A scholar on Monday, May 18, drew similarities between the expected trial of Genocidaire Felicien Kabuga and a historic event in the history of Israel, the trial of Nazi-era Adolf Eichmann, in the 1960s. Kabuga, one of the key architects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, was arrested Saturday, May 16, in France, putting the spotlight on the countrys link with mass murderers. In May 1960, Israeli agents captured Eichmann, who had played a central role in the Nazi plan to annihilate six million European Jews, and brought him to Israel to stand trial. Phil Clark, a Professor of International Politics at SOAS University of London, in England, told The New Times that one of the key questions now is - where will Kabuga be prosecuted? Prof. Clark, a political scientist specialising in conflict and post-conflict issues in Africa - recalled that UN residual mechanism has stated that it wants to try Kabuga, and its Statute is heavily geared towards this outcome. However, Clark added, there are legal and political avenues that Rwanda can pursue to bring the Kabuga trial to Kigali. Prosecuting Kabuga in Kigali will have a similar impact to the trial of Eichmann in Jerusalem, he added. Such trials are most powerful when they are held in full view of the communities directly affected by the crimes in question, rather than in international courtrooms thousands of kilometres away. Genocide survivors in Rwanda have made it known that they want the genocidaire brought home for trial. Clark noted that Rwanda has a track record of prosecuting cases transferred from the ICTR and the UN residual mechanism. It would strengthen the UNs own legacy to show that it helped bolster the Rwandan judiciarys capacity to prosecute a case like Kabugas. British journalist Linda Melvern told The New Times that Kabuga, the banker who financed and helped organise the logistics for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is a fanatic of Hutu Power, the ideology that underpinned the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. Melvern has so far written three books on topics related to the Genocide against the Tutsi. She added: The ICTR indictment describes him as having a catalytic role in the elimination of the political opposition as the genocidaires put in place their state policy of mass death, a policy Kabuga inspired and helped to construct, encourage and finance. This included the creation of the Interahamwe militia.
