The PANAFRICAN Review
processes to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes in Africa are condemned as if to suggest that when genocide happens in our midst ( Africans ), it is simply the result of tribal hatred amongst “ savages ”. In other words , the suggestion is that there was no ideology – something too sophisticated for the African mind – underlying the genocide against the Tutsi and its denial . This is as contemptuous as it is untrue , and it must be denounced .
Let us re-establish some known facts : Mr Paul Rusesabagina is a critic of the Rwandan government , and yes , he was lured into arrest . But Paul Rusesabagina is not only that . He is also the founding member of le Mouvement Rwandais Pour le Changement Démocratique ( MRCD ), whose military wing , the Front de Liberation Nationale ( FLN ), attacked Rwanda , killing 9 civilians and destroying properties . Even if this does not serve as enough ev- idence , we can at least agree that there is a prima facie case against him . I am simply saying that Paul Rusesabagina , just like anyone , is capable of being kind or cruel , saying the truth or lying . A judge in the City of Westminster Magistrates ’ Court had this to say about Mr Paul Rusesabagina , as an expert witness in the case between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda v . Vincent Bajinya and others . The judge observed in paragraph 428 that : ‘ He was not independent . He is clearly a very strong opponent of the present regime , even going so far as to suggest that it was responsible for the genocide , and making other wild and exaggerated claims .’
Once again , this is not to say that Mr Paul Rusesabagina is guilty of terrorism or not , even if he clearly trivialises the genocide against the Tutsi and is a proponent of the ideology that Rwanda is denied the right to criminalize . I am simply requesting that we give the ongoing judicial process a chance to run its course . It is good that we can invoke the existence of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners ( the Nelson Mandela Rules ), but it is equally important to acknowledge that the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power requires states to treat victims of crime with compassion and respect for their dignity and to provide them with justice , truth , restitution , compensation and assistance . And this is exactly what Rwanda is doing ! But to recognize the right of an African country to pursue justice for , and to treat with compassion , victims of terrorism requires that Rusesabagina ’ s supporters acknowledge the humanity of these victims in particular , and African victims in general ._
Dr Alphonse Muleefu is a Rwandan academic .
The Enemies of Unity
Lonzen Rugira
At the advent of colonialism , Europeans assumed that African societies were organized along ethnic lines . They thought that whenever these groups came into contact violence would ensue ; naturally , they believed that these groups needed to be separated in order to minimize violence . Consequently , the colonialists set them into apartheid-like arrangements ( Bantustans or native settlements ) in ways that prevented contact that
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