The Kinyarwanda proverb “amaraso arasama,” meaning “shedding blood curses the doer,” came to mind recently as I reflected on the uncertain fate of Rwandan genocide convicts who remain detained despite serving their sentences.
According to a recent report, seven former officials tried for their role in the 1994 genocide are stuck in limbo in Niger after their request to be transferred was denied. They are former military and political officials who were either acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) or released after serving their sentences.
Names like Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, Prosper Mugiraneza, Protais Zigiranyirazo, Andre Ntagerura, Alphonse Nteziryayo, Anatole Nsengiyumva, Tharcisse Muvunyi (now deceased), and Innocent Sagahutu bring back the fear, violence and death of those 100 days.
These were among the most powerful men directing the massacres, rapes and torture of Tutsis. Because of them, we were left to face the machetes, the countless Hutu killers, the roadblocks and the fear they organized to exterminate us.
In 1994, the world abandoned us to the slaughter at their hands. Today, although no machete hangs over their heads, the world seems to shut its doors, leaving them in isolation and uncertainty.
Is this karma? As a survivor, it’s tempting to think so. But justice shouldn’t be about vengeance. Their prolonged detention raises complex questions of human rights and international law.
As a lawyer, I can see the legal issues in their situation. As a survivor, staying objective is much harder. Their case shows how messy justice after genocide can be. They are now caught up in technicalities, diplomacy and public opinion.
Their situation is real, but we cannot forget that it started with crimes against humanity. They ask for second chances and asylum, while survivors and the world still live with what they did. Can justice be served while respecting their human rights? I don’t have the answer.
I believe compassion and hope should win over hatred and division. But we must never forget, or repeat the mistakes of the past.
My heart holds both pain from the past and hope for the future. What happened can’t be undone, but what we do today shapes tomorrow. The fate of these men is about more than them; it says something about the values we all claim to hold.
Their names still fill me with dread, but I want to hope for something better.
“Amaraso arasama” reminds us to question blind hate before more blood is shed. Prosper Mugiraneza and Edouard Karemera were once decent men who embraced the Hutu Power ideology that labeled Tutsis as enemies. Without moral courage, any of us could fall the same way.
People who knew Mugiraneza, Karemera and a few other big names before the genocide say they were reasonable men who fell for a toxic ideology. Their fate should be a lesson to Rwanda, to Africa and to the world. Ends.
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