In 2004, a moving Hollywood film, Hotel Rwanda, seared the horrific 1994 genocide onto the public consciousness. The actor Don Cheadle, who earned an Oscar nomination, played Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager during the massacre who saved nearly 1,200 Tutsis from slaughter by hiding them in the Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
For nearly 11 weeks during the spring of 1994, Rusesabagina kept Hutu forces at bay, negotiating with every contact he could think of, from the UN to the genocidaires.
“Paul Rusesabagina managed to do the impossible to save our lives at the moment when others were massacring their own children, their own wives,” wrote Thomas Kamilindi, a Rwandan journalist.
But Rusesabagina’s glory would soon be shattered. Last week, Rusesabagina, a vocal critic of Paul Kagame, was sentenced by a court in Kigali to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges. Prosecutors had initially sought a life sentence on nine charges, including leading an illegal armed group. Rusesabagina has admitted membership in the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a Brussels-based opposition group, but denied responsibility for violence carried out by MRCD’s armed wing, the National Liberation Front (FLN).
Rusesabagina’s father was Hutu, his mother Tutsi, but because of patrilineal customs, he is considered Hutu.
The trial has highlighted the bitter ethnic divisions that still remain in Rwanda, despite Kigali’s public efforts to mend society after a conflict that left 1 million people dead.
Over the past decades, Mr Kagame has had an extraordinary transformation – from soldier to statesman to reformer. Under his rule, ethnic designation – which played a major role in the brutal genocide – had been eliminated from identity cards and public dialogue. An impressive system of transitional justice based on grass-roots courts known as Gacaca, attempted to bring perpetrators of heinous crimes to justice. More importantly, Rwanda is frequently hailed as a post-conflict poster child, far surpassing other conflicts of the 1990s such as Bosnia, which remain locked in ethnic tension.
Mr Kagame’s presidency has been impressive in terms of environmentalism, literacy, women’s empowerment, lifting poverty, installing an impressive healthcare system and putting Rwanda back on a regional and international stage. Mr Kagame has been called a hero, a strongman, a benevolent dictator.
Under his rule, Rwanda has flourished, though critics highlight extreme pressure on journalists and political opponents. Supporters of Mr Kagame say this is essential to reduce ethnic hatreds but human rights organisations disagree. In response to his rule, hard-liners in exile began to form Hutu Power, which called for a return to Hutu governance.
And this is the legacy of Rwanda. A stable country led by Mr Kagame, “freedom fighter” after a horrific genocide, but a new school of revisionist scholars and journalists who claim otherwise. Back in 1995, the infamous Gersony Report, written by a freelance human rights investigator, claimed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the resistance group led by Mr Kagame during the genocide era that has since become the ruling party, was responsible for post-genocide politically motivated attacks in the south of the country. The report claimed that 35,000 Hutus had been killed. Although human rights experts accepted its findings, it was rejected by the UN and never finished.
Rusesabagina had originally been a Kagame supporter, but slowly drifted into Hutu political parties, aligning himself with their ideology
Then in 2018, a Canadian journalist, Judi Rever, published In Praise of Blood, which essentially alleges war crimes by the RPF during its rise to power in the 1990s. She argues that the Tutsi-led RPF war crimes should also be labelled “genocide” – a highly controversial accusation. The book is widely criticised as unreliable and sensationalist, but it has nonetheless contributed to changing the conversation in the West about the current Rwandan government’s record.
Rusesabagina had originally been a Kagame supporter, but slowly drifted into Hutu political parties, aligning himself with their ideology. Some believed he would challenge Mr Kagame in his role.
In some respects, Rwandan politics is now divided into genocide-deniers, who claim more Hutus died than Tutsis in 1994 – and those who say the genocide ethnically cleansed the Tutsi population. Hutu Power in exile wish to see the end of Mr Kagame’s reign, and continue to fund small militias along the border.
In a video posted on YouTube in 2018, Rusesabagina called for armed resistance, saying change could not be achieved by democratic means. The year before, Mr Kagame had won re-election with 99 per cent of the vote.
Both Belgium, where Rusesabagina took up residence before the US, and the US have criticised the trial as an attempt to silence critics of the increasingly repressive government. Rusesabagina's family says they expected this verdict, and he will appeal.
But the trial has opened up painful wounds in Rwanda that many thought were healing: ethnicity, past grievances, revenge. It has been called a battle for the soul of the country. But most of all the trial and conviction of Rusesabagina sends a clear message to opponents of Mr Kagame. Last Tuesday, Mr Kagame gave his remarks at the UN General Assembly. He spoke of Covid-19, global solidarity, vaccine distribution and the values of organisation. At the end, there was a brief mention of “genocide deniers” but there was no mention of Rusesabagina, who is still remembered by his supporters as the hero of the Hotel des Milles Collines.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company%20Profile
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More coverage from the Future Forum
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
THREE
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Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
