France authorities arrested Felicien Kabuga, a prominent wealthy politician for financing the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. For 26 years, Kabuga has been dodging police who have attempted to capture him. He has been living like a fugitive, traveling and booking accommodations using fake passports. Efforts to reach him have been in vain, especially as rumors reveal he was friends with powerful politicians who helped harbor him.
Despite the United States offering a reward worth $5 million for any information that would lead to his arrest, he was nowhere close. Most of the time he escaped police dragnet as he had an informant from the inside who always tipped him off. Journalists who followed on his story received threatening warnings. A freelance reporter, William Munuhe, was found murdered in his apartment in Nairobi.
Captured
French investigators spied on Kabuga’s children to trail him down. On 16th May 2020, french authorities followed his children to his apartment in Paris and arrested him. They arrested him and charged him with financing the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. On 26th October 2020, they transferred him from France to the Hague where he will undergo a trial.
“His initial appearance will be held in due course before a judge of the trial chamber assigned to his case,” the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said in a statement.
The court accused Kabuga of forming an Interahamwe militia group and a radio-television show that incited people to murder. He had also bought the extremist groups machetes that they used to carry out the attacks. Three judges, Iain Bonomy, Graciela Susana Gatti Santana, and Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya will precede over his case.
Differences
Ethnic tensions in Rwanda have been on since time immemorial. The majority Hutu and minority Tutsi have always been in disagreements. However, since the post-colonial period, their differences have escalated. The resentment between the ethnic groups has cumulated into a series of uprisings over the years.
The Belgian colonialists considered the Tutsi superior to the Hutus. Therefore, they had access to the best schools and jobs. However, their reign hit a stone wall when the country gained its independence. It was then that the Hutus took power.
The Genocide
Following the ongoing chaos in Rwanda, many people migrated from the country to neighboring Uganda and Tanzania. As President Juvenal Habyarimana’s popularity was slowly declining, the incumbent President Kagame formed the RPF party. He had support from his fellow Tutsis and some moderate Hutus.
Juvenal Habyarimana also brought the Hutus together in his favor. Peaceful negotiations later preceded the collaborations. Though none of the talks were successful as ethnic conflicts in the country were still on the rise. In April 1994, Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane exploded after a gunshot. No one knew who was responsible for the catastrophic killing. However, some Hutus alleged President Kagame as the perpetrator.
The killing of the former president sparked the onset of mass murder in Kigali. With the help of wealthy and influential politicians, the Hutu extremists murdered many opposition leaders and Tutsis.
Organized gangs of government soldiers and military attacked Tutsi communities. They killed and burnt people in their houses and churches. The Interahamwe radio station also urged more Hutus to join in the fight against Tutsis. Therefore, many young men joined the uprising and killed Tutsis. The 1994 genocide was a massacre, 800000 Tutsis died. Those who managed to flee the country now leave as refugees in foreign lands.
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