Rusesabagina’s wife takes campaign to free terrorist husband to Washington

The arrest, trial and conviction of Rwandan terror kingpin, Paul Rusesabagina, revealed to what extent the global north media will go to sanitise a terror convict despite overwhelming evidence against him.

At the same time, the same media has shown its inclination to mudsling the Rwandan government.

It’s bewildering to see how much Western media outlets abdicated from professional and ethical journalism. They have become dumpsters for the lies and fabrications  concocted by Rusesabagina’s family and lobbyists. Their aim is to paint Rusesabagina in a good light, and at the same time vilify the Rwandan government.

The Washington Post is one such publication. A quick glance at its most recent articles on Rwanda shows that it has become the mouthpiece of Ruseabagina’s supporters, notably the very people who put him on the high pedestal.

In the past months, Rusesabagina’s stepdaughters Carine and Anaise Kanimba toured European capitals lobbying parliamentarians and their governments to put pressure on then Rwandan government to free their terrorist father. Their efforts have, so far, yielded nothing.

Rusesabagina’s wife had abstained from getting involved in this losing battle to free her husband.

But things changed recently.

In a recent op-ed in The Washington Post, Thaciana Rusesabagina resorted to the old lies in an attempt  to influence the United States to get involved in their fight to liberate Rwanda’s terror mastermind.

The Op-ed titled “My husband risked it all to protect hundreds in Rwanda. Now, he needs our help,” is full of untruths, and misleading assertions.

First, saying that Rusesabagina risked it all to save refugees at the Hotel Mille Collines during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, is a misnomer. Survivors from this hotel attest that this man was wining and dining with genocide masterminds including Gen Augustin Bizimungu, army chief of staff of the genocidal government, and Col Theoneste Bagosora, a senior figure in Rwanda's ministry of defence at the time of the genocide.

Rusesabagina’s life was never in danger because he was moving freely in the city. After the genocide, Rusesabagina went to the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania, as a defence witness in the trials of ring leaders of the genocide.

Another blatant lie is the claim by Rusesabagina’s wife that he was lured from their Texas home and diverted from his intended destination. But in his interview with reporters, Rusesabagina never claimed he was tricked into living his home in San Antonio, TX, USA. He was enticed into coming to Rwanda while transiting through Dubai by an elaborate sting operation by Rwanda’s Investigation Bureau (RIB) with the help of Burundian bishop Constantin Niwomwungeri.

It's also misleading to state that Rusesabagina’s Foundation has “worked over nearly two decades for peace, democracy, truth and reconciliation.” Those who followed closely Rusesabagina’s activities in the past decade attest that he used the newly gained fame to spread genocide denial and revisionism, and used the money raised for his charity to fund terrorist groups like the genocidaire FDLR, and others.

During his trial, which was open to the public and streamed live, Prosecution produced evidence from the FBI and the Belgian Prosecution proving that Rusesabagina funnelled huge sums of money to these terrorist groups. Testimonies from his co-accused corroborated these facts.

There is also a damning online video by Rusesabgina himself declaring all out war to overthrow the legitimately elected Rwandan government using his armed rebellion, the MRCD-FLN. Consequently, the attacks by FLN on southwestern Rwandan claimed many lives and damaged a lot of property.

It’s thus far-fetched by Thaciana to allege that her husband was arrested because the Rwandan government wanted to muzzle him. This man had been on Interpol's Red Notice for many years.

His arrest was based on evidence of his incontestable connection with terror groups and attacks on Rwanda which claimed innocent lives.

In her article, Ms Rusesabagina falsely claimed that her husband was  “wrongfully detained, tortured and subjected to lengthy periods of solitary confinement, and endured a sham trial on false charges of terrorism as the Rwandan government aimed to silence its most effective critic.

All these allegations were mere red herring.

Ms Rusesabagina also wants readers to believe that the story of Hotel Rwanda is real, not fiction because she claimed, “the facts presented were vetted by the writers and director and also by the White House.”

For her,  it’s as if the fictitious movie, First Blood, which features Sylvester Stallone, alias Rambo, fighting the war in Vietnam was real. She is taking people for fools.

It's also scandalous to see The Washington Post accepting to serve as a channel for lies coming from Rusesabagina’s family and cronies.

Does the family really believe that using the global north media to put pressure on the Rwandan government will work? It didn’t work for the two daughters who courted lawmakers in Rome, Brussels, and London.

One can assume that the US government is aware of Rusesabagina’s involvement in terrorism activities against Rwanda. Repeating the same lies will not help their cause.

Also, the Rwandan government has made it abundantly clear that it’s not ready to comprise its national sovereignty. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has noted, several times, that whoever would threaten national security from within or outside will pay a heavy price.