International
Western media, NGOs embraced Rusesabagina’s lies
Ever
since the arrest, during trial and in the aftermath of the conviction, of Paul
Rusesabagina who was found guilty of terrorism, the global north media in
cahoots with some international rights organisations wholly embraced his big
lie that he is an innocent man. They continued to peddle the lie that he is a victim
of being Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s “fierce critic.”
In
so doing, they fostered a biased narrative which had a clear purpose of demonising
Rwanda’s leadership, and its judicial process, while whitewashing the terror
kingpin of his ignominious crimes. For them, it is as if being a Hollywood ‘hero’,
and having fooled people that Rusesabagina was a humanitarian who reportedly saved
a thousand lives in a hotel in Kigali during the 1994 genocide against the
Tutsi, can shelter him from the long arm of the law.
But
pause and think again. Rusesabagina acquired fame in the fictitious Hollywood
movie but he did not save anyone in real life, according to people who were at the
Hotel he managed during the massacres 27 years ago. As for humanitarian actions
through his Rusesabagina Hotel Rwanda Foundation (RHRF), this was a mirage.
There is no record available attesting to his humanitarian actions inside or
outside Rwanda. He cunningly used it as a scheme to fleece gullible Americans
of their tax dollars.
What
is bewildering is the way those media outlets and NGOs swallowed the lies of
Rusesabagina’s stepdaughter, Carine Kanimba, without challenging their
veracity. The Washington Post, more than other newspapers, excelled in
manipulating public opinion in portraying Rusesabagina in a very good light and
at the same time rehashing tired stereotypes about Kagame.
No
single word about the victims
In
“Prosecutors to Challenge ‘Hotel Rwanda’s hero’s 25-year sentence,”
published on October 21, Amy Cheng wrote: “last month, a Rwandan court
sentenced Paul Rusesabagina, whose heroism during the Rwandan genocide inspired
the “Hotel Rwanda” movie, to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of
forming a terrorist group. Now, prosecutors who had sought a life sentence are
appealing the judgment…Rusesabagina, a prominent critic of Rwanda’s
authoritarian president, Paul Kagame, was sentenced after a months-long trial
decried by supporters and international observers, including the American Bar Association, as procedurally flawed and
politically motivated. He has maintained his innocence.”
The
journalist, instead of highlighting the crimes Rusesabagina was found guilty
of, focuses on his Hollywood heroics, and describes him as “a prominent critic”
of “authoritarian President Paul Kagame.” No single word about the victims
Rusesabagina’s terror activities. For Western media, these victims do not
matter.
In
addition, Cheng denigrates Rusesabagina’s trial citing the latter’s supporters
and the American Bar Association, as if they are the yardstick for fairness. Rusesabagina was never apprehended and tried because
he is a critic of Kagame. He was pursued for his terrorist activities.
Groups
like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are keen on delegitimising
Rusesabagina’s arrest “as an enforced disappearance.” There is nothing illegal
in enticing a criminal into a situation which makes his arrest easy. Western
countries do it and have always done it and there has been no outcry.
Abdi
Latif, in “From Hero of ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ to Dissident to 25 -Year Prison
Sentence”, in The New York Times, uses the same script. He depicts
Rusesabagina as a man “who was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel
Rwanda” and who was praised for sheltering more than 1,200 people in a hotel he
managed.
Like
other scribes of the global north media, Latif is veering from serious charges
against Rusesabagina into the character assassination of Kagame.
Latif
has no qualms misleading people that “many scholars and human rights advocates say that Mr. Rusesabagina, 67,
was unjustly accused for the government’s political purposes.” It is as if the
evidence linking Rusesabagina to a series of terrorist attacks by his armed
outfit, the MRCD/FLN, in south-western Rwanda, in 2018, which claimed nine
lives and destroyed a lot of property, should be disregarded because the terror
mastermind – Rusesabagina – was once a hero and is now a critic of the
government.
The
Economist also used the same tactics, lauding the terror kingpin, while
maligning Kagame. In an op-ed titled “How
does Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, get away
with it?” published on September 27, it is as if it is the
Rwandan President who is on trial, not Rusesabagina. It wrote: “a court in Rwanda found Paul Rusesabagina guilty of
links to terrorist groups and sentenced him to 25 years in jail. His real
crime, however, was to oppose President Paul Kagame.”
In the same vein, international broadcasters VOA Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, as well as BBC
Kirundi-Kinyarwanda, continue to be the conduct of lies fomented by the terror
convict’s daughter Carine Kanimba aimed at exculpating her father of his
crimes. Since Rusesaabagina refused to lodge an appeal against his verdict,
Kanimba has been trumpeting the same lies that he was kidnapped, detained in
solitary confinement for months, and that he was denied basic rights like
access to his personal lawyers. But this is false.
It is not surprising for the two radio stations
to continue amplifying Kanimba, dubbed the Queen of Lies on social media,
because they schemed with Rusesabagina and MRCD leadership to ensure cover up
for their terrorist attacks on innocent Rwandans. There is evidence of exchanges
between the editors of these radios and MRCD leaders, on WhatsApp, plotting how
they could blame the terror attacks on the Rwandan government.
No matter how transparent the trial of
Rusesabagina, which took place in public and streamed live, was, the global
north media and allied rights organisations will never give up on their iconic
Hollywood ‘hero’. Rusesabagina’s ‘heroic’
posture was created for a purpose. His behind the scenes makers are not stupid.
But they have no just cause and this is where their evil scheme crumbles.
But Rwandan authorities will never surrender
national sovereignty and the defence of its populations. The global north media
can write what it wants, but facts will always be stubborn.