Last April 26 in The Hague, Netherlands, Paul Rusesabagina was at it again. This time though, he was challenged by an audience that did not blindly swallow his usual pack of lies and revisionist statements. This was at the so called International Conference on Peace and Development in the Great Lakes region which was organised by Duurzaam voor Afrika and Dusabane in association with Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which turned out to be a sanctuary for the Tutsi genocide deniers. And as it happened in Brussels in November last year at a similar conference, where the old ethnic divisionism was applied to let people inside the conference room, the same backward behavior was on the agenda in The Hague. People had registered for the conference and consequently had been given confirmations in time, but on entry this morning the organisers deliberately refused them the right to attend because they were suspected to be Tutsi yet it was a conference for all people of the great lakes region, said Narcisse Gakuba chairman of Ibuka Association in Netherlands. And of course the organizers will deny this alleging that the Rwandan Government, its workers and supporters have been and are still tirelessly striving to manipulate facts around the conference - the usual Rusesabagina style of jumping to the Rwandan leadership as a scapegoat whenever his evil plans are put to question. But what are the facts about the conference ‘the Rwandan government supporters’ were trying to manipulate? Christian de Beule’s historic distortions and confusion about old events in Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda? Indeed his presentation focused on former Burundi President Jean Baptitse Bagaza’s alleged persecution of the churches, on allegations of relations between the Ugandan Hima and the Rwandan Tutsi, on the crimes committed against the Hutu in Burundi in 1972 and on the RPF liberation struggle as having been an attack of Rwanda by Ugandan troops… If someone tried to manipulate the facts to best suit the schemes of the negationists, it is certainly Christian de Beule himself. When he came to the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, one would have expected to hear him talk about the hell that befell upon Rwanda, but no. The man jumped to link the apocalypse to the killing of former President Ndadaye in Burundi a few months before and to the killing of the two Hutu presidents, Ntaryamira and Habyarimana in the plane crash. He deliberately kept mum on the planning of the Genocide and opted not to recognize the Genocide itself. This is the very pattern of negationists all over the world: pretend that nothing ever happened in the context and extent it did. The other panelist, former US Ambassador to Burundi Krueger was of no different caliber. A very close friend of Rusesabagina, he talked of himself as survivor of Tutsi violence, like his friend Paul Rusesabagina. And in his revisionist logic, he ended up advocating for impunity of genocide perpetrators saying that …trials are useless; that the so-called justice and punishment is not a solution, only reconciliation and forgiveness is necessary… Then came Rusesabagina, an admitted friend of the Hutu masterminds and perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide and currently a front-man for their campaign to return to Rwanda and finish the work left behind in 1994. They wholeheartedly hate President Kagame because he and his RPF army against all odds came to the rescue of those in Rwanda who suffered, and still suffer, from its enormous side effects, aggravated by the likes of Rusesabagina, what is considered one of the worst depravities ever inflicted on humanity. As we have traveled on this journey for lasting peace and a stable future for the victims of genocide, we have been attacked by the naysayers trying to stop our efforts. I can only ask why are these people against truth and reconciliation for a nation and region. At our previous events and even today they have tried to silence our discussions and prevent our promotion of peace and healing. Why? This is what he said, trying to gain sympathy from the audience. During the question and answer session, Rusesabagina was asked about his statements denying Genocide in an interview with Keith Harmon Snow, his relationships with the FDLR, what he did with the funds fundraised supposedly to help orphans among others. To none of these did he give the slightest answer. He chose to dodge them to avoid further embarrassment, and this is not surprising since he did not have any escape route from the hard truth. He chose to keep quiet on all the questions asked; an admission of lack of maneuverability and a signal of guilt. He is planning more conferences in the near future but the good news is that he is increasingly becoming known for what he really is: a Tutsi genocide denier and revisionism apologist, and it will not be long before he is refused any more audience, as more and more people are getting aware of his now clearly defined evil intentions. As we continue monitoring and exposing the machinations of these negotionists, we join all the good people of the world in saying: Never Again. Contact: muhetofe@gmail.com
