EDITORIAL: Genocide denial should be made an international crime

Genocide scholars are unanimous that the process usually evolves in eight stages, the final one being denial. Denial takes many forms: Perpetrators begin by denying they committed the crimes and shift blame on their victims. They begin sowing seeds of doubt for anyone willing to listen to them. In many cases, Genocide perpetrators rope in sympathisers for their cause of rewriting history. They continuously bombard public opinion that they are the offended party and sometimes succeed in gaining sympathy votes. That is the case of the BBC saga and the FDLR’s longevity in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The genocidaires have over the past few years made inroads in BBC’s newsrooms and despite official Rwanda government complaints, business continues as usual. The FDLR, on the other hand, has managed to cultivate godfathers who do all they can do protect and advocate for them and even going as far as obstructing their disarmament. One cannot fail to wonder whether FDLR sympathisers are not suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome, where as a result of rubbing shoulders with criminals, they end up identifying with them and their ideology. This is very visible among defence lawyers at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) who are at the forefront of the denial campaign. Now some sections of the media have joined the bandwagon, a very dangerous precedence if not countered vigorously. Instead of the International Criminal Court chasing its own tail, it should take up this task and spearhead the criminalisation of Genocide denial and revisionism, then at least it might salvage its relevance.

Opinions

EDITORIAL: Genocide denial should be made an international crime