Felicien Kabuga, one of the last key suspects in the 1994 Genocide
against the Tutsi. He was arrested on May 16, 2020, in
Asnieres-sur-Seine, north-western suburbs of Paris. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The arrest of the most wanted genocide suspect of the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi, Félicien Kabuga, 84, in a Paris apartment
last week, highlights renewed French commitment to improve relations
with Rwanda, long injured by allegations against each other on the
genocide.
Prosecutors say that the long coming but
dramatic end to the fugitive’s run from justice could not have happened
if France—criticised for harbouring Rwandan genocide fugitives—had not
co-operated in the surveillance and arrest.
“In the
past two months, we came to a conclusion that he was most likely in
France and in the region of Paris. We intensified co-operation with
French authorities, and only a few weeks ago we had a clear idea of
where he could be physically hiding,” Serge Brammertz, the chief
prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal
Tribunals (IRMCT) told French state television.
“French
authorities put an operation in place. They were very instrumental in
locating the specific apartment where he was. So co-operation with the
police and prosecutor general office in Paris was excellent.”
France-Rwanda
relations thawed when in 2018 French authorities decided to close an
investigation into the 1994 shooting down of the plane carrying then
Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana. The two countries entered a new
era of judicial and political co-operation.
However,
Kabuga’s arrest in Paris raises serious questions about the French
government’s involvement in his successful evasion from justice for over
26 years.
In an e-mail interview with The EastAfrican, Phil
Clark, a professor of International Politics and scholar of the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi at the London-based School of Oriental and
African Studies said;
“The discovery of Kabuga in Paris
raises major questions about how long he has lived in France and about
how much the French authorities knew. It is difficult to believe that
such a high profile suspect, even with a new identity, could live openly
without the French authorities knowing it.”
“Kabuga
helped build and fund the interahamwe and the French government provided
much of the training. So Kabuga's involvement in the genocide is
tightly intertwined with that of France,” he said.
“In
hindsight, it's not surprising that Kabuga sought sanctuary in Paris
because he always had close links to the French Establishment. Those
connections were key to the creation of the interahamwe in 1992 and
their violent campaign against the Tutsi until the end of the genocide
in 1994,” Prof Clark added.
In April last year,
President Emmanuel Macron ordered a probe into his government’s role in
the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. His decision was unpopular in
French political circles but applauded by Rwandan authorities, who had
for long called on France to come clean over its role in the genocide.
“The
likely explanation of Kabuga’s arrest is that relations between Rwanda
and France have started to improve since Macron's election. The French
government, for example, supported Louise Mushikawabo's bid for the head
of la Francophone, something that would've been unimaginable five or
six years ago. It seems the French authorities finally decided to give
Kabuga up, which led to his arrest,” Prof Clark said.
In
2016, when Belgian Brammertz was appointed chief prosecutor of IRMCT,
he vowed to arrest Kabuga as one of his chief missions. Efforts to
arrest the fugitive were renewed in 2017, shortly after President Macron
was elected. But even as President Macron extended an olive branch to
Rwanda, France had, however, continued to deny a role in the genocide.
In
2017, Mr Brammertz teamed up with Rwandan prosecutors to set up a small
team of 17 investigators and prosecutors to pursue Kabuga.
A member of that team who spoke to The EastAfrican
said that their duty was to read and update every file related to
Kabuga, as well as, renewing their contacts across the world that would
help locate his hiding place and reveal his identity.
They
began in Germany, where they had evidence of Kabuga’s physical presence
in 2017, where he had travelled for treatment, and worked with several
other countries including Kenya, Belgium and France.
According
to a senior Rwandan official, Europe remains a safe haven for genocide
fugitives because ‘’some have acquired nationalities of their host
countries and the governments cannot extradite their own citizens
against the Constitutional provisions, and yet they don't have laws
repressing the crime of genocide in their penal laws. Fugitives also
live under false names and nationalities and change addresses
frequently.’’
He further said that the question of
where Kabuga should be tried “is not about international law, but about
jurisdiction the UN has mandated the case of Kabuga, besides the IRMICT.
It would have been a problem if the IRMICT did not exists, but it does,
and it is a designated tribunal to handle Kabuga's case.’’
In
a visit to Rwanda in June 2019, Mr Brammertz declared at a press
conference that Kabuga would be arrested, and that the IRMCT had a
“fairly good understanding of where he was hiding.”
He, however, pointed out that corruption and lack of political will from some countries would be a hindrance.
At
that time, Rwandan prosecutors renewed their pressure on the
international community and Interpol to arrest Kabuga, who for long had
used his financial muscle and contacts to stay under the radar, even
after the US had placed a $5 million bounty for his arrest.
“This
is a man who changed names and locations frequently. From his time as a
fugitive in Kenya to fleeing to France, he used his money to corrupt
officials and politicians in ensuring he remains hidden,” Faustin Nkusi,
spokesperson of the Rwanda Public Prosecution Authority told The EastAfrican.
“France
has done a commendable job as well as Interpol and other countries, to
bring him to justice. This is a very important step towards serving
justice and honouring the memory of those who were killed in the 1994
genocide against the Tutsi,” said Mr Nkusi.
In January
2016, Gen Jean-Claude Lafourcade, who led France's UN-mandated unit in
Rwanda in 1994, angered Rwandan officials when he said during an inquiry
that “no ammunition, not even a bullet” was provided by the French
government to the interahamwe militia that carried out the genocide.
This
prompted Rwanda to begin its own investigation—and a report was finally
released in December 2017—firmly accusing French officials of
complicity in the genocide, which further strained diplomatic ties
between both countries.
Rwanda focused on 20 French
politicians and soldiers and tasked French prosecutors to provide
explanations for the allegations against them in the report.
“It
would be incredibly powerful to see Kabuga prosecuted in full view of
the communities most affected by his alleged crimes. Rwanda now has a
long track record of prosecuting cases transferred from the ICTR and
other foreign jurisdictions. There should be no impediment to this trial
taking place in Rwanda - and it would bolster the ICTR's legacy to have
assisted the Rwandan judicial system to the extent that it can try such
a high profile genocide suspect as Kabuga,” Prof Clark said.
Considered
as one of the top masterminds of the genocide, Kabuga was indicted in
1997 on seven counts of genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and
public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide,
conspiracy to commit genocide, persecution, and extermination.
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