A ruling by the appeals chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Tribunals that could lead to the release of Felicien Kabuga, a key suspect of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, has disappointed survivors.

Appeals judges in The Hagues on Monday, August 7, rejected a request by prosecutors for a "trial of facts,” an alternative procedure that was prescribed after Kabuga was deemed unfit to stand trial due to his deteriorating health conditions. The ruling implies that Kabuga may soon be released.

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"The decision has shocked us and we are very disappointed,” said Philbert Gakwenzire, the president of Ibuka, an umbrella organisation of survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, adding that it further jeopardizes the delivery of justice.

"The most shocking thing for us has been the fact that Kabuga was on the run for more than 25 years, supported by his wealth, influence and use of fake passports, and then after he appears in court his defence claims he has a serious illness and therefore is not fit to stand trial,” Gakwenzire noted.

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Medical experts said in March that Kabuga had dementia and could not properly participate in his trial.

The judges said there could be "an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction.”

However, the appeals chamber said neither the mechanism’s statute nor its jurisprudence allowed such an alternative.

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"The decision is very discouraging, to say the least,” Yolande Mukagasana, a Genocide survivor and campaigner for justice, told The New Times.

"I have never been confident in the United Nations, because since 1959, when the Tutsi were killed and exiled from their country, up until 1994, when the penultimate stage of genocide was completed, the UN was never on our side.”

Mukagasana said the decision that could potentially lead to the release of "the man who bought and supplied machetes to kill the Tutsi” came as no surprise.

"In my view, it amounts to protection. They’ve protected Kabuga from being tried for the crimes he committed. It sends the message that Rwandans need to remember that they are the ones to pursue justice for the victims and survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi,” she said.

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Mukagasana noted that it is disheartening to see that the UN cannot deliver justice to more than one million victims, including babies, innocent people and the sick, who perished due to Kabuga’s actions.

A bad precedent

The decision could also set "a bad precedent” for future trials of hundreds of other Genocide fugitives, Gakwenzire noted.

"Facing trial for their crimes, some of the other aging Genocide perpetrators may invoke similar arguments, like the ones raised by Kabuga’s defence, saying they are not fit to stand trial, which could further hurt us the survivors,” he said.

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Kabuga was arrested in May 2020 in France.

The 90-year-old, who was a businessman before and during the genocide, was charged with seven counts, including genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, and conspiracy to commit genocide.

Other charges are persecution and extermination, as crimes against humanity.

Notoriously tagged "the financer of the genocide,” Kabuga allegedly provided massive support to the genocidal regime in terms of finance, logistics. He is also accused of founding the hate radio RTLM, which fuelled killings across the country.