Genocide denial has been one of the biggest challenges that survivors often have to contend with. It is the source of the worst pain and deniers know it and use it as a weapon. Rwandan survivors are not alone in facing the denial plague. As the world was commemorating the Holocaust Memorial Day last Sunday, a survey commissioned in the United Kingdom (UK) came out with shocking results. Five per cent adults do not believe that the Holocaust ever took place; over 8 per cent are convinced it is being over-hyped and nearly half of the adults do not know the number of victims. In short, it is losing its significance in the UK. Just a day after the Jews remembered their loved ones, some good news landed at Kigali International Airport. Vincent Murekezi, one of the notorious ringleaders of the killings in Butare during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was extradited from Malawi after a protracted legal battle. The man had changed his identity and acquired Malawian citizenship. His wealth had managed to buy him impunity. But not for long. This unrelenting hunt for those who took part in the Genocide is the best weapon against denial. Exposing them will shoot down the lies revisionists peddle and in fact reverse the roles between perpetrator and victim. There are many Murekezis still holed out there but they should rest assured that their day of reckoning will arrive with vengeance.
