right to deny justice to innocent civilian victims because one
of the 21 suspects is a celebrity abroad).