Rwandan genocide denial

Short description: Pseudohistorical claim that the Rwandan genocide never happened

Template:Denial of Mass Killings

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in français. Click [show] for important translation instructions.

*   * Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
* Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
* You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is `Content in this edit is translated from the existing français Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Exact name of the français article]]; see its history for attribution.`
* You may also add the template `{{Translated page|fr|Exact name of français article}}` to the talk page.
* For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

|

Rwandan genocide denial is the pseudohistorical assertion that the Rwandan genocide did not occur, specifically rejection of the scholarly consensus that Rwandan Tutsis were the victims of genocide between 7 April and 19 July 1994.[1][2] The perpetrators, a small minority of other Hutu, and some fringe Western writers dispute that reality.[3][4]

Aspects of the genocide, such as the death toll,[3][5][6] prior planning of the genocide,[3][7][8] responsibility for the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana that triggered the genocide, war crimes (considered a second genocide by some) by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and whether the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda should have tried RPF leaders continues to be debated by scholars.[3][9][10] The Tutsi death toll in the genocide as well as the number of Hutu perpetrators (to the point of collective guilt) is inflated by the RPF government compared to estimates by scholars.[5] People with views that differ from the government position may be accused of genocide denial, even if they accept that Tutsi were the victims of genocide.[3][4]

Denial of the Rwandan genocide is a crime in Rwanda, with laws against "genocide ideology" and "divisionism" used to target those who disagree with the government's official version of history and other critics of the government. Such laws have been accused of infringement on freedom of speech.[11][12][13][14][15]

## Contents

* 1 Denial by officials
* 2 United States
* 3 Peter Erlinder
* 4 Fiona Fox
* 5 Edward S. Herman and David Peterson
* 6 Rwanda, The Untold Story
* 7 References
* 7.1 Notes
* 7.2 Bibliography
* 8 Further reading

## Denial by officials

A high-ranking Tutsi and a UN official have claimed that no genocide of the Tutsi took place at all: Antoine Nyetera, who claims Tutsi royal origins, and the former UN Representative in Rwanda, Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh, who declared that "to claim that a genocide occurred is closer to the politics of surrealism than to the truth".[16]

## United States

During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, US officials under the Clinton administration were instructed not to refer to it as genocide, but instead say that "acts of genocide may have occurred."[17] As early as April 1994, the government had internally referred it as genocide, but they did not publicly refer to it as such until June.[18] On a visit to Kigali, in 1998, Clinton apologized for not referring to it as genocide, and for not sending aid to Rwanda.[19]

## Peter Erlinder

American lawyer Peter Erlinder, who was Lead Defence Counsel for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, questions the planning of the killing and concludes that the slaughter of the Tutsi should not be called genocide.[20]

## Fiona Fox

In 1995, Living Marxism published an article by Fiona Fox disputing the reality of the genocide:[21][22]

> The lesson I would draw from my visit is that we must reject the term 'genocide' in Rwanda. It has been used inside and outside Rwanda to criminalise the majority of ordinary Rwandan people, to justify outside interference in the country's affairs, and to lend legitimacy to a minority military government imposed on Rwanda by Western powers.

## Edward S. Herman and David Peterson

In The Politics of Genocide (2010), writers Edward S. Herman and David Peterson, while not denying the scale of the killing during the period of extreme violence of April–July 1994, questioned the distribution of the victims for those months, arguing that Hutus comprised the majority of the dead, not Tutsis.[23] Their detractors have charged them with genocide denial,[24][25] accusations that have been rejected by Herman and Peterson.[26][27]

Their book goes much further than others who have questioned the consensus view of the genocide; it states that common knowledge is not simply partly incorrect, but is actually "a propaganda line ... that turned perpetrator and victim upside-down."[28] The two men are critical of fundamental aspects of the Human Rights Watch report by Alison Des Forges,[29] and maintain that she obfuscates the issue of who assassinated Habyarimana (they argue it was clearly the RPF) and that, contrary to the conclusions of Des Forges's report, the only well-planned regimen of massive violence perpetrated after the assassination was the RPF's invasion to drive the Hutu from power.[30] Herman and Peterson ultimately conclude that the RPF were "prime génocidaires", while the Interahamwe were "the RPF's actual victims."[31]

Their book argues that the accepted version of the events of 1994 implies Rwanda is "the first case in history in which a minority population, suffering destruction at the hands of its tormentors, drove its tormentors from power and assumed control of a country, all in the span of less than one hundred days", a narrative Herman and Peterson deem "incredible in the extreme."[32]

Africa specialist Gerald Caplan criticized Herman and Peterson's account, charging that "why the Hutu members of the government 'couldn't possibly have planned a genocide against the Tutsi' is never remotely explained".[33] Herman and Peterson's position on the genocide was found "deplorable" by James Wizeye, first secretary at the Rwandan High Commission in London.[34] Adam Jones has compared Herman and Peterson's approach to Holocaust denial.[35]

## Rwanda, The Untold Story

In 2014, the BBC aired the documentary Rwanda's Untold Story, which questioned the accepted historical account and included interviews with American researchers Christian Davenport and Allan C. Stam who, while not denying that a genocide took place, nevertheless state that the majority of the victims may have been Hutus.[36] Afterwards, Rwanda's parliament approved a resolution to ban the BBC in the country.[37]

## References

### Notes

1. ↑ Straus, Scott (2019). "The Limits of a Genocide Lens: Violence Against Rwandans in the 1990s". Journal of Genocide Research 21 (4): 504–524. doi:10.1080/14623528.2019.1623527.
2. ↑ Hintjens, Helen M.; van Oijen, Jos (2020). "Elementary Forms of Collective Denial: The 1994 Rwanda Genocide". Genocide Studies International 13 (2): 146–167. doi:10.3138/gsi.13.2.02.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Reyntjens, Filip (2020). "Intent to deceive: Denying the genocide of the Tutsi". African Affairs. doi:10.1093/afraf/adaa014.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Susan Thomson. "How not to write about the Rwandan genocide". africasacountry.com. https://africasacountry.com/2020/09/how-not-to-write-about-the-rwandan-genocide.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Reydams, Luc (2020). "'More than a million': the politics of accounting for the dead of the Rwandan genocide". Review of African Political Economy 48 (168): 235–256. doi:10.1080/03056244.2020.1796320.
6. ↑ Meierhenrich, Jens (2020). "How Many Victims Were There in the Rwandan Genocide? A Statistical Debate". Journal of Genocide Research 22 (1): 72–82. doi:10.1080/14623528.2019.1709611.
7. ↑ "Existence of a plan or policy for genocide". https://cld.irmct.org/notions/show/333/existence-of-a-plan-or-policy-for-genocide#.
8. ↑ Rawson, David (2018) (in en). Prelude to Genocide: Arusha, Rwanda, and the Failure of Diplomacy. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-4650-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=a950DwAAQBAJ&q=Rwanda+genocide+planning+Habyarimana.
9. ↑ Caplan, Gerald (2018). "Rethinking the Rwandan Narrative for the 25th Anniversary". Genocide Studies International 12 (2): 152–190. doi:10.3138/gsi.12.2.03.
10. ↑ Lemarchand, René (2018). "Rwanda: the state of Research | Sciences Po Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche". Sciencespo.fr. ISSN 1961-9898. https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/rwanda-state-research.
11. ↑ Sullo, Pietro (2018). "Writing History Through Criminal Law: State-Sponsored Memory in Rwanda" (in en). The Palgrave Handbook of State-Sponsored History After 1945. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 69–85. ISBN 978-1-349-95306-6.
12. ↑ Waldorf, Lars (2009). "Revisiting Hotel Rwanda : genocide ideology, reconciliation, and rescuers". Journal of Genocide Research 11 (1): 101–125. doi:10.1080/14623520802703673.
13. ↑ Jansen, Yakare-Oule (2014). "Denying Genocide or Denying Free Speech - A Case Study of the Application of Rwanda's Genocide Denial Laws". Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights 12: 191.
14. ↑ Longman, Timothy (2019) (in en). Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-67809-5.
15. ↑ Reyntjens, F. (2011). "Constructing the truth, dealing with dissent, domesticating the world: Governance in post-genocide Rwanda". African Affairs 110 (438): 1–34. doi:10.1093/afraf/adq075. https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/110/438/1/78893?.
16. ↑ Lemarchand 2013, p. 10.
17. ↑ Jehl, Douglas (10 June 1994). "Officials Told to Avoid Calling Rwanda Killings 'Genocide'" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/10/world/officials-told-to-avoid-calling-rwanda-killings-genocide.html.
18. ↑ "US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide" (in en). 31 March 2004. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda.
19. ↑ Power, Samantha (1 September 2009). "Bystanders to Genocide" (in en). https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/bystanders-to-genocide/304571/.
20. ↑ "Andalan News - Situs Andalan untuk informasi berita terkini, terbaru, teraktual dan viral". http://www.rwandadocumentsproject.net/gsdl/collect/arrest/index/assoc/HASHcb21.dir/pt3NoConspiracyNoPlanningNoGenocide.pdf.
21. ↑ "Genocide? What genocide?". https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,181819,00.html.
22. ↑ Melvern, Linda (2020) (in en). Intent to Deceive: Denying the Rwandan Genocide. Verso Books. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-78873-328-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=59LMDwAAQBAJ&q=Barrie Collins.
23. ↑ Herman & Peterson 2010, pp. 51–68.
24. ↑ Monbiot, George (13 June 2011). "Left and libertarian right cohabit in the weird world of the genocide belittlers". The Guardian (guardian.co.uk). https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/13/left-and-libertarian-right.
25. ↑ Shaw, Martin (16 September 2010). "The politics of genocide: Rwanda & DR Congo". http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-shaw/politics-of-genocide-rwanda-and-dr-congo.
26. ↑ Herman, Edward. "Reply to George Monbiot on "Genocide Belittling"" (in en). http://www.zcommunications.org/reply-to-george-monbiot-on-genocide-belittling-by-edward-herman.
27. ↑ Herman, Edward S.; Peterson, David. "Edward S. Herman and David Peterson, "George Monbiot and the Guardian on 'Genocide Denial' and 'Revisionism'"". http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/hp020911.html.
28. ↑ Herman & Peterson 2010, p. 51.
29. ↑ Des Forges, Alison (1999). ﻿Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda﻿ (Report). New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1-56432-171-1. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/rwanda/rwanda0399.htm.
30. ↑ Herman & Peterson 2010, pp. 51–2.
31. ↑ Herman & Peterson 2010, p. 54.
32. ↑ Herman & Peterson 2010, pp. 56–7.
33. ↑ "Pambazuka - The politics of denialism: The strange case of Rwanda" (in en). http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/65265.
34. ↑ Wizeye, James (2011-07-25). "To claim Tutsis caused Rwanda's genocide is pure revisionism" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/25/tutsi-rwanda-genocide-hutu.
35. ↑ ""See No Evil" Amazing People are Denying Every Genocide in Sight". GenocidePreventionNow (11). http://www.genocidepreventionnow.org/Home/GPNISSUES/Issue11Fall2012/tabid/185/ctl/DisplayArticle/mid/1103/aid/611/Default.aspx?skinsrc=[G]/Skins/GPN/printskin.
36. ↑ Fagiolo, Nicoletta (April 7, 2015). "Rwanda's Untold Story. A commentary on the BBC Two documentary". La Tribune Franco-Rwandaise. http://www.france-rwanda.info/2015/04/rwanda-s-untold-story-a-commentary-on-the-bbc-two-documentary.html.
37. ↑ "Rwanda MPs condemn BBC Untold Story programme on genocide" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2014-10-23. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29732242.

### Bibliography

Herman, Edward S.; Peterson, David (2010). The Politics of Genocide. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press. ISBN 978-1-583-67213-6.
Lemarchand, René (May 2013). "Scholarly Review: Rwanda: The State of Research". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/rwanda-state-research.html. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
Prunier, Gérard (2009). From Genocide to Continental War. The 'Congolese' Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 978-1850656654. http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/from-genocide-to-continental-war/.

## Further reading

* Mugiraneza, Assumpta (2009). "Négationisme au Rwanda post-génocide". Revue d'Histoire de la Shoah 190 (190): 285–298. doi:10.3917/rhsho.190.0285. https://www.cairn.info/resume.php?ID_ARTICLE=RHSHO_190_0285&contenu=article.

Template:Rwandan genocide footer

* v
* t
* e

Historical negationism

* Denialism
* Relativism
* Rationalization
* Victim blaming
* Vergangenheitsbewältigung
* Historiography
* school textbook controversies

Genocide denial|

* Holocaust
* trivialization
* criticism
* Armenian genocide
* Serbian genocide
* Holodomor
* Rwandan genocide
* Cambodian genocide
* Srebrenica massacre
* Nanjing massacre

Other manifestations|

Myth of the clean Wehrmacht

Proponents|

* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
* Steven L. Anderson
* Austin App
* Claude Autant-Lara
* Maurice Bardèche
* Harry Elmer Barnes
* John Tuson Bennett
* Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood
* Don Black
* B.o.B
* Eric Butler
* Arthur Butz
* Gheorghe Buzatu
* Willis Carto
* Louis-Ferdinand Céline
* Norberto Ceresole
* Thies Christophersen
* Noam Chomsky
* Craig Cobb
* Doug Collins
* Louis Darquier de Pellepoix
* Günter Deckert
* Léon Degrelle
* Luis D'Elía
* David Duke
* François Duprat
* Richard Edmonds
* Saeed Emami
* Robert Faurisson
* James H. Fetzer
* Bobby Fischer
* Paul Fromm
* Roger Garaudy
* Hermann Gauch
* Hutton Gibson
* Stephen Goodson
* Jürgen Graf
* Nick Griffin
* Pierre Guillaume
* Alain Guionnet
* Hans F. K. Günther
* Anthony Hancock
* Peter Hartung
* Ursula Haverbeck
* Taj El-Din Hilaly
* Adolf Hitler
* Michael A. Hoffman II
* David Hoggan
* Ahmed Huber
* Augustus Sol Invictus
* David Irving
* Colin Jordan
* Ilias Kasidiaris
* James Keegstra
* Ali Khamenei
* Nicholas Kollerstrom
* Franz Kurowski
* Gottfried Küssel
* Laurent Louis
* Fred A. Leuchter
* Alex Linder
* Horst Mahler
* Naser Makarem Shirazi
* Princess Marie Adelheid of Lippe
* James J. Martin
* Anders Greif Mathisen
* Carlo Mattogno
* David McCalden
* Nikolaos Michaloliakos
* Eustace Mullins
* Issam Naaman
* Françoise Pichard
* Michael Collins Piper
* Oleg Platonov
* Konstantinos Plevris
* Robert Poulet
* Roeland Raes
* Ahmed Rami
* Mohammad-Ali Ramin
* Paul Rassinier
* Otto Ernst Remer
* Michèle Renouf
* Vincent Reynouard
* Jürgen Rieger
* Ingrid Rimland
* Thomas Robb
* Colin Robertson
* Manfred Roeder
* Malcolm Ross
* Germar Rudolf
* Bernhard Schaub
* Hans Schmidt
* Simon Sheppard
* Bradley R. Smith
* Wilhelm Stäglich
* Kevin Alfred Strom
* Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
* Robert Sungenis
* Tomislav Sunić
* Mohammed Taheri
* Georges Theil
* Serge Thion
* H. Keith Thompson
* Fredrick Töben
* Ferdinand Topacio
* Franjo Tuđman
* Hal Turner
* Richard Verrall
* James von Brunn
* Udo Walendy
* Adam Walker
* Mark Weber
* Bill White
* Richard Williamson
* Sami Abu Zuhri
* Ernst Zündel

Organizations|

* Adelaide Institute
* Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War
* CODOH
* HIAG
* Institute for Historical Review

Publications|

* Did Six Million Really Die?
* Leuchter report
* Journal of Historical Review
* The Hoax of the Twentieth Century

Conferences|

* International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
* Bali Holocaust Conference

Publishing houses|

* Arndt Verlag
* J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing
* Munin Verlag
* Nation Europa Verlag

Legal status|

| Statute law|

* Austria
* Belgium
* France
* Germany

|

Case law|

* Lehideux and Isorni v France
* R v Zundel

Treaties|

* Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime

* v
* t
* e

Genocide topics

Genocides
(list by death toll)|

* Dzungar Mongols (1750s)
* Circassian genocide (1860s)
* Atrocities in the Congo Free State (1885-1908)
* Selk'nam genocide (1890s–1900s)
* Herero and Namaqua (1904–1907)
* Greek (1914–1923)
* Assyrian (1914–1925)
* Armenian (1915–1923)
* Holodomor (1932–1933)
* The Holocaust (1941–1945)
* Romani genocide (1941–1944)
* Genocide of Serbs (1941–1945)
* Bangladesh (1971)
* East Timor (1974–1999)
* Cambodian (1975–1979)
* Guatemalan Maya (1981–1983)
* Isaaq genocide (1982-1989)
* Anfal genocide (1986–1989)
* Burundian genocides (1972 & 1993)
* Rwandan genocide (1994)
* Bosnian genocide (1992–1995)
* Rohingya (2017–)

Terms|

* Democide
* Autogenocide
* Politicide
* Classicide
* Eliticide
* Ethnocide
* Cultural genocide
* Eugenics
* Gendercide
* Genocidal massacre
* Genocide of indigenous peoples
* Policide
* Utilitarian genocide

Methods|

* Genocidal rape
* Extermination camp
* Killing Fields
* Death marches
* Death squads

Genocide denial|

* The Holocaust
* trivialization
* Armenian
* Bosnian
* Rwandan
* Holodomor
* Cambodian

Issues|

* Definitions
* Genocide law
* Prevention
* Effects on young survivors

Legal proceedings|

* International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
* Trial of Radovan Karadžić
* Trial of Ratko Mladić
* Trial of Slobodan Milošević
* International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
* Khmer Rouge Tribunal

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan genocide denial. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Unsolved:Rwandan_genocide_denial&oldid=3993827"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template