Old Habits Die Hard for Genocide Fugitive in Paris

If Callixte Mbarushimana had given up his hankering for mass murder after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, he still would have done more than enough to earn a one-way ticket to prison. But the man accused of diverting UN vehicles and fuel to genocidal militia and directing the massacres of the UN's Rwandan staff, is currently living comfortably in Paris and directing the ongoing atrocities committed by FDLR militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

(Gives a whole new meaning to "phone it in," doesn't it?)

To add insult to injury, he compares his poor misunderstood life to that of international peace icon Nelson Mandela, which, frankly, should be added to the Rome Statute as a crime against humanity.

Despite being featured on Interpol's Red Notice list, Mbarushimana has persistently eluded justice over the past 16 years, often for technical reasons. At the moment, France refuses to arrest and extradite him on account of Rwanda's death penalty and generally shoddy human rights record, but the alternative cannot be to allow Mbarushimana to use Paris as a safe home base from which to orchestrate massacres half a world away.

France has reportedly opened an inquiry into the case, but the urgency of the need to decapitate the FDLR's European command center cannot wait for the slow turning of the wheels of justice. (Late last year, Germany took a welcomed, if belated, lead on this by arresting FDLR commanders living within its borders.) The UN has significant evidence linking Mbarushimana to the rebels in the field, which France should not ignore.

Whatever the method -- Citizen's arrest? Jam his satellite phone signal? Find a domestic law to arrest him under? -- Mbarushimana's malfeasance is a matter of life and death for thousands and should not be permitted to continue on a mere technicality.

Photo credit: d proffer