Previous Anniversaries/Statements
Fifteen Years is Enough: Rwanda, Political Violence and Justice for All (written in 2009)
Is fifteen years enough time to hold the guilty parties accountable for what took place in Rwanda during 1994? Since the political violence of this period, the international community’s focus has been on tracking down and convicting Hutu Genocidaires; these are the individuals responsible for the killings of Francophone Tutsi in Rwanda associated with the extremist government of the time. Other perpetrators of violence - genocide, civil war, and related violent crimes against humanity of that year, however, have gone largely unnoticed.
Progress in holding the perpetrators of violence has been slow. Ten years after the events of 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, had handed down only 21 judgments resulting in 18 convictions. Five years later (at the 15th anniversary), the number of completed cases reached 37, while the local gacaca courts operating in Rwanda have processed close to 200,000 alleged participants and perpetrators.
Irregardless of pace, however, both of these proceedings have ignored the role and crimes against humanity committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the civil war and immediately after. Why should we care that the RPF has been given essentially a free pass? Because in the space of 100 days, as is now widely accepted, it is likely that one million people in Rwanda died. Another two million became refugees and an untold number fled their homes as internally displaced persons. Of the million dead, best estimates place the number of Tutsi (the ethnic minority in the region) dead between 300,000 and 500,000. The ongoing international tribunal and Rwandan justice efforts have been charged with bringing those guilty of the systematic slaughter of the Tutsi to justice.
But what of the killers of the other 500-700 thousand humans? Who is responsible? Clearly, members of the extremist government, those associated with them, and roving bands of violent young men are guilty of some, and perhaps most of this carnage. At the same time, however, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (then rebels, the government now) literally has blood on its hands as well. As Judge Fernando Andreu of the Spanish court has argued, there is more than enough evidence to indict Paul Kagame, the current President of Rwanda. Moreover, from our 10-year investigation into the subject, we estimate that the RPF was directly responsible for the deaths of between 100,000 and 300,000 during and immediately after the civil war. Unfortunately, none of those responsible for the latter crimes has been held accountable. Indeed, tremendous efforts have been extended to make sure that the focus stays exclusively on the Francophone Tutsi victims of the 1994 civil war and their Hutu/FAR executioners.
In addition to the deaths that are directly attributable to the RPF, the research of GenoDynamics (Directed by Christian Davenport – Kroc Institute/Notre Dame, and Allan Stam – University of Michigan) find that deaths under the jurisdiction of the extremist government at the time were directly influenced by military advancements of the RPF into the country. When the RPF surged forward, killings generally increased; when they stopped, killings generally decreased. This analysis severely complicates our understanding of perpetration, guilt, punishment and justice. Indeed, to understand who was involved, who should be held accountable, who should be punished, and who should be assisted in recovering, we need to engage in a more thorough discussion of what happened – taking all of the events and actors into consideration, not fewer of them.
Such an effort is in line with the tireless efforts of the recently deceased Human Rights Watch activist Alison Des Forges. One of the eminent scholars of the genocide, Des Forges wrote extensively on the abuses and aftermath of the genocide and civil war in Rwanda.
In her writings, she argued that the both sides to the 1994 conflict were guilty of war crimes and should be held accountable. She publicly criticized the current gacaca process for its focus on the genocide while ignoring the contemporaneous killings by the RPF. In fact, at the time of her death, Des Forges was working to pressure the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to indict RPF officials for the role in war crimes during the course of the conflict. For this work, in 2008, Des Forges was banned from Rwanda. Confronting the scope and dynamics of the violence has implications for recovery efforts. Unless we set the record straight, it will be as if many of the killings never happened and that would be a grave travesty.
Controversy at the 10th Anniversary (written in 2004)
At the 10th Anniversary of the political violence in Rwanda, individuals from around the world began to put forward their comments/reflections about what took place. GenoDynamics contributed to this discussion by presenting what our research had found up to that date. The basic point of our research at the time was compelling: we found evidence of not only “genocide” (i.e., violence took place in areas that were under the territorial jurisdiction of the Rwandan government). In addition to this, we also found other types of violence as well: 1) violence on the battle-front between the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - the rebels that had entered from Uganda), 2) violence that took place under the territorial jurisdiction of the RPF and 3) violence in government territory that did not seem associated with either the extremist government or the RPF. This complicated the basic story that was being put out at the time - making things look even worse than anyone had thought. Unfortunately, the format of the press release did not allow us to address these issues in detail and the information distributed did not immediately make our position clear. This emerged over time.
As a result, there was a significant amount of controversy surrounding our work. Individuals took issue with our claim that multiple forms of violence must be labeled something other than just genocide alone. Remarkably, some argued that if we objected to calling multiple forms of violence genocide, that we must be denying that genocide took place, which we never did. Interestingly, the phrase denial and "denialism" gets extended to those who under-emphasize or trivialize genocide. Presumably, contextualization fits within this category as well.
Below we provide highlights of the debate:
The webpage around June 2007 (Several of these links no longer exist): Source - The Wayback Machine
One thing that we did not anticipate, but which was clearly observable following the coverage of our research in the media, was the response of diverse individuals within and outside of Rwanda. Some were comments requesting clarification about exactly what we said; some were extremely hostile remarks about our research and us as human beings; some were thankful that such research was being undertaken; and, some were relatively vague. These have been provided below, with identifying information removed.
The initial press statement: "Rwanda 1994: more than genocide"
A Continuation of the Controversy undertaken by others
Spanish judge indicts 40 Rwandan military officers for genocide - CNN.com
Rwanda_ Kagame Tells Spanish Judge 'Go to Hell' Over Summons - Allafrica.com
Rusesabagina responds to Rwanda government book on 'Hotel Rwanda' - EUX.TV
Rusesabagina on Current situation - Youtube
Terry George - Smearing a Hero - Washington Post.com
Hotel Rwanda Hero in Controversy - Reuters
Is fifteen years enough time to hold the guilty parties accountable for what took place in Rwanda during 1994? Since the political violence of this period, the international community’s focus has been on tracking down and convicting Hutu Genocidaires; these are the individuals responsible for the killings of Francophone Tutsi in Rwanda associated with the extremist government of the time. Other perpetrators of violence - genocide, civil war, and related violent crimes against humanity of that year, however, have gone largely unnoticed.
Progress in holding the perpetrators of violence has been slow. Ten years after the events of 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, had handed down only 21 judgments resulting in 18 convictions. Five years later (at the 15th anniversary), the number of completed cases reached 37, while the local gacaca courts operating in Rwanda have processed close to 200,000 alleged participants and perpetrators.
Irregardless of pace, however, both of these proceedings have ignored the role and crimes against humanity committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the civil war and immediately after. Why should we care that the RPF has been given essentially a free pass? Because in the space of 100 days, as is now widely accepted, it is likely that one million people in Rwanda died. Another two million became refugees and an untold number fled their homes as internally displaced persons. Of the million dead, best estimates place the number of Tutsi (the ethnic minority in the region) dead between 300,000 and 500,000. The ongoing international tribunal and Rwandan justice efforts have been charged with bringing those guilty of the systematic slaughter of the Tutsi to justice.
But what of the killers of the other 500-700 thousand humans? Who is responsible? Clearly, members of the extremist government, those associated with them, and roving bands of violent young men are guilty of some, and perhaps most of this carnage. At the same time, however, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (then rebels, the government now) literally has blood on its hands as well. As Judge Fernando Andreu of the Spanish court has argued, there is more than enough evidence to indict Paul Kagame, the current President of Rwanda. Moreover, from our 10-year investigation into the subject, we estimate that the RPF was directly responsible for the deaths of between 100,000 and 300,000 during and immediately after the civil war. Unfortunately, none of those responsible for the latter crimes has been held accountable. Indeed, tremendous efforts have been extended to make sure that the focus stays exclusively on the Francophone Tutsi victims of the 1994 civil war and their Hutu/FAR executioners.
In addition to the deaths that are directly attributable to the RPF, the research of GenoDynamics (Directed by Christian Davenport – Kroc Institute/Notre Dame, and Allan Stam – University of Michigan) find that deaths under the jurisdiction of the extremist government at the time were directly influenced by military advancements of the RPF into the country. When the RPF surged forward, killings generally increased; when they stopped, killings generally decreased. This analysis severely complicates our understanding of perpetration, guilt, punishment and justice. Indeed, to understand who was involved, who should be held accountable, who should be punished, and who should be assisted in recovering, we need to engage in a more thorough discussion of what happened – taking all of the events and actors into consideration, not fewer of them.
Such an effort is in line with the tireless efforts of the recently deceased Human Rights Watch activist Alison Des Forges. One of the eminent scholars of the genocide, Des Forges wrote extensively on the abuses and aftermath of the genocide and civil war in Rwanda.
In her writings, she argued that the both sides to the 1994 conflict were guilty of war crimes and should be held accountable. She publicly criticized the current gacaca process for its focus on the genocide while ignoring the contemporaneous killings by the RPF. In fact, at the time of her death, Des Forges was working to pressure the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to indict RPF officials for the role in war crimes during the course of the conflict. For this work, in 2008, Des Forges was banned from Rwanda. Confronting the scope and dynamics of the violence has implications for recovery efforts. Unless we set the record straight, it will be as if many of the killings never happened and that would be a grave travesty.
Controversy at the 10th Anniversary (written in 2004)
At the 10th Anniversary of the political violence in Rwanda, individuals from around the world began to put forward their comments/reflections about what took place. GenoDynamics contributed to this discussion by presenting what our research had found up to that date. The basic point of our research at the time was compelling: we found evidence of not only “genocide” (i.e., violence took place in areas that were under the territorial jurisdiction of the Rwandan government). In addition to this, we also found other types of violence as well: 1) violence on the battle-front between the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - the rebels that had entered from Uganda), 2) violence that took place under the territorial jurisdiction of the RPF and 3) violence in government territory that did not seem associated with either the extremist government or the RPF. This complicated the basic story that was being put out at the time - making things look even worse than anyone had thought. Unfortunately, the format of the press release did not allow us to address these issues in detail and the information distributed did not immediately make our position clear. This emerged over time.
As a result, there was a significant amount of controversy surrounding our work. Individuals took issue with our claim that multiple forms of violence must be labeled something other than just genocide alone. Remarkably, some argued that if we objected to calling multiple forms of violence genocide, that we must be denying that genocide took place, which we never did. Interestingly, the phrase denial and "denialism" gets extended to those who under-emphasize or trivialize genocide. Presumably, contextualization fits within this category as well.
Below we provide highlights of the debate:
The webpage around June 2007 (Several of these links no longer exist): Source - The Wayback Machine
One thing that we did not anticipate, but which was clearly observable following the coverage of our research in the media, was the response of diverse individuals within and outside of Rwanda. Some were comments requesting clarification about exactly what we said; some were extremely hostile remarks about our research and us as human beings; some were thankful that such research was being undertaken; and, some were relatively vague. These have been provided below, with identifying information removed.
The initial press statement: "Rwanda 1994: more than genocide"
- Rwandan Genocide 10th Anniversary - Correcting the Record
- Rwandan Genocide 10th Anniversary: Correcting the Record--University of Maryland Expert - Acribe Newswire
- 100 Days of Rwanda
- HOTEL RWANDA: Hollywood and the Holocaust in Central Africa - Global Research
- Rwanda 1994 killings weren't "genocide" - U.S. study - Reuters
- Rwanda 1994 killings weren't 'genocide': US study - ABC Online News
- Rwanda killings weren't "genocide" - Yahoo News UK
- Study: Rwanda killings not a genocide - The Washington Times
- 1994 Rwanda Killings 'Not Genocide,' Claims US Study - East Africa (pdf file)
- Rwanda 1994 killings weren't "genocide"-US study - Yahoo India News
- Study Finds No Genocide - Calgary Sun
- Study: Rwanda killings not a genocide - United Press International
- Rwanda killings weren't 'genocide' - US study - Gulf-News.com
- Rwanda 1994: More Than Genocide - University of Maryland
- Rwanda's Genocide, One Decade Later - NPR News
- Rwandan Genocide - Kojo Nnamdi Show
- Learning the Wrong Lessons About Rwanda - Livingontheplanet.com
- Professor's Rwanda research draws fire - Diamondback Online
- Revisionism in Rwanda Genocide Story - AllAfrica.com
- Rwandan victims not just Tutsis, study suggests: 'There was much more to the tragedy' than genocide,' says the lead author of the report - Vancouver Sun
- Study questions 'genocide' in Rwanda: Hutus killed by Tutsis may account for half of victims - National Post Canada
- Talk to America: Rwanda Genocide - Voice of America, April 30, 2004
A Continuation of the Controversy undertaken by others
Spanish judge indicts 40 Rwandan military officers for genocide - CNN.com
Rwanda_ Kagame Tells Spanish Judge 'Go to Hell' Over Summons - Allafrica.com
Rusesabagina responds to Rwanda government book on 'Hotel Rwanda' - EUX.TV
Rusesabagina on Current situation - Youtube
Terry George - Smearing a Hero - Washington Post.com
Hotel Rwanda Hero in Controversy - Reuters