by Paul Rusesabagina and Brian Endless

Posted by w. hayes on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 01:34


What do you do when indicted war criminals lead a country?

The arrest of Rose Kabuye in Germany last week shines an international light on this question. Kabuye, indicted on war crimes charges by the French government, serves as the chief of protocol to Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The current problem is complicated by those who blindly support the Rwandan government as successful reformers who are justified in any action they take, as Stephen Kinzer did in his op-ed on November 14th (“Rwanda versus France.”)

(...) Rwanda remains a deeply complex place, with often violent and repressive elite politics that allow very little room for public discourse or dissent. In 1994, the elite Hutu government, which did not really represent Hutus beyond themselves, was in a civil war with Paul Kagame’s Tutsi rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) based in Uganda. It is important to realize here that neither the Tutsi RPF group nor the Hutu government genuinely represented the people of Rwanda.

Rwanda is replete with small groups of elite leaders, or “Akazu” (meaning “small hut”) in the local language, who act in their own interests. When Kagame and his RPF rebels marched on Kigali, they were originally hailed as heros. Kagame even promised a new regime, in which Hutus and Tutsis could work together. Problematically, these promises only lasted as long as it took the President and his Ugandan Tutsi associates – the new elite Akazu, replacing the old Hutu group – to establish control.One of the inconvenient truths of the genocide aftermath involves the actions of Kagame and other elites in his government and military. There were numerous allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity when estimates of over 100,000 people were killed in retribution during the Tutsi conquest of the country. While stopping genocide is admirable, this in no way justifies committing war crimes against civilians.

Last week, Rose Kabuye was arrested on a French indictment for war crimes in the downing of the plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian Presidents in 1994, the triggering event for the Rwandan genocide. There have long been allegations that Kagame and his direct reports carried out this assassination, and enough proof has surfaced recently to justify the indictment. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, as 40 Rwandan army officers close to Kagame have been indicted by Spain on a variety of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Those on the list include current Rwandan Ambassadors, the Army Chief-of-Staff, and the Rwandan general serving as deputy head of the African Union force in the Sudan. The crimes in question include the killing of three Spanish priests as the genocide was ending, and of Spanish doctors and priests working in refugee camps after the genocide. Kagame ally Laurent Nkunda has also been indicted on war crimes for activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nkunda has close ties to Kagame and served as a captain in the RPF from 1994-96. Kagame himself has still not been formally indicted in France or Spain due to his status as a sitting head of state.The Rwandan government has responded to these charges with blanket denials, claiming that they are merely political charges. They also counter, as did Kinzer in his article, by blaming France for that country’s long-standing support of the previous Hutu government in Rwanda.

If France has blame to face, the Rwandan government should present its evidence and this should be investigated by competent sources. But playing the blame game with France in no way negates the enormous charges facing Rwanda’s current leaders.There is one final unique factor in Rwanda. War crimes and the like happen in most wars. Usually, the victor writes the history in such a way that the winning side looks good, and the losers are villified.

In the case of Rwanda though, the facts are out there, and the international community is not lightly accepting a rewriting of history. The Hutu genocidaires from 1994 must be brought to justice. But allegations of war crimes against current members of the Rwandan government must be thoroughly investigated too, and punished as appropriate.

Blame should not be displaced, and the attempt to cover up guilt on all sides must not be allowed to continue. The Rwandan people deserve better, and the world deserves the truth about Rwanda.[Paul Rusesabagina is the author of “An Ordinary Man,” his autobiography covering the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that became the movie “Hotel Rwanda.” Brian Endless is a Political Science professor at Loyola University Chicago.]

The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a "time", yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine