Dr Himbara : “Kagame Is One African Ruler That Ought To Watch Bashir’s Fall Nervously”
Sudan’s dictator Omar al-Bashir has fallen spectacularly. He is now in maximum security prison. Bashir may well end up at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face charges of committing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Bashir would never have imagined that such a thing was remotely possible. The arrogance of power could not let him see this coming.
Besides Bashir, there is only one other African ruler whose name is associated with the term ”genocide” — Rwanda’s General Paul Kagame. In 2002, DR Congo took Kagame’s Rwanda to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the following crimes:
”Engaging in killing, massacring, rape, throat-slitting, and crucifying. Rwanda is guilty of genocide against more than 3,500,000 Congolese, including the victims of the recent massacres in the city of Kisangani.”
The case against Rwanda could not proceed because ICJ does not have jurisdiction over Rwanda. Fast forward to 2010 when the UN’s Mapping Report described Rwanda’s actions in DRC as follows:
”The extensive use of edged weapons (primarily hammers) and the apparently systematic nature of the massacres of survivors after the camps had been taken suggests that the numerous deaths cannot be attributed to the hazards of war or seen as equating to collateral damage. The majority of the victims were children, women, elderly people and the sick, who were often undernourished and posed no threat to the attacking forces…Thus the apparent systematic and widespread attacks described in this report reveal a number of inculpatory elements that, if proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide.”
Kagame should watch Bashir’s fall nervously. Bashir was all-powerful. He was untouchable as long as he held power. Suddenly, power evaporated. He is now fair game. The main lesson Kagame should draw from the Bashir episode is that no ruler is invincible. It is a matter of time when the past catches up with the present.
