Félicien Kabuga Trial: The boomerang of life and lawlessness.
Life is a boomerang; what you give is what you get. Nothing lasts forever, nor is any condition permanent. Not even power or powerbrokers can guarantee immortality. Just because the boomerang in life has taken time does not mean it will not come to pass.
Who would have convinced Félicien Kabuga, once one of Rwanda’s wealthiest men, that he would one day reduce himself to a mere "cockroach" and be arrested or held behind the bar like a criminal? Yes, like a criminal, he is. For years, Félicien Kabuga was a wealthy business guru who could effortlessly influence the political climate in Rwanda. And sure, he did. Today he is standing trial at a UN tribunal in The Hague for allegedly masterminding and financing one of the most brutal mass murders in recent history, the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Twenty-six years after allegedly orchestrating the worst genocide in our modern time and evading justice, Félicien Kabuga was captured in Paris, France, two years ago to account for the alleged atrocities committed against his fellow Rwandans. The boomerang of life and lawlessness.
In early 1997, Kabuga used a radio station to plant the seed of hatred by instigating and inciting violence against the ethnic Tutsis, whom it described as "cockroaches." He mobilised and aided hit squads to put his acidic and hateful rhetoric into practice, which led to the slaughtering of some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus within a mere 100 days, most gruesomely and cruelly butchered, according to the allegation in court. The ethnic incitement was so successfully imbibed that even partners, parents, children and other family members murdered their blood relatives and loved ones just because of having Tutsi blood.
It took the heroic and courageous intervention of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by President Paul Kagame to bring the insanity to an end. The genocide is the darkest part of Rwanda’s history; the infamous historical narrative one cannot discuss without mentioning Félicien Kabuga’s evil role. And President Paul Kagame’s undaunted, dauntless act, which has today set Rwanda on the most progressive journey in the country’s history. Another boomerang many Rwandans have been praying for.
Although the government’s case against Mr Kabuga is solid, with prosecutors expected to call more than 50 witnesses, his lawyers have filed a not guilty plea on behalf of the 80-year-old Félicien Kabuga, who refused to attend the first court hearing. Victims of his atrocities and genocide have called for a speedy trial to make Kabuga pay for his crime before he dies under the presumption of innocence.
For two decades, Mr Kabuga evaded justice, living in many countries under a false identity while actively controlling his business empire. But everything has an end. And an end came Félicien Kabuga’s nefarious activities and his fugitive story. Two years ago, French authorities successfully tracked down the fugitive in his flat in the Paris suburb of Asnières-Sur-Seine, where he had been living under a fictitious identity.
Presently, Mr Kabuga is standing trial for a murderous crime against his countrypeople. Against humanity, whose crime was that they belonged to a different ethnic group, they chose to love, peace and tolerance over Félicien Kabuga’s hateful, divisive, deadly and venomous ideology.
Justice suffers, and lawlessness prevails when we refuse to fight for what is right. If we fail to make love, tolerance or truth the cornerstone in our nation’s consciousness, they become foreign to the citizens and the country. In life, we give out what we most want to come back to us; did Félicien Kabuga ever think of this life philosophy? Did he want the seed of hatred and murder he planned to return and hurt him? I doubt so. Whatever the case may be, our evil lives after us. Félicien Kabuga’s criminal acts returned looking for their master, and there was no hiding place for him. In life, love and hate are an inescapable boomerang that goes back to the initiator.
Karma has no menu. You get served what you desire at an appropriate time. Are perpetrators of injustices around the world listening?