Rwanda: Genocide Denial in Court Proceedings - Allafrica)

This article examines some key issues raised by Leon Mugesera in court. He is alleged to have played a key role in planning, organising, and finally carrying out the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. He is now trying to convince the court that his speech has nothing to do with the Genocide which exterminated the Tutsi in April 1994.

Mugesera hypocritically advances his denial arguing that his speech was intended to meet the political context of that specific period and not to instigate hate and ethnic violence.

His claims to persuade judges that his speech falls under a "universal right to a political freedom of speech. "His arguments are full of erroneous facts and historical distortions which make his speech seem like it was grossly exaggerated for political reasons"

He should bear in mind that his speech should not be treated as historical debate; instead, it should be looked at as a contemporary political work, motivated by racism and anti-Semitism.

In addition, Mugesera confidently attempts to justify that his speech had no direct link to the clash of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana [on 6 April 1994], which Mugesera claims to be the sole cause of Genocide.

Mugesera relegates the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi to the status of a civil war.

The continuous act of linking the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi to the plane crash is a fabrication intended to deny, or at least, deny the Genocide against the Tutsi that claimed the lives of more than a million innocent people.

His speech was in line with the political agenda of the MRND party in the preparation, organisation and training of extremist militia in 1992. Mugesera's speech should be taken as clear evidence and indicator that the organisation of the Genocide was at its climax.

Mugesera, who was one of elites in the ruling MRND party, should remember that the Genocide is not an overnight act. As highlighted by Dr. Stanto Gregory, it is a process that evolves in ten stages.

The mentality of those who engage in denial activism like Mugesera tends to use their "knowledge" for the interest of the Genocide perpetrators and their allies.