International
Kabuga case a bad precedent in trying genocidaires
Genocide
suspect Félicien Kabuga’s case is going to set a bad precedent in trying
genocidaires.
Kabuga,
a businessman before and during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, provided
substantial support to the genocide machine in terms of finance, logistics and
moral support.
Nicknamed
the ‘genocide financier’, he had been on the run for nearly three decades, when
he was arrested in France in May 2020.
Survivors
of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi were shocked that the main genocide
financer will not be held responsible for the crimes of genocide.
The
Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
ruled, in early August, that Kabuga is “unfit to stand trial” due to what is
considered to be his deteriorating health. He is, therefore, set to be released
from detention.
Related: Rwanda:
Genocide suspect Kabuga to be released; what if he had been a Nazi?
Legal experts
noted that as old age is one of the reasons that are said to have contributed
to Kabuga’s memory loss, such arguments may come up again in the cases of
elderly genocide suspects who will be tried in the future.
Survivors
of the Genocide were very disappointed in the jury's verdict, and they fear the
same incidents will happen in the future. Three decades later survivors are
still waiting for justice to be delivered.
There
are still more than 1,000 Rwandan genocide fugitives on the run.
Worse still, a large number of them are
elderly. It is safe to say that when they get arrested, some of them, if not
all, will not be held accountable unless they are deported to Rwanda.
Related: Kabuga
case confirmed Mitterand’s statement; genocide not important in Africa
The
same international community that turned its back on the Tutsi in 1994 and
declined to rescue them from the hands of mass murderers, is shielding
genocidaires from facing justice.
It is
not only seen in the Kabuga case.
Many
genocide fugitives were arrested in Western countries and released later,
citing ‘political or activism’ reasons.
How
can genocide, a crime against humanity, be likened or compared to activism and
politics?
It is so shameful to politicize the worst
crime ever.