On 5 October 2021, the European Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution in support of Paul Rusesabagina, condemning his conviction on terrorism-related charges by Rwanda’s High Court Chamber for International and Cross-Border Crimes and calling for his immediate release. In doing so, it delivered a political blunder of Trumpian proportions – the sort of misguided, self-sabotaging gesture that reveals more about those making it than the issue at hand. For Rwandans in particular, and Africans more broadly, this gesture is something of an early Christmas gift: a blow to a key pillar of Western influence – credibility. Here’s why.
To start with, the resolution confirmed something long suspected: European – read Western – politicians often wade into African affairs with little understanding and even less humility. In this instance, they appeared blissfully unaware of the role their own governments played in Rusesabagina’s fate. Belgian authorities – from an EU member state, no less – provided much of the evidence that led to his conviction, as did the Americans, whose FBI took part in the investigation. The MPs also seemed unaware that the Belgian terrorist, far from being mistreated, received consistent consular visits and appropriate medical care, something even the U.S. State Department acknowledged in a brief statement earlier this year.
What’s more, the MPs seemed unable to distinguish between kidnapping and the act of luring a criminal suspect into custody. They overlooked the fact that courts in their own countries have established legal precedents ruling such methods admissible. Had they bothered to consult their judicial authorities and their diplomatic representations in Rwanda or even tune in to the trial – which was streamed live – they would have sparred themselves the embarrassment.
Instead, we were treated to a circus, as if their ignorance is as valid as the informed opinion that their own judicial authorities hold on the matter. Truth be told, such a level of ignorance should never be allowed anywhere near decision-making tables, let alone be televised for the Africans who still hold them in some regard as custodians of enlightenment to see! One would have expected such countries with an inextinguishable ambition to control other peoples to know that exposing the mediocrity of the lecturers would make even subservient students resistant.
Then there’s the performative concern for human rights, which in this case falls flat on its face. Shockingly, not once did the resolution mention the victims of the FLN, the terrorist group Rusesabagina admitted in court to having founded. Apparently, his European passport was deemed more worthy of protection than the lives shattered by his actions. Those victims weren’t just dehumanised; they were effectively erased. If this isn’t human rights upside down, what is?
In backing Rusesabagina, the EU undermined the very façade it relies upon to maintain moral authority in Africa – a strategic mistake. The urge to bully a so-called “unruly” African nation trumps the need to preserve the pretence of upholding EU’s self-professed values. In doing so, the MPs exposed the neo-colonial impulse for control behind the veil of human rights promotion. The game is given away as the blinder comes off for the natives to see for themselves.
For Afrians still inclined to look to Western institutions for justice and validation, this episode should serve as a wake-up call. It lays bare the same logic that informed the West’s choice to leave Rwandan Tutsi to die at the hands of genocidaires 27 years while offering sanctuary to the masterminds. It has always been about power, optics, and geopolitical positioning – not human rights.
Like Trump, the European Parliament has inadvertently done Africans a favour. Their ill-judged intervention has weakened the EU’s capacity to shape political thinking on the continent – despite the immense diplomatic and financial investment poured into doing just that. And in an era of stiff competition from the likes of China, the UAE, Turkey, and even Russia, these strategic blunders will come at a steep price.
But they didn’t stop there. If anything, the resolution marks a high point in the EU’s decline into irrelevance, driven by incompetence and hubris. Their mediocrity – once the stuff of whispers among the few who’d survived the colonial education system – is now on full display.
Take, for example, the use of media outlets like Voice of America and the BBC’s Kinyarwanda service, ostensibly set up to promote democracy and free speech across the Great Lakes region. In reality, they became tools of soft power, sidestepping local authorities to shape the narrative for roughly 50 million Kinyarwanda-Kirundi speakers across Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and the DRC. Ironically, those very platforms were used by Rusesabagina and Callixte Sankara to call for armed insurrection and incite terrorism – long before any court weighed in.
By the time Rusesabagina was convicted, the truth was already out, laid bare by the same Western media tools intended to manipulate the natives. Accordingly, the EU ought to have known how impossible it was to reverse this reality and not knowing this made its resolution all the more ridiculous. Worse still, by proposing to redirect development aid from the Rwandan government “to the people,” the MPs revealed their hand. It wasn’t about justice or fairness – it was about punishing a government for refusing to play ball.
The only semblance of reason came from Stella Kyriakides, the EU Commission’s representative, who reminded her colleagues that many of their concerns had already been addressed during the trial. She urged the MPs “not to lose sight of the seriousness of the charges” against Rusesabagina, a subtle reminder of the values the EU is supposed to stand for: the human rights of the victims of terror. Her remarks were met with stony silence. So determined were the MPs to press ahead, they couldn’t hear reason – even from within their own ranks.
Bashing Rwanda in a slam-dunk case like Rusesabagina’s was never the wise decision; not this time. Consequently, the refusal to engage Rwanda with reason has achieved the opposite of what was intended. It is a strategic defeat for those who had conceived Rusesabagina as the vehicle for achieving the regime change they desperately want to see in Rwanda. Even when they could have retreated to identify another stooge for their ambitions, they now cannot do so successfully because the scheme has been exposed to the majority of Rwandans.
It’s a strategic blow for the EU. The MPs couldn’t summon the finesse required to mask their true intentions – power, influence, and control. And now, Africans see through the charade. The illusion of benevolent guidance has slipped, revealing a less refined version of Europe’s colonial past – still steeped in moral decay, only now lacking even the sophistication to hide it.
Like Trump, these MPs have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
