Rwandan genocide denial

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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]

  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. S2CID 196571351.
  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. S2CID 216157285.
  3. ^ a b c d e Reyntjens, Filip (2020). "Intent to deceive: Denying the genocide of the Tutsi". African Affairs. doi:10.1093/afraf/adaa014.
  4. ^ a b Susan Thomson. "How not to write about the Rwandan genocide". africasacountry.com. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b 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. S2CID 225356374.
  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. S2CID 213046710.
  7. ^ "Existence of a plan or policy for genocide". cld.irmct.org.
  8. ^ Rawson, David (2018). Prelude to Genocide: Arusha, Rwanda, and the Failure of Diplomacy. Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-4650-8.
  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. S2CID 167056377.
  10. ^ Lemarchand, René (2018). "Rwanda: the state of Research | Sciences Po Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche". Sciencespo.fr. ISSN 1961-9898.
  11. ^ Sullo, Pietro (2018). "Writing History Through Criminal Law: State-Sponsored Memory in Rwanda". 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. S2CID 71746939.
  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). 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.