The trial of Félicien Kabuga, one of the alleged financiers and masterminds of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Thursday began at The Hague. Kabuga faces charges of genocide, direct public incitement to commit genocide and murder as crimes against humanity.

Kabuga was one of the financiers of the Rwandan media outlet Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. In his role as financier, he supported and delivered broadcasts which named specific persons to be targeted, pointed out areas of attack and encouraged people to carry out searches for targeted individuals. He is also accused of aiding and abetting the Interahamwe, a militia who murdered Tutsi men, women and children. Kabuga was first indicted in 1997 but was only caught in May 2020 in Paris. At the time, he was one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.

The UN Special Adviser on Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu commented that the trial shows accountability, saying, “[o]ur collective commitment not to forget constitutes a commitment to prevent. Accountability is prevention in itself and hence a deterrent for future crimes.”

Nderitu also expressed the need for commitment to prosecute the type of hate speech Kabuga is accused of supporting. “Literally all atrocity crimes were preceded by hate speech. Hence, it is our responsibility to pay particular attention to this phenomenon if we are really committed to prevent atrocity crimes,” she said.

Opening statements of the trial will take Thursday and Friday, and the trial will proceed into arguments next week.