The US government cannot support peace in the region if it does not understand the underlying issue of genocide ideology as well as the denial and revisionism of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a top American lawyer well versed with the issues has indicated.
Barbara Mulvaney, an American lawyer who was an attorney in the trial of Col Theoneste Bagosora, who convicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, has told The New Times that it is "disrespectful” for the United States government to refuse to use the UN-adopted appellation of the massacre.
Despite a 2018 UN Security Council resolution that recognised what happened in Rwanda in 1994 as the Genocide against the Tutsi, the US government continues to refer to it as the genocide or the Rwandan genocide.
ALSO READ: Genocide cannot be mentioned in isolation, without adding the targeted group
The US position on the appellation was back in the news on April 7 as Rwanda and the world observed the 30th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
In a statement posted on X, that day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country stood with Rwanda "in remembering the victims of genocide.”
"We mourn the many thousands of Tutsis, Hutus, Twas, and others whose lives were lost during 100 days of unspeakable violence,” Blinken said.
ALSO READ: American lawmaker calls on US govt to adopt correct name of Genocide against the Tutsi
Recalling that genocide is a crime committed against a specific, identity group, Mulvaney said the US government position aligns with Bagosora’s "double Genocide” theory and plan to exterminate the Tutsi. She said that it undermines Rwanda’s quest for reconciliation and efforts to lasting peace in the region.
Bagosora, who died in September 2021 while serving a 35-year sentence in prison in Mali, declared in January 1993 that he would prepare an "apocalypse” for the Tutsi.
Mulvaney noted that while in exile in DR Congo, Bagosora told journalist Kathy Austin, in November 1994, that he had plans to return to Rwanda and exterminate the Tutsi.
ALSO READ: Finally, the UN recognises the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi
Asked about Blinken’s reference to April 7 as a day to "mourn the many thousands of Tutsis, Hutus, Twas, and others,” Mulvaney said: "It is a sad commentary on the US regards for international justice. The issue has been fully litigated by the International Courts.”
"Basically, the US is parroting the propaganda of Bagosora and his crew,” said Mulvaney.
"That's why it is so dangerous and appalling and annoying to those who understand the facts of the Genocide against the Tutsi and the history of Rwanda, 1990-94.
"It is very dangerous to promote a lie and it certainly doesn't help the region in the quest for peace. To me it feels like the US is trying to stir things up in the region as opposed to promoting peace.”
ALSO READ: Speech by President Kagame at Kwibuka 30
Mulvaney recalled a "landmark decision” by the ICTR’s Appeals Chamber in the trial of Edouard Karemera, Mathieu Ngirumpatse and Joseph Nzirorera in June 2006.
The chamber noted the existence of Twa, Tutsi, and Hutu, as protected groups falling under the Genocide Convention.
In a judicial notice dated June 16, 2006, the chamber said that between April and July 1994, Rwanda had widespread or systematic attacks against a civilian population based on Tutsi ethnic identification and some Rwandan citizens killed or caused serious bodily or mental harm to people perceived to be Tutsi.
ALSO READ: Genocide mastermind Bagosora dies in Malian prison
The Appeals Chamber characterised the events of 1994 as "a campaign of mass killing intended to destroy, in whole or at least in very large part, Rwanda’s Tutsi population.”
It ruled that between April 6, 1994, and July 17, 1994, there was genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsi ethnic group.
For Mulvaney, the decision on the facts of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda meant that "they are to be taken as established beyond any dispute and not requiring any proof.”
"This is one of the most significant rulings of the Tribunal, given the consequences in terms of putting the occurrence of the genocide beyond legal dispute,” she noted.
"How can the US support peace in the region if they don’t understand the underlying issues?” Mulvaney posed.
"Secretary Blinken’s statements show a serious lack of understanding of these issues. Was it an intentional effort to undermine Rwanda? It appears to be - is that what was the goal? It is also extremely disrespectful to the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.”