If the trial of genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is suspended, that would imply an outright denial of justice to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, survivors say.
Medics say Kabuga, a key suspect in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi as the main financier, is not fit to stand trial due to his deteriorating health condition.
The 89-year-old, infamously known as the genocide financier, is being tried by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNIRMCT) in The Hague.
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Egide Gatari, President of the Association of Former Students Survivors of the Genocide (GAERG), said: "the possibility of suspending Kabuga’s trial could be another setback in the delivery of justice, adding to the 28 years he spent on the run before he was arrested in May 2020 in France.
On Thursday, March 23, Gillian Mezey, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Kabuga’s health, told the UN court that the 89-yearl-old has two types of dementia (Vascular and Alzheimer's) and is not fit to stand trial. Mezey was the second medic to testitify about Kabuga’s health.
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"Suspending the trial of Kabuga and leaving him would be one of the incidents of denial of justice to victims and survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi at the hands of the international community,” Gatari said.
"Even Kabuga’s delayed arrest and trial have been an injustice done to us by the foreign countries.”
Gatari said that if the UN court rules in favour of Kabuga’s defence team, the decision will have affect efforts to arrest and try other genocide suspects who are still on the run in European countries like the United Kingdom.
"If Kabuga is not convicted by the court, he that means will remain a genocide suspect and not a genocide convict,” Gatari said. "But for those who lost parents and relatives because of his activities, Kabuga will always remain the killer, the notorious Interahamwe.”
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In an earlier interview with The New Times, Minister of National Unity and Civic Education, Jean Damascene Bizimana, said Kabuga’s defence lawyers have always sought to have the trial suspended. He said he believed the UN judges will decide to proceed with the trial in the interest of justice.
Kabuga was an influential businessman before and during the Genocide. He is charged with seven counts including: genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.
Other charges include persecution and extermination – both of which are crimes against humanity.
The court hearing is set to continue on March 29 as the judges hear more about the suspect’s health.