Quite frequently we hear the violence of 1994 as being described in a simple manner where one ethnic group (Hutu) targeted another (the Tutsi). Indeed, this is now referred to as the "Genocide of the Tutsi" which recently had its 30th anniversary. For those of us that have been studying this topic, however, this simplistic characterization is far from the truth. I will share some of this research material here and as you will see the violence was very complex with Hutu being mistaken for Tutsi, with Hutu being lumped in with Tutsi and sometimes with there not being any Tutsi present at all.
The records that I will share in these posts were given to me by members of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda back when I worked for them in the early 2000s. After the violence, there were different efforts put forward to acquire eyewitness statements about what had taken place. These efforts were undertaken between 1994-2000. The interest of the ICTR Prosecution was initially contextualizing the caseload that they had and trying to assess what they were dealing with. Eventually, the Prosecution lost interest in this approach and they were no longer interested in my analyses. The ICTR Defense did have an interest in continuing these investigations, however, and at the courts request we analyzed what they had and it compared it to what we were developing. The material that they had was impressive. They had nearly 15,000 eyewitness reports available in English, French and Kinyarwandan.
I told them that I would release these reports when the court cases were finalized so that the world could better understand what happened. These reveal the complexities of 1994. They will shift what you think you know. They reveal horrific violence and occasionally amazing acts of humanity.
The records that I will share in these posts were given to me by members of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda back when I worked for them in the early 2000s. After the violence, there were different efforts put forward to acquire eyewitness statements about what had taken place. These efforts were undertaken between 1994-2000. The interest of the ICTR Prosecution was initially contextualizing the caseload that they had and trying to assess what they were dealing with. Eventually, the Prosecution lost interest in this approach and they were no longer interested in my analyses. The ICTR Defense did have an interest in continuing these investigations, however, and at the courts request we analyzed what they had and it compared it to what we were developing. The material that they had was impressive. They had nearly 15,000 eyewitness reports available in English, French and Kinyarwandan.
I told them that I would release these reports when the court cases were finalized so that the world could better understand what happened. These reveal the complexities of 1994. They will shift what you think you know. They reveal horrific violence and occasionally amazing acts of humanity.