Friday, March 29News That Matters

Tag: Rwanda Genocide

Rwandan Genocide Suspect Kabuga to be Extradited to The Hague

Rwandan Genocide Suspect Kabuga to be Extradited to The Hague

FEATURED, Latest News, Rwanda
A UN judge on Wednesday ruled that Rwandan genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga, who has been in a French jail since May, should be sent to a detention unit in The Hague ahead of his trial.  “I hereby amend the arrest warrant and order of transfer,” Judge Iain Bonomy said from Arusha, Tanzania. “I consider that there are exceptional circumstances and that it would be in the interests of justice [to send Kabuga to The Hague].” The decision means that Kabuga, 84, is likely spend at least several months in The Hague and be brought before an international judge there for an initial appearance in his war crimes case, rather than in Tanzania as originally planned. UN prosecutors accuse the former tea and coffee tycoon of bankrolling and importing huge num...
Three Rwanda Genocide Suspects Arrested, Charged in Belgium

Three Rwanda Genocide Suspects Arrested, Charged in Belgium

FEATURED, NEWS, Rwanda
Three people accused of involvement in the Rwanda genocide were arrested and charged in Belgium with serious abuse of human rights, the spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said on Saturday. The identities of the three suspects were proven by witness testimony gathered in Rwanda by an investigation by Belgian authorities. The prosecutor's office, however, gave no further details about the three suspects. Eric Van Duyse said one of the suspects was under electronic surveillance while the other two were in detention. "Two were arrested Tuesday in Brussels and the third Wednesday in Hainault (province)," Van Duyse said. "All three have been charged with serious human rights abuses," He added. According to Van Duyse, a dossier compiled by the investigating m...
Protais Mpiranya; The Last High-ranking Rwanda Genocide Fugitive

Protais Mpiranya; The Last High-ranking Rwanda Genocide Fugitive

FEATURED, NEWS, Rwanda
Accused of commanding a presidential guard implicated in high-profile murders during the Rwandan genocide, Protais Mpiranya is the top priority for investigators following this year's arrest of a fellow alleged war criminal. On the run for 20 years, charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, Mpiranya is the most sought of the six remaining fugitives indicted by an international tribunal into the 1994 slaughter which left some 800,000 dead. He was second on the wanted list until the arrest of alleged genocide financier Felicien Kabuga near Paris in May. France's top appeals court ruled Wednesday that Kabuga, who had evaded capture in several countries, should be transferred to a UN tribunal in Tanzania to stand trial. But Mpiranya, who is believed to be arou...
France to Rule on Fate of Alleged Rwanda Genocide Financier

France to Rule on Fate of Alleged Rwanda Genocide Financier

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
A top French appeals court is to rule Wednesday on whether alleged Rwandan genocide financier Felicien Kabuga will stand trial in France or face a UN tribunal in Tanzania. Kabuga, who is 84 according to officials but claims to be 87, was arrested in May at his home outside Paris after 25 years on the run. The 1994 Rwanda genocide of some 800,000 people by Hutu extremists targeted rival Tutsis as well as also moderate Hutus. Once one of Rwanda’s richest men, Kabuga is alleged to have funnelled money to militia groups as chairman of the national defence fund. He is also accused of setting up the Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres as well as the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines whose broadcasts incited people to murder. A French court ruled in June that Ka...
Exiled ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Claims he was Duped into Flying Back to Kigali

Exiled ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Claims he was Duped into Flying Back to Kigali

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
Paul Rusesabagina, depicted in a Hollywood movie as a hero who helped save Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide, told the New York Times he believed he was flying to Burundi at the invitation of a pastor, but was instead lured to Rwanda and arrested on terrorism charges, Rusesabagina was speaking to the US daily in an interview the paper said had been authorised by the Rwandan government and had taken place in the presence of government officials. "How I got here – now that is a surprise," he told the newspaper. "I was actually not coming here." The 66-year-old Hutu political dissident and former hotel manager was propelled to fame after the Oscar-nominated film "Hotel Rwanda" portrayed him using his connections with the Hutu elite to protect Tutsis fleeing sl...
How the Hero of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ fell into a Vengeful Strongman’s Trap

How the Hero of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ fell into a Vengeful Strongman’s Trap

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
As the manager of a five-star hotel where 1,268 people sheltered from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina was known for his cool head — a quality that kept the killers at bay, helped ensure that all his guests survived, and led to an Oscar-nominated movie, “Hotel Rwanda,” that brought his story to a global audience. Now Mr. Rusesabagina is back in Rwanda, but this time under arrest, in a spartan cell in Kigali’s central police station, where he sleeps in a simple bed draped in a mosquito net. He still cuts the figure of an unruffled hotelier — pressed blazer, white shirt, polished loafers — even as he wrestled with how to explain the latest twists of a life story that threatens to outdo even its Hollywood version. Not long ago Mr. Rusesabagina, 66, was the toast o...
Lawyers to Appeal Decision to Deny ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Bail

Lawyers to Appeal Decision to Deny ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Bail

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
Lawyers for Paul Rusesabagina, a former Rwandan hotel manager who sheltered people during the nation’s 1994 genocide, will appeal a court decision to deny him bail.The court took the decision Thursday after Rusesabagina appeared on charges including terrorism earlier this week. His lawyers had asked that he be granted bail, partly on health grounds.“We find it necessary that Rusesabagina is provisionally detained in a prison facility for 30 days,” Judge Dorothy Yankurije said. “This will partly ensure that he does not sabotage ongoing investigation in his case.” The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights yesterday in a statement said that it plans to monitor the trial of Rusesabagina for fairness as part of the Clooney Foundation for Justice TrialWatch initiative.“Our TrialWa...
Trudeau Must Defend the Rights of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero

Trudeau Must Defend the Rights of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero

FEATURED, NEWS, Rwanda
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is serious about what he calls Canada’s “strong friendship” with Rwanda, and if he’s as genuinely devoted to the multilateral rules-based international order as he claims to be, now would be a good time to act like it. In the bizarre case of Paul Rusesabagina, the leading Rwandan opposition figure who vanished in Dubai on Aug. 28 and showed up a few hours later in a jail cell in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, Trudeau may even be uniquely positioned to step up. That’s the view of Philippe Larochelle, a Montreal human rights lawyer on the legal team Rusesabagina’s family has retained on his behalf. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have described Rusesabagina’s case as both an enforced disappearance and extraordinary rendition, in violatio...
Daughter of Hotel Rwanda Dissident Criticises Belgium’s Response to Arrest

Daughter of Hotel Rwanda Dissident Criticises Belgium’s Response to Arrest

FEATURED, Politics, Rwanda
The alleged rendition and detention of a Rwandan human rights activist has prompted only a tepid political response from his adopted home of Belgium, according to the activist’s daughter, who said it called into question the value of European citizenship for political prisoners. Paul Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, is alleged to have been forcibly taken from Dubai to Kigali, where he is facing terrorism-related charges. But his daughter Carine Kanimba said that since his mysterious disappearance, he has had one visit by a Belgian official – and that the visit took place in front of a state-appointed lawyer. “It really calls into question what the Belgian citizenship is worth, and what the status of asylum protection is work as a ...
‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina charged With Terrorism

‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina charged With Terrorism

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
A Rwandan court is charging the man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" with terrorism, complicity in murder and forming an armed rebel group.  Prosecutors accuse Paul Rusesabagina of orchestrating crimes against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians in 2018.   Rusesabagina refused to plead to all 13 charges on Monday, including being linked to murders, claiming some of the charges are baseless.  Rusesabagina, who has been detained since late last month, is asking to be released because of poor health. The court will hear his request for bail on Thursday.  The film "Hotel Rwanda" portrayed Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager, as a hero, who protected Tutsis fleeing the 1994 genocide.   Rusesa...