Yes, it is the season when the worms come out of the woodwork. Those are none other than Genocide deniers, perpetrators – and for the last few years – their offspring that have taken over the mantle of their parents. It is difficult to comprehend what drives that kind of hatred; the kinds encountered on social media that is devoid of humanity and empathy. However, we should be grateful for COVID-19 because it has prevented us from being an unwilling audience to Genocide deniers’ rallies and events. But there is another section of people who mock the Genocide, either out of ignorance or because to them, the act was normal behaviour by a bunch of primitive natives in some remote African jungles. That is purely dehumanizing, it is one of the stages of Genocide. None can describe that better than a comical sketch on France Inter during a radio show. The presenter played around with survivors’ emotions, fortunately, the radio station has a small audience in Rwanda and the broadcast was in French. One would have expected a media house like France Inter would have understood the ripe sensibilities currently in the country and acted accordingly, but that seems to be not the case. But it would be scratching the surface of Genocide denial if we were to ignore the hate crimes that take place in Rwanda, especially during the commemoration period. Some Genocide survivors become victims of the Genocide ideology; their animals are killed or injured or their crops destroyed. The most alarming thing is that in most cases, the authors of those crimes were either young children during the Genocide or were not yet born. The war against Genocide ideology denial definitely still has a long way to go, but surrender is not an option.
