Recognising and Responding to Genocide Denial: The Case of Rwanda, 2023
Denial is an integral part of genocide before, during and after the fact. As a tool of propaganda... more Denial is an integral part of genocide before, during and after the fact. As a tool of propaganda, denialist rhetoric is similar in most genocides. Its expressions are thematically summarised in terms of literal-, interpretive-and implicatory denial. With the abundant evidence of large-scale genocides like the Holocaust and the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, literal denial is difficult to sustain. This notion led several scholars to discard the study of genocide denial as inconsequential. However, denial is an evolving process of rationalising and re-interpreting, rather than simply rejecting the empirical facts. This chapter explores the next level of denial, its history and contemporary manifestations. It shows how deniers of the Genocide against the Tutsi adapt to changing expectations and attitudes which are turned into opportunities for disseminating their message. Rather than denying the physical aspect of the extermination campaign, deniers sow doubt about key facts such as the element of intent and recycle as rediscovered truths the myths and conspiracy theories from the 1990s propaganda industry. These merchants of doubt produce or appear as experts in documentaries of public broadcasting companies in Europe, persuade mainstream media companies and university presses to publish revisionist theories, arrange guest lectures for the authors at universities, and so on. Drawing on social-and cognitive psychology research into persuasion, gullibility, and illusionism, the chapter explains how extremist propaganda penetrates the media and the scientific record and offers suggestions for recognising and possibly reversing this development.
Report for Dutch fact-checkers website Kloptdatwel? on the assassination of President Juvenal Hab... more Report for Dutch fact-checkers website Kloptdatwel? on the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda in 1994. Main findings: the hypothesis of Masaka as the shooter's location originates from an RTLM broadcast of 13 April 1994; the comments by non-experts (e.g. Bernard Lugan, Filip Reyntjens, Barrie Collins etc.) that criticize the acoustic supplement of the French forensic investigations are misguided - they attack the wrong part of the research.
The arrest then release of Colonel Rusatira is often held up as an example of false accusations a... more The arrest then release of Colonel Rusatira is often held up as an example of false accusations against genocide suspects. But a new look at the evidence raises the possibility that justice was not served but obstructed.
This short paper discusses how a popular Hollywood film, Hotel Rwanda, replaced reality, persuadi... more This short paper discusses how a popular Hollywood film, Hotel Rwanda, replaced reality, persuading journalists to confuse an actor's performance with a real-life person, genocide denial with criticism, and charges of terrorism with political persecution.
This paper reports an attempt to replicate the research presented in “NGO Justice: African Rights... more This paper reports an attempt to replicate the research presented in “NGO Justice: African Rights as Pseudo-Prosecutor of the Rwandan genocide”, an article published in Human Rights Quarterly (August 2016). "NGO Justice" claims that the advocacy group African Rights was “coopted” by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the first weeks of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda with the objective to feed RPF propaganda to Western journalists and academics. However, these and other assertions in “NGO Justice” could not be replicated. A fact-checking exercise carried out between August 2016 and June 2017 reveals that "NGO Justice" contains hundreds of errors, unverified accusations, contested quotes and logical flaws. This paper highlights some of the results and ends with a brief discussion of the polarised debate on Rwanda and its influence on who does research and what gets published.
This article discusses three different forms of genocide denial that have-broadly speaking-follow... more This article discusses three different forms of genocide denial that have-broadly speaking-followed one another in post-genocide Rwanda since 1994. Genocide denial is considered a stage of genocide, and each of these three forms of genocide denial is outlined, drawing on the seminal study on denial of Stanley Cohen. The article suggests that collective denial such as genocide denial should be distinguished analytically from more everyday forms of denial of atrocities and suffering. Three types of genocide denial-literal, interpretative, and implicatory-are identified and related to particular phases in post-genocide Rwandan history. It is shown that denial of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has been intertwined with post-genocide debates around fundamental causes and triggers of genocide. The article concludes with some reflections on instruments used by the Rwandan government to combat genocide denial, reflecting on the polarization of public and scholarly opinion on Rwanda's recent past.
In the first two decades after the Rwandan genocide, alternative facts and conspiracy theories we... more In the first two decades after the Rwandan genocide, alternative facts and conspiracy theories were the almost exclusive domain of marginal figures and members of the former regime. Today these previously peripheral myths are being fed to a world audience by apparently reputable authors. The latest contribution to this new tradition is Michela Wrong’s book 'Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad'. This review discusses three types of misinformation that are a direct result of the author's intuitive method: recycled extremist propaganda, pseudoscience, and a hoax.
In her book ‘In Praise of Blood’, Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one,... more In her book ‘In Praise of Blood’, Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one, but two genocides were committed in Rwanda in 1994. The first genocide nearly wiped out the Tutsi minority. A second one, secretly committed by the Tutsi dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), allegedly targeted the Hutu majority. It’s a sensational story, but how well does it fit with reality? How well researched is it?
Analysis of the sources used by Serge Desouter and Filip Reyntjens in Rwanda. Les violations des ... more Analysis of the sources used by Serge Desouter and Filip Reyntjens in Rwanda. Les violations des droits de l'homme par le FPR/APR. Plaidoyer pour une enquête approfondie, (Working Paper), Anvers, Centre d'étude de la région des grands lacs d'Afrique, June 1995. It was part of my research for my paper From Genocide Denial to Denial of Genocide Denial: Merchandising Doubt and shows the extremist signature of at least nine source documents used by D&R and the dubious nature of most of the other sources.
General comments: Those who are familiar with the subjects of Rwanda and the 1994 genocide agains... more General comments: Those who are familiar with the subjects of Rwanda and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi will have observed that Filip Reyntjens is not a big fan of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the ruling party of Rwanda. They will also be aware that his resentment over being barred from this African country since March 1995 has gradually turned into an obsession that still defines his work on Rwanda today. In the Reyntjens universe, there are only two kinds of people: 1) the ones that support his radical opposition against the RPF, and 2) everyone else. Because this binary worldview excludes a middle ground, Reyntjens accuses hundreds of scholars, journalists, diplomats, politicians, human rights activists, genocide survivors, and others of being willing allies, groupies even, of the RPF. At a conference in 2017, Reyntjens targeted everyone who had openly criticized the BBC documentary "Rwanda's Untold Story", a journal article by one of his protégés, or his booklet "Le génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda". 1 Earlier this year, he expanded his list of suspects to include 170 experts who criticized a British university for inviting the controversial author Judi Rever as a subject matter expert. 2
Recognising and Responding to Genocide Denial: The Case of Rwanda, 2023
Denial is an integral part of genocide before, during and after the fact. As a tool of propaganda... more Denial is an integral part of genocide before, during and after the fact. As a tool of propaganda, denialist rhetoric is similar in most genocides. Its expressions are thematically summarised in terms of literal-, interpretive-and implicatory denial. With the abundant evidence of large-scale genocides like the Holocaust and the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, literal denial is difficult to sustain. This notion led several scholars to discard the study of genocide denial as inconsequential. However, denial is an evolving process of rationalising and re-interpreting, rather than simply rejecting the empirical facts. This chapter explores the next level of denial, its history and contemporary manifestations. It shows how deniers of the Genocide against the Tutsi adapt to changing expectations and attitudes which are turned into opportunities for disseminating their message. Rather than denying the physical aspect of the extermination campaign, deniers sow doubt about key facts such as the element of intent and recycle as rediscovered truths the myths and conspiracy theories from the 1990s propaganda industry. These merchants of doubt produce or appear as experts in documentaries of public broadcasting companies in Europe, persuade mainstream media companies and university presses to publish revisionist theories, arrange guest lectures for the authors at universities, and so on. Drawing on social-and cognitive psychology research into persuasion, gullibility, and illusionism, the chapter explains how extremist propaganda penetrates the media and the scientific record and offers suggestions for recognising and possibly reversing this development.
Report for Dutch fact-checkers website Kloptdatwel? on the assassination of President Juvenal Hab... more Report for Dutch fact-checkers website Kloptdatwel? on the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda in 1994. Main findings: the hypothesis of Masaka as the shooter's location originates from an RTLM broadcast of 13 April 1994; the comments by non-experts (e.g. Bernard Lugan, Filip Reyntjens, Barrie Collins etc.) that criticize the acoustic supplement of the French forensic investigations are misguided - they attack the wrong part of the research.
The arrest then release of Colonel Rusatira is often held up as an example of false accusations a... more The arrest then release of Colonel Rusatira is often held up as an example of false accusations against genocide suspects. But a new look at the evidence raises the possibility that justice was not served but obstructed.
This short paper discusses how a popular Hollywood film, Hotel Rwanda, replaced reality, persuadi... more This short paper discusses how a popular Hollywood film, Hotel Rwanda, replaced reality, persuading journalists to confuse an actor's performance with a real-life person, genocide denial with criticism, and charges of terrorism with political persecution.
This paper reports an attempt to replicate the research presented in “NGO Justice: African Rights... more This paper reports an attempt to replicate the research presented in “NGO Justice: African Rights as Pseudo-Prosecutor of the Rwandan genocide”, an article published in Human Rights Quarterly (August 2016). "NGO Justice" claims that the advocacy group African Rights was “coopted” by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the first weeks of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda with the objective to feed RPF propaganda to Western journalists and academics. However, these and other assertions in “NGO Justice” could not be replicated. A fact-checking exercise carried out between August 2016 and June 2017 reveals that "NGO Justice" contains hundreds of errors, unverified accusations, contested quotes and logical flaws. This paper highlights some of the results and ends with a brief discussion of the polarised debate on Rwanda and its influence on who does research and what gets published.
This article discusses three different forms of genocide denial that have-broadly speaking-follow... more This article discusses three different forms of genocide denial that have-broadly speaking-followed one another in post-genocide Rwanda since 1994. Genocide denial is considered a stage of genocide, and each of these three forms of genocide denial is outlined, drawing on the seminal study on denial of Stanley Cohen. The article suggests that collective denial such as genocide denial should be distinguished analytically from more everyday forms of denial of atrocities and suffering. Three types of genocide denial-literal, interpretative, and implicatory-are identified and related to particular phases in post-genocide Rwandan history. It is shown that denial of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has been intertwined with post-genocide debates around fundamental causes and triggers of genocide. The article concludes with some reflections on instruments used by the Rwandan government to combat genocide denial, reflecting on the polarization of public and scholarly opinion on Rwanda's recent past.
In the first two decades after the Rwandan genocide, alternative facts and conspiracy theories we... more In the first two decades after the Rwandan genocide, alternative facts and conspiracy theories were the almost exclusive domain of marginal figures and members of the former regime. Today these previously peripheral myths are being fed to a world audience by apparently reputable authors. The latest contribution to this new tradition is Michela Wrong’s book 'Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad'. This review discusses three types of misinformation that are a direct result of the author's intuitive method: recycled extremist propaganda, pseudoscience, and a hoax.
In her book ‘In Praise of Blood’, Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one,... more In her book ‘In Praise of Blood’, Canadian author Judi Rever controversially claims that not one, but two genocides were committed in Rwanda in 1994. The first genocide nearly wiped out the Tutsi minority. A second one, secretly committed by the Tutsi dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), allegedly targeted the Hutu majority. It’s a sensational story, but how well does it fit with reality? How well researched is it?
Analysis of the sources used by Serge Desouter and Filip Reyntjens in Rwanda. Les violations des ... more Analysis of the sources used by Serge Desouter and Filip Reyntjens in Rwanda. Les violations des droits de l'homme par le FPR/APR. Plaidoyer pour une enquête approfondie, (Working Paper), Anvers, Centre d'étude de la région des grands lacs d'Afrique, June 1995. It was part of my research for my paper From Genocide Denial to Denial of Genocide Denial: Merchandising Doubt and shows the extremist signature of at least nine source documents used by D&R and the dubious nature of most of the other sources.
General comments: Those who are familiar with the subjects of Rwanda and the 1994 genocide agains... more General comments: Those who are familiar with the subjects of Rwanda and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi will have observed that Filip Reyntjens is not a big fan of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the ruling party of Rwanda. They will also be aware that his resentment over being barred from this African country since March 1995 has gradually turned into an obsession that still defines his work on Rwanda today. In the Reyntjens universe, there are only two kinds of people: 1) the ones that support his radical opposition against the RPF, and 2) everyone else. Because this binary worldview excludes a middle ground, Reyntjens accuses hundreds of scholars, journalists, diplomats, politicians, human rights activists, genocide survivors, and others of being willing allies, groupies even, of the RPF. At a conference in 2017, Reyntjens targeted everyone who had openly criticized the BBC documentary "Rwanda's Untold Story", a journal article by one of his protégés, or his booklet "Le génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda". 1 Earlier this year, he expanded his list of suspects to include 170 experts who criticized a British university for inviting the controversial author Judi Rever as a subject matter expert. 2
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