Kabuga, Rwanda’s Génocidaire to ICC; In Contrast Bashir, Darfur Génocidaire is “at large” due to the Lack of Political Will by GoS and the Elites in Khartoum

By Osama Suleiman

Félicien Kabuga, 84 years old, was living with a false identity in Asnières-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. He has been arrested by the French authorities near Paris (ref. 1). Kabuga was the money man, the financier of the atrocities carried by the Hutu against the Tutsi that lead to the genocide of Tutsi in 1994 (ref. 2), the genocide that caused the slaughter of 800000 in Rwanda. Furthermore, he was the founder of the despicable radio (RTLM) that directly ordered the killing of any Tutsi including neighbours. Kabuga was charged with the counts of genocide crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court for Rwanda (ref. 3). This is such an important news for the victims of the genocide in Rwanda, and also for other genocide survivors around the world. The message is loud and clear, it is ONLY a Matter of Time; justice will prevail, eventually.

In the case of Bashir, all the ingredients are there; he is responsible for the longest running genocide in recent history, in Darfur. Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 4th March 2009 and 12th July 2010 for the following:-

2 counts of War Crimes

5 counts of Crimes against Humanity

3 counts of Genocide (the crime of the crimes/ the mother of the crimes)

After December 2018 revolution, the masses marched to the centre of general command in the capital Khartoum, and also other cities and regions in peaceful protests, which contributed to his removal from power (ref. 5). Later on an agreement was reached between the military council (Bashir last appointed security council) and the FFC (Forces for Freedom and change; a civil body made of political parties) to form a transitional government made of Sovereign Council (lead by General Al-Burhan) and executive government council lead by Abdel Allah Hamadok, prime minister.

Bashir was charged with corruption and misuse of public money and was sentenced to two years in a correctional facility in Kuber, in the capital (ref. 6).

The contrast between the way the Rwandans dealt with the genocide, transitional justice, and most important engraving of the word genocide in the memory of its population, the have done so by the adopting the following approach; utilising media to raise awareness about the genocide by speaking about the victims, and the crimes committed by the perpetrators. Secondly, putting justice in the forefront and searching for the Génocidaires who managed to flee the country. All of the aforementioned can not be compared to the way Sudan is currently dealing with the case.

The lack for the political will, by the current government (all of its components) is failing the victims of genocide; this issue should have not event be in the agenda of discussion in Juba. Bashir and the some of the other indictees are in the correctional facility or prison, the ICC is more than ever wanting them and the victims want ICC to take charge of the case for the Genociders to face justice in Le Hague and Le Hague only. Sudan justice system is not capable of dealing with such crimes; some aspect of the transitional justices may be, however not this one.

Lessons learned for Sudan from the arrest of Kabuga should be ; unity is still at jeopardy; components within FFC still view Bashir as one of theirs as they share blood and they will resist any push for him to be handed to ICC; Genocide is barely a footnote on the agenda of the government.

Achieving a lasting peace is the only way out for the country from all its problems such as economy turmoil, security issues across the country (only yesterday we witnessed the issues in East Sudan and Kordofan) and the direct connection to business confidence and sanctions in all forms. Easy said than done, however, the baby steps toward that can start by recognising genocide nationwide, make a memorial day for the victims, introduce genocide and the learning from it to the national curriculum. Most importantly hand Omar Bashir and his co indictees to the International Criminal Court to face justice in Le Hague; this or a return to square one.

Osama Mahmoud

Head of Comms.

Darfur Union in the UK

Website: https://darfurunionuk.wordpress.com

Email: [email protected]

Twitter handle: @darfurunionuk

Ref. 1:-

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-africa-52690464?__twitter_impression=true

Ref. 2:-

https://www.history.com/topics/africa/rwandan-genocide

Ref. 3:-

https://www.irmct.org/sites/default/files/cases/public-information/cis-kabuga-en.pdf