The umbrella body of Genocide survivors living in the United States (Ibuka US) has protested the presentation of a book which they say is written with the purpose of denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The book, which is expected to be launched on Monday November 15 at the Lewiston Public Library in the state of Maine, is called “Neither Tutsi nor Hutu, A Rwandan Memoir”. The Genocide survivors, through a letter signed by Jason Havuga Nshimye, the executive chairperson of Ibuka-US, have urged the library to cancel the planned event. “We, the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, would like to bring to your attention that (Prosper) Ishimwe while talking about his story falls into the class of genocide against the Tutsi deniers,” the letter reads in part. It adds: “More than one million of our fellow Tutsi were slaughtered in 100 days as an apogee of decades of hateful ethnic politics that turned Rwandans against Rwandans.” Despite a United Nations Resolution clearly stating that the events that happened in Rwanda between April-July 1994 is a genocide against the Tutsi, Ishimwe maintains it was just a civil war, the survivors said. “This is an intentional minimisation and denial of genocide shared by many genocide perpetrators and their allies,” Ibuka said. Adding that beyond the book name, Ishimwe has been denying the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda by calling it a civil war, he also accuses RDF commit revenge killing nowadays. USA Ibuka described this book as Genocide denial by confusing the world in many ways and he uses distraction statements as double genocide. According to USA Ibuka, Ishimwe also displays sympathy with terrorist groups most of them supportive of the genocide ideology and have been engaged in acts of terrorism in their homeland. “In an attempt to tell his story, aiming at audiences who know little or nothing about the events of 1994, Ishimwe inevitably made creative shortcuts. Among them was the reinvention of genocide against Tutsi. We stand firmly against that endeavour as would do any person unwilling to see a repeat of the genocide or condone impunity that some genocide perpetrators still enjoy,” reads the statement. Ibuka said it is difficult to remain silent under these circumstances adding, “Americans, Rwandans, and the world deserve unbiased account about the genocide against the Tutsi contrary to what Ishimwe is trying to portray.” In an interview with The New Times, Nshimye urged the world to fight the last stage of genocide which is genocide denial. “True stories and evidence are available to the population and the justice system has to come forward to put a stop sign to denials. Genocide against Tutsi was stopped by RPF,” he said. Asked if they had received any response from the Library, Nshimye said that they had not, but added that if they proceed to hold it, they will attend and challenge the author on the misinformation in his book.
