Top genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga will finally appear in dock in The Hague this week to answer charges pertaining to his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The trial is set to start after Kabuga, through his lawyers, had attempted to stall the case on grounds that he was of ill health, and was not of sound mind to stand trial. He is currently 89. However, the judges at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals – the Mechanism – rejected these pleas, and ordered for Kabuga to go on trial and answer for the six counts he faces; 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, as crimes against humanity. The fact that the advanced age excuse failed the test at the UN court should send a strong message to other genocidaires still roaming the world who thought to benefit from this jurisprudence to escape justice. It is nearly 29 years since the Genocide was committed against the Tutsi and, clearly, age is catching up on many of the perpetrators who have avoided capture for all these years. This therefore offers a bit of relief for survivors of the that genocide who, nearly three decades after the Genocide, are yet to see justice taking its course to its full extent. It would have been very absurd for Kabuga, who on top of bankrolling the Genocide – including leading efforts to establish RTLM, a radio station that was a key propaganda tool during the Genocide – had been let off under the pretext of advanced age. Now that the trial date has finally been set, survivors will keenly have their eyes on the bench to deliver the justice they have waited for, for three decades now. However, the judges will also rely on a solid case to be presented by prosecution. Previously, with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – the Mechanism’s precursor – some cases were scuttled at the level of prosecution.
