Denial, distortion remain concerns as world reflects on 1994 Rwanda genocide

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Rwanda is appealing to the international community to devise ways to stop the denial and distortion of information about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group.

In the genocide, between April 7 and July 15, 1994, an estimated 1 million people, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic community and moderate Hutus, were killed over the span of 100 days.

On the eve of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Maurice Mugabowagahunde, the executive director of research and policy development at Rwanda’s National Unity and Civic Engagements Ministry, said the denial of the genocide that saw the massacre of more than 1 million people traumatizes the survivors.

“Some intellectuals such as university lecturers hide behind free speech to propagate distorted information about the genocide while others use fictitious names on social media platforms to deny the genocide. This cannot be accepted. It should never be accepted,” Mugabowagahunde told Anadolu Agency.

- Forms of denial

According to genocide scholars, the denial takes different forms in the case of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, including distorting the facts about it and its planning.

Other instances of denial acknowledge that the genocide took place, but place the blame on the Tutsi community by interpreting the genocide as self-defense, or part of the civil war.

In the lead-up to 1994, media outlets and tabloids belonging to Hutu extremists used the concept of "freedom of expression" as a weapon to incite extremists who took part in the genocide while the world stood idly by and watched it happen, according to some survivors.

Jessica Mwiza, a Rwandan living in Belgium warns that in this “new reality where facts matter less and less,” Rwanda could lose control of the narrative about the genocide against the Tutsis.

Mwiza said she thinks that "crazy controversies” thrive, without meeting resistance in the mainstream media, in part due to the ignorance of the international public.

“Words that would appear so obviously dishonest to anyone with a basic understanding of our history are eaten up by groups easily moved by sentimentalism.

"People crave drama more than the truth, a fact that has been recognized by deniers and their supporters, who push their agenda widely: from lecture halls to newspapers and politicians' offices,” she said.

“The threat is getting bigger, and we are not responding appropriately. It is becoming increasingly hard for the few people still engaged against deniers and revisionists to keep up the struggle.”

- Rwanda’s strategies to tackle the genocide denial, trivialization

Mugabowagahunde highlighted the government’s strategies to better tackle revisionism and genocide denial, including raising awareness, protecting genocide memorials, and ensuring proofs of genocide against the Tutsi community are not erased.

In Rwanda, a law that punishes genocide denial and revisionism is in place and stipulates imprisonment and fine upon conviction.

With the wide circulation of false or distorted information about the genocide on the internet, Mugabowagahunde said the vast amount of time the Rwandan youth spend online can be used to counter genocide deniers.

“There is a deliberate effort to make the young generation more aware of the genocide, and how its denial manifests. Youth are being equipped with facts about the genocide to be able to counter denial and distortion by reaching those consuming falsehoods,” he said.

The government encourages youth to get involved in commemorative activities so they get to know about the country’s history.

The Unity Ministry has the responsibility to preserve genocide proofs such as testimonies of survivors and perpetrators during traditional Gacaca trials detailing how the genocide was planned and implemented, and also to preserve the remains of genocide victims, including their clothes in a modern way.

Also, the government is in discussion with owners of social media outlets which could see revisionists using fictitious names identified, and countered, according to the official.

France and Belgium have put in place laws on genocide denial and revisionism, and Rwanda wants other countries to follow suit.

Geoffrey Mushaija, a local government official said citing the shooting down of former President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane on April 6, 1994 as the cause of the Rwanda genocide is a form of denial because, he added, the genocide had already been planned, and institutionalized prior to the plane crash.

- Has the world learned any lessons?

Mugabowagahunde said the images from the genocide against the Tutsi ethnic community are still fresh in the minds of survivors and several countries have been working on how to teach about the horrors of genocide in their schools as a response.

He also explained that while the international community failed to protect civilians, some countries have started to extradite genocide fugitives to Rwanda to face justice, while others have set up genocide memorials.

Mugabowagahunde believes the genocide against the Tutsis could have been prevented but the international community chose not to speak or listen.

From Thursday, the East African country is marking the 28th anniversary of the genocide and 100 days of mourning to mark the mass slaughter.

In 2018, the UN adopted a decision on the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, replacing the previous resolution that had omitted the name Tutsi as the group targeted for extermination.