Protestors demonstrating against the arrest
of Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s aide,
Rose Kabuye, in 2008. (Photo: AP)
The arrest of Rwanda’s chief spy, General Karenzi Karake sparked protests across the country in an attempt to mount pressure on the UK government to release him.
I followed closely the stories of his arrest and his initial trial in the UK, my mind went back to seven years ago when Germany arrested Lt. Col. Rose Kabuye and immediately sent her to France to answer Jean-Louis Bruguière’s accusations.
Rwanda’s genocide history is unique, and it is affecting the country’s relationship with the Western world.
It’s a pity that these countries, especially the “super-powers”, did nothing to intervene while Tutsis were being slaughtered.
It is even true that some countries, like the former colonial masters, had a role to play in causing the genocide against the Tutsis, which claimed the lives of over one million people.
But the approach of organizing street protests denouncing their judiciary doesn’t work in countries that have independent justice systems. It can only work in countries like Rwanda, where the government will mobilize its own people to go onto the streets as a way of making a point.
Slogans like “We say no abuse of justice”, “Stop confusing the world on Genocide”, “Demeaning Africans is unacceptable…” will not help at all. FULL STORY