From Rwanda to Ukraine, they are dwelt from the tragedy

When I joined the United Nations -backed international criminal court as a judicial legal advisor in 2007, I was full of hope for justice and a safer future. We were aimed at holding those behind the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

But my confidence retreated when we only followed the former government members led by Hotto, which undermines neutrality. Rwandan officials prevented investigations into the Rwandan National Front, led by the leader and future president, Paul Kajami, despite the great atrocities against civilians. After nearly two decades, I deal with the realization that, instead of breaking the cycle of violence, we may have unintentionally contributed to the emergence of a new tyranny.

President Kagami, who was once celebrating as an editor who ended the genocide of 1994, has evolved into a personality with power with an iron grip, suppressing the opposition and benefiting from the genocide novel to support his rule.

His recent actions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which supports the M23 rebel militia to seize the eastern city of Juma, reflects a dangerous global style of destabilizing regional stability under the guise of national security.

While Guma-Blinking with millions of souls and who is rich in minerals important to global industries-risks escalating to a widespread war across the border, the Kagame regime seeks to strangle and report any form of political opposition at home.

Victoire Ingabire is a symbol of this. Upon returning to Rwanda in 2010, after 16 years in exile, in the hope of developing a real democracy, he called on Ingabire to a comprehensive memory of all victims of Rwanda’s violent history, regardless of race. This attracted the anger of the government, which does not tolerate its copy of history.

The arrest of the subsequent Angabir, the trial and convictions on charges of false terrorism, the denial of genocide, and the 15 -year prison sentence, on a large scale as a political motivation.

Her recent attempt to run for the presidency in Rwanda was thwarted in July 2024 when the Rwandan Supreme Court supported a legal embargo that prevented her from running because of her previous convictions. Although it was amputated in 2018, the court ruled that it remained unchanging to run because the restrictions imposed by its amnesty have not yet ended.

Now, the threat of re -preparation (or the worst) waving the end of the pardon of the pardon for Ingabire in August 2025. In the last speeches, Kagame has warned the advocates of democracy fatefully like Ingabire that “their days are known”, we correct them. ”

This discourse, which indicates imminent acts against Ingabire, is part of a pattern: Kagame has previously not hinted that it will not “end well” and that the government “will find a suitable solution” to it.

In my opinion, this is evidence of how selective justice in court had long -term effects. The Kagame government has gathered and established a novel in which any criticism of the Rwandan National Front is a denial of genocide.

The most parallel in modern political geography is the state of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, backed by twisted accounts based on the date of review – in fact, the title of the economist “Rwanda is Putin in the Congo”. It appears that both Putin and Kagami are driven by various manifestations of greed and anger.

This highlights the disturbing global trend: leaders who take advantage of previous shocks and conflicts as tools to maintain power. Not only destabilize the stability of their regions, but also threatens to ignite the broader conflicts, benefit from historical grievances and security accounts to suppress the internal opposition and justify aggressive expansions. The response of the international community is often silent with geopolitical considerations, which fails to tackle the resulting atrocities sufficiently.

The world must face this face to face: there is a pattern of nations whose difficult history has the collection of authoritarian governments. Only by admitting to address and address these complications, we can hope to support the paths that are based on justice, respect for human rights, and real judgment under the rule of law.

The international community must calibrate its approach and give priority to restore true democracy in Rwanda to ensure stability in the Great Lakes region.

As for Putin, of course, the saving of Russia from the grip of Kabal is one of the many holy cups in the political geography that awaits us.

Sheila Bilan is a lawyer in the field of human rights and a chief legal adviser to the United Nations.