Say no to Western bullies

Editor, RE: “Spanish Supreme Court revokes warrants against 40 Rwandans, recognises Rwanda’s primary competence” (The New Times, October 8). I would love to hear the opinion of an academic from the school on this. I believe they should write an article informing Rwandans, and to an extent Africans, on the legal loopholes that were exploited by the Spanish judge and/or other forces behind it. As far as I know, it is only Kenya and Rwanda that have managed to stand up to the western-backed “universal jurisdiction”, and I believe this sets a strong precedence for other Africans who may be subject to this form of colonialism. As it has been agreed, the only way is to set up/strengthen African judicial systems where genuine African victims can hope for fair trials without political games being played over them. Some time back, Kenyans subjected to the brutal Mau Mau repressions in the 1950s were awarded compensation in a British court 50 years later, long after the genuine victims had passed away, disillusioned and impoverished. This by itself was protracted because the British system tried to cover up evidence. Rwanda is setting the standards in a lot of ways for Africa to be free of mental slavery and other forms of slavery from more developed/stronger/bully countries in various development areas. Let us also set the standard for Africans and say no to being bullied through the so-called universal jurisdiction that is almost all times used for political rather than juridical ends. Kigali Girl ************************************************** Editor, There were no legal loopholes, and none are in fact required for a bully to attempt torment those the bully believes to be weaker than themselves. There is nothing new in this kind of behaviour, of course, where those who consider themselves more powerful go after those they view to be weaker (notice how none of these people ever attempt the same shenanigans against the powerful or those with powerful shepherds, confirming the Rwandan adage that, “Uherekejwe n’ingwe niwe uvoma”). Millennia ago, Aesop highlighted this type of oppressive behaviour by the powerful against the weaker in his Wolf and the Lamb Fable. As some readers may remember, a wolf, wanting to justify taking the life of a lamb it comes upon, accuses it of various transgressions, all of which the little lamb proves to be impossible. Despite that, however, the wolf insists the alleged offences must still have been committed by a relative of the lamb, jumps on its victim and devours it. The moral of the fable: the tyrant or the bully does not require logical or credible justifications to torment those they consider to being weaker than themselves. Any excuse will do as long as they can get away with it without cost to themselves. They will not deign to listen to the counter-reasoning of their designated victim no matter how truthful. However, as a designated victim, Rwanda has confounded them repeatedly. But rather than give up, their inability to have their way only seems to sharpen their hostility against our country and its leadership. But even these repetitive attempts at legal mugging have their uses. They help us remain alert to our enemies’ schemes and to guard against complacency. Mwene Kalinda

Opinions

Say no to Western bullies