Continued from Part 5. 4.6. Attacks on Westerners who defend the truth about the genocide In his arrogance, believing himself to be the sole “expert” on Rwanda and the Great Lakes region, Reyntjens displays intellectual intolerance towards academics and intellectuals who do not subscribe to his theories. He expresses his position as follows: “Those who—out of ignorance, calculation or sympathy—blindly support the Rwandan regime bear a very heavy responsibility. It is indeed this support that reinforces the RPF’s conviction that it can do anything it wants, which in turn creates conditions conducive to the commission of new crimes and leads to a situation where future violence becomes inevitable. I find this support sometimes quite close to home. For example, two successive Belgian ambassadors to Kigali, Michel Lastchenko and Marc Gedopt, behave, according to all those who meet them, like ‘honorary members of the RPF’. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who was deeply affected by his work as rapporteur for the Belgian Senate’s Rwanda Commission, refuses to voice any criticism of the Rwandan government; since 2003, the same has been true of Louis Michel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and then European Commissioner.” Even Belgian academics who refuse to subscribe to Reyntjens’ theories, marked by hatred and genocide denial, are demonised by him: “At my own university, one of my colleagues in the Faculty of Law (whose name I prefer not to mention, but who will recognize himself) seizes every opportunity to support the Kigali regime (...). Another colleague at my university acts as a spokesperson for the RPF’s theories and engages in brutal polemics both in the Flemish press and in a scientific journal. There are many other examples in Belgium and elsewhere. Those who act in this way are just as responsible as those whom they rightly criticize for having supported the regime that led to the genocide.” Reyntjens himself strongly supported the Habyarimana regime, which was responsible for the genocide, as we have amply demonstrated. Before criticising others, he should examine his own conduct. Recently, Reyntjens attacked the French ambassador to Rwanda, Antoine Anfré, who posted a farewell message on 13 August 2025 at the end of his term: “This is my last post as French ambassador to Rwanda: I am leaving Kigali after four wonderful years of service, which have helped to strengthen the friendship between France and Rwanda.” Reyntjens responded with a shameful value judgement: “Ambassador Anfré has represented Rwanda better than France!” Where is the scientific expertise in such an accusation? Where are the intellectual ethics? 4.7. Opposition to the prosecution of genocide perpetrator Froduald Karamira Froduald Karamira was an extremist leader of the MDR political party and one of the masterminds and organisers of the genocide. He is particularly known for calling for Hutu unity to exterminate the Tutsi during a meeting of the MDR, MRND and CDR political parties on 23 October 1993. While in exile in India, Karamira was placed on an Ethiopian airliner in 1996 at Rwanda’s request. He attempted to escape during a stopover in Addis Ababa but was quickly recaptured and detained. Negotiations followed: the ICTR wanted to try him, while Rwanda was rightly demanding his extradition. It was at this point that Reyntjens intervened forcefully to prevent him from being brought to justice. Reyntjens describes his interventions on Karamira’s behalf as follows: “Froduald Karamira settled in India after the RPF victory. (...) After being deported to Rwanda, he attempted to escape during a stopover in Addis Ababa, but was quickly caught and imprisoned in the Ethiopian capital. Alerted by his brother, who lives in Nairobi, I contacted Catherine Cissé, a close associate of Goldstone and his successors; until she left the prosecutor’s office, this charming and competent Franco-Senegalese woman was my constant point of contact. I wanted to prevent Karamira from being extradited to Rwanda (...). At the same time, I contacted a Belgian lawyer, Mr Scheers, who agreed to defend Karamira’s interests in his dealings with the ICTR.” In seeking to shield Karamira from justice, Reyntjens was aware of his key role in the planning and execution of the genocide. Let us hear from him once again: “I believe I was only able to save one family ‘from a distance’, in particularly difficult circumstances. On 15 April [1994], M.T., the wife of a Tutsi colleague, a former dean of the Faculty of Law, called me to say that her husband had been killed by militiamen with whom he was guarding a barrier in their neighbourhood of Nyamirambo. RTLM had denounced him, revealing his whereabouts and calling for his murder. When she told me that she had just buried him in the garden, I didn’t know what to say to her and asked her what she was going to do. She replied very calmly that she and her children were waiting to be killed at any moment. When I asked her, ‘Who controls the militiamen who killed your husband?’, she replied with a touch of cynical irony, ‘Your friend Karamira.’ “(...) I asked M.T. if I could call Karamira to try to get his protection, knowing that this was not without risk, as it would draw attention to the family. She tells me that everyone knows where they are and that they are going to die anyway. I call Karamira immediately. I tell him that his men killed M.T.’s husband, that this is unacceptable, but that the damage has been done. However, her family is alive and must remain so. I tell Karamira that I hold him responsible for the fate of these people and that if anything happens to them, I will hunt him down wherever he is to make him answer for this crime. Karamira is very embarrassed; he grumbles a little, claims that he does not control all the checkpoints in Kigali, but ends up giving me a vague promise. M.T. and the children were saved and were able to settle in Switzerland. I am not sure if my intervention had anything to do with it, but if so, this episode clearly shows the extent to which men like Karamira had the power to decide life and death during that period.” There should be no doubt about Karamira’s criminal power or his key role in the genocide. He belonged to a deeply extremist circle that, throughout the genocide, used national radio and RTLM to urge people to accelerate the killings. To be continued in Part 7. The writer is the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement. This article was first published in Dialogue magazine, Special Edition No. 211, “The Prolonged Genocide”.
