Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong." "Rwanda without her Soldiers would be like God without his angels.
#HaltToDeniers
Why is it wrong to use the term “Rwanda Genocide”?
📌According to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Genocide refers to any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group:
(a) Killing members of the group
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
(c) Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction, in whole or in part
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
📌 Drawing from the definition of Genocide above, the use of “Rwanda Genocide” to describe what happened in in Rwanda in 1994 is inaccurate and implicitly carries an element of genocide denial. It is a term often used and promoted by Genocide deniers who seek to minimise or distort the truth.
📌 The phrase “Rwanda Genocide” obscures the specific identity of the group (the Tutsi) that was deliberately and systematically targeted for extermination by the perpetrators of the Genocide. Such a general label diminishes the historical truth and conceals the genocidal intent that drove the killings. Although there are moderate Hutus and others who bravely opposed the genocide and were killed, it is important to observe that they were not targeted for who they were in the context of Genocide, but for standing against the killings and attempting to save the lives of those that were being hunted. Their deaths, tragic as they were, occurred because of their resistance, not because they were the primary targets. In other words, had the Tutsi not been marked for annihilation by the genocidal regime and its forces, the moderate Hutus and others who opposed this genocide would not have been targeted by the killers.
What is the right terminology?
📍The United Nations officially refers to what happened in Rwanda as the “1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda,” under the UNGA Resolution 74/273. This authentic name draws from a judicial notice issued on 16 June 2006 by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which concluded it was a “fact of common knowledge” that: “Between 6 April and 17 July 1994, there was a genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsi ethnic group.”Accordingly, the UN has designated April 7 as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. This is the authentic name that aligns with the Genocide definition and describes what happened in Rwanda in 1994 with precision.
Why does it matter?
Unlike the use of ambiguous terms such as “Rwanda Genocide” or “Rwandan Genocide”, the official and precise name as adopted by the UN recognises that the mass killings of the Tutsi which took place in Rwanda in 1994 were driven by an intent to annihilate that particular group, as a state-sponsored campaign. This naming is necessary as it preserves the historical truth of the genocide, honors the victims’ memory, and stands as a basic safeguard against distortion or denial. In contrast, mislabelling the genocide against the Tutsi risks erasing the targeted nature of the atrocity and fuels misleading narratives that obstruct justice, reconciliation, and healing.
📢Final Thought
Silence enables denial whereas truth dismantles it.The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is not up for debate as it is a well documented and internationally recognized historical fact. Each of us as social media users, carries the moral responsibility to defend truth and honour victims, protect survivors, and stand against denial in all its forms especially during the period of #Kwibuka.
In this documentary, "Paul Kagame: The Liberator, Part 1", witness the rise of Rwanda’s unyielding hero. From exile to commander, Paul Kagame led the RPF to stop the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, saving a nation as the West stood idle. Betrayed and abandoned in the ‘90s, he forged a thriving #Rwanda—only to face sanctions today for defying Congo’s threats. The real reason? An African country should not be a well-led state that demands respect, should not be too organized, should not have efficient defensive measures and should just be a Western pawn. This is the story of a leader who liberated his people and continues to stand tall against imperialism. @PaulKagame
@Evebazaiba 1/2
@Evebazaiba if social media was a battlefield you people would’ve captured Kigali & today you would be tweeting while having a cup of coffee ☕️ @kivunoircafe in the beautiful capital of Rwanda. Anyway it’s not the first time we have seen such calls for an attack on Rwanda.👇