America on Rusesabagina: The Terror Victims Are Done and Dusted, Next Please

 


The 102 victims and survivors from the bloody attacks conducted by Paul Rusesabagina's FLN rebels in southwestern Rwanda, will be forgotten completely. That is if we allow it.

The Americans have decided that the victims don’t exist, by their latest action to categorise Rusesabagina as a “wrongful detained” person. Degrading and distasteful as it appears, a new narrative is taking shape.

Away from this speculative decision, these are the facts. We know the victims who were killed, those left with lifelong injuries, not forgetting the property they lost yet they had worked for many years.

The national liberation front (FLN) which Rusesabagina has publicly accepted he led, attacked different villages including Nyabimata, Bweyeye, Yanze and Mururu. They attacked a highway too.

As a result, a total of 9 (nine) people were killed including a 13-year-old girl. These are their names; Ornella Sine Atete, 13; Isaac Niwenshuti, 17; Joseph Habarurema, 25; Fidèle Munyaneza, 45; Anathole ‘Prefet’ Maniraho, 33; Hilarie Mukabahizi, 45; Diane Jackeline Mutesi, 28; Samuel Nteziryayo, 34; and Jeanine Niyobuhungiro, 23.

We who know these victims. We know everything about them. We know their names. If we let their killing be forgotten, history will not forget. Rwanda as nation owes them keeping their memory alive.

The first major attack took place in June 2018 in Nyabimata Sector, Nyaruguru District, when FLN rebels invaded a village at around midnight, carrying out violent activities. They killer 3 civilian lives and injured at least two others.

The second attack targeted public transport, when the rebels ambushed three buses along the Kigali-Rusizi highway during the Christmas season.

They really knew when and where to attack, as Rusesabagina himself has admitted. The aimed to cause maximum impact, to force the government of Rwanda into negotiations.

More attacks took place in Rusizi District. One of them happened in Kamembe town near a bar called Stella, where grenades were thrown at a group of people. Many were injured – with four of them seriously.

When the court case against Paul Rusesabagina and his accomplices opened, those impacted by the rebel attacks, but had been lucky to survive, petitioned the judiciary.

In total, 83 people demonstrated in specific detail that they had either been severely injured, had lost their property which was looted and destroyed, or both situations had happened to them.

First, the survivor joined the court case so that they could be able to see face to face, those responsible for their injuries and lifelong pain. The other reason was so that they are awarded legitimate compensation.

The attackers destroyed a lot of property, including vehicles that were burnt, crop farms damaged, in addition to the looting of businesses and households.

In one of the attacks, the assailants  looted the bar, robbed clients, and also beat them up.

One of the survivors of these numerous deadly attacks, Viateur Habimana spent two months in hospital, leaving with a bill of Rwf 5.1million. The hospital had allowed him to go home, but the bill still stands.

Dominic Rugerinyange's 25-year-old son was killer during an attack by FLN fighters on the bar he owned in Nyabimata. There is no monetary value that can replace a child. Every parent can attest.

Rusesabagina himself wouldn’t live with himself if anything happened to his two daughters, the son, or his wife.

How then, are the Americans deciding that Rusesabagina doesn’t have a case to answer? How many victims are many enough to merit consideration?

There is an attempt to shift the discussion away from Rusesabagina’s actions. The FLN is being removed from the equation, yet they still exist today.

To me, this appears to be blanket permission to the rebels to continue their mayhem.

In fact, Rusesabagina, the terrorism financer, has had his family hosted by the US White House and State Department. They are campaigning for Rusesabagina. On the other hand however, the victims and survivors in Rwanda, are fighting on their own.

If we let go of the victims, the other well-meaning members of world will too. We cannot afford to do that. We should never tire from telling their stories.

 

 

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