When I joined the United Nations-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as a judicial legal advisor in 2007, I was filled with hope for justice and a safer future. We aimed to hold accountable those behind the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

But my confidence waned as we only pursued Hutu-led former government members, undermining impartiality. Rwandan officials prevented investigations into the Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by commander and future President Paul Kagame, despite their significant atrocities against civilians. Nearly two decades later, I grapple with the realization that, rather than break the cycle of violence, we may have inadvertently contributed to the rise of a new tyranny.

President Kagame, once celebrated as a liberator who ended the 1994 genocide, has evolved into a figure who wields power with an iron grip, suppressing dissent and leveraging the genocide narrative to cement his rule.

His government’s recent actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, supporting the M23 rebel militia in its capture of the eastern city of Goma, mirrors a........

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