In France , when it comes to the Genocide against the Tutsi , pan-Africanists and anticolonial activists are bipolar
Jessica Mwiza
For 10 years , I have been involved the fight for the preservation of memory around the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis in Rwanda . Through this work , I have noticed how most of the people belonging to the Pan African and Anti-colonial movements in France have shunned the cause against genocide denial . I find this bizarre .
Every 7th of April , I search major social media such as Twitter , Facebook , Instagram accounts , and the websites of these activist networks , but unfortunately , nothing is being said about the genocide against the Tutsis . Not the slightest declaration in favour of the protection of the memory of the genocide against the Tutsi , or in support of the families of the victims and survivors of the genocide ; not a word of sympathy for those who are still waiting for justice . Not even from our many activist figures who are used to commemorating each anniversary of any historical event that proves that France was and still is an imperialist state .
It is indeed sad to note that despite 28 years of extensive research and writing on the crime of crimes , the history of the genocide against the Tutsi , which is highly complex and political , is still perceived as unimportant . One wonders if the modest size of the Rwandan diaspora in France reinforces this feeling .
So , a question naturally arises : Why ? Why is one of the darkest pages of the France-Afrique relationship of no interest to its most vocal detractors ? Why is the impact of pan-Africanism , a decolonial and anti-racism movement which implies certain solidarity in struggles led by Africans , not felt here ?
Links to the theory of double genocide
For starters , the complementarity of these causes ought to be obvious to all . Genocide is fundamentally an outcome of racism . European racism is what brought about the classification of people into different categories , including the Hutu-Tutsi dichotomy along the Hamitic mythology . These actions by colonial powers planted the seeds of hatred that led to genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 . Therefore , one cannot be anti-racism and indifferent to genocide denial .
What I have discovered over time in my learning of the dynamics that attack the memory of the genocide against the Tutsis is that the activists and their associations which are mostly classified as " decolonial ", " pan-African " or " Afro-feminist " have not been impervious to the theory of double genocide . This is a gentle euphemism . Beyond the silence observed every 7th of April , there are numerous shares of negationist texts and videos from these same networks . This is a de facto alliance with the genocidaires , and those who are guilty of it seem unaware of the implications of their acts .
Since the very beginning of my commitment to this cause , I have also noticed that any effort aimed at protecting the history of the genocide against the Tutsis would often receive the cold retort " Yes but , what about the Congo ?” This is never a harmless and innocent question but the result of a precise negationist strategy : to make people believe that the Tutsis took revenge and committed a second genocide as the RPF liberated Rwanda . “ Genocide against the Hutus ,” as some term it . Or a genocide " against the Congolese ". “ Some 6 , 9 , 20 million dead ,” one sometimes reads , because of tiny Rwanda .
This is a heresy ! And the lie has been exposed over and over again .
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