Imagine if Adolf Hitler had left a son who, decades after the fall of the Third Reich, publicly defended the Nazi regime and shifted the blame for World War II onto the Allied Forces.

Such a figure might argue that the Allies' actions during and after the war were the true cause of Germany's suffering, ignoring or downplaying the Holocaust and the war crimes committed by the Nazis.

This hypothetical son might claim that the Allied occupation was a form of imperialism, premeditated to subdue Germany and control its resources, rather than a necessary intervention to stop genocide and fascism.

In this scenario, the son would likely argue that the Nuremberg Trials were biased, that the Nazi regime was misunderstood, and that the true victims were the German people who suffered under the Allied bombing campaigns and post-war occupation. He might even go so far as to assert that the Holocaust was exaggerated or a fabrication, designed to vilify the Nazis and justify the Allies' actions.

The very idea of such a defence is repugnant, yet it is not dissimilar to what a member of Belgium-based Jambo Asbl— Jean-Luc Habyarimana is doing today. Just as the hypothetical son of Hitler would seek to rehabilitate the image of his father and the Nazis, he is attempting to do the same for the Hutu-Power movement and its armed wing, the FDLR.

The son of Juvénal Habyarimana has cemented his position as a staunch defender of his father’s genocidal legacy. By defending the FDLR, a militia group that traces its roots to the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide, Jean-Luc reveals his deep-seated allegiance to the Hutu Power ideology that fuelled the atrocities committed during his father’s regime.

By defending the FDLR and shifting blame for the ongoing conflict in the DRC onto the Rwandan government, Habyarimana is engaging in perilous manipulations that echoes the nastiest forms of Holocaust denial.

A modern-day revisionist

In his thread on August 20, 2024, on the X platform (formerly Twitter), Jean-Luc Habyarimana exposed his commitment to defending the FDLR and the ideology of Hutu Power. His claims that the Luanda Process is "Kagame's Trap for Perpetual Conflict and the Disintegration of the DRC" are not merely critiques of a diplomatic initiative but are part of a broader effort to legitimize the FDLR and vilify the Rwanda government.

Habyarimana’s defence of the FDLR, which he claims is misunderstood and unfairly targeted by Rwanda, is akin to the hypothetical son of Hitler defending the Nazis as misunderstood patriots. Just as the Nazis were responsible for the Holocaust, the FDLR has been implicated in countless atrocities, including the massacre of Congolese Tutsi communities. Yet, Habyarimana dismisses these crimes, focusing instead on what he perceives as Rwanda's overreach and manipulation.

He goes further to argue that the FDLR's neutralization plan is "ambiguous" and "dangerous," suggesting that Rwanda's concerns about the group are exaggerated or fabricated. This mirrors the hypothetical Hitler son’s potential arguments that the Nuremberg Trials were a farce and that the Allies used the threat of Nazism as a pretext to dominate Germany. In both cases, the goal is the same: to rewrite history, absolve the guilty, and blame the victims.

What makes Jean-Luc Habyarimana's rhetoric even more dangerous is the qualified indifference of the international community to such flagrant revisionism. Just as there would be outrage if Hitler's hypothetical son were to publicly defend the Nazis, there should be a similar outcry against Habyarimana’s defence of the FDLR. Yet, the response has been tepid at best.

The international community's failure to robustly condemn Hutu-power ideologues like Jean-Luc and others who engage in genocide denial is a plain reminder of the apathy and complacency that often accompanies such rhetoric. In the case of World War II, the world eventually rallied to defeat the Nazis and hold them accountable for their crimes. But in the case of the FDLR and those who defend them, like Habyarimana, there has been a disturbing willingness to overlook or even accommodate their killing of memory.

This indifference is both a moral failing and a strategic blunder. By allowing figures like members of Jambo Asbl to spread their toxic ideology unchecked, the international community is effectively enabling the perpetuation of conflict in the Great Lakes region. Just as the failure to confront the rise of Nazism in the 1930s led to global catastrophe, the failure to confront the resurgence of Hutu Power ideology today threatens to destabilize an already fragile region.

Ignoring atrocities and killers of memory

Jean-Luc Habyarimana’s attempts to rewrite history and his defense of the FDLR are offensive and dangerous. They aim to obscure the real nature of the conflict in the DRC and to undermine efforts to bring lasting peace to the region. By shifting the blame onto Rwanda and downplaying the role of the FDLR, he propagates a narrative that could have catastrophic consequences.

The hypothetical son of Hitler, if he were to exist, would unquestionably face extensive condemnation for his endeavors to defend the Nazi regime. Yet, Jean-Luc Habyarimana, who is engaging in a similar form of revisionism, has faced relatively little pushback.

This discrepancy speaks volumes about the international community's willingness to confront uncomfortable truths and to hold those who perpetuate genocidal ideologies accountable.

The international community must recognize the true nature of the FDLR and the threat it poses, not just to Rwanda but to the entire Great Lakes region. Any peace process, including the Luanda Process, must be based on a clear understanding of the FDLR’s role in the conflict and a commitment to its neutralization.

Just as the world came together to defeat the Nazis and ensure that their crimes were not forgotten, there must be a concerted effort to confront and defeat the remnants of Hutu Power ideology. This means holding figures like Jean-Luc Habyarimana accountable for their support to criminal organizations and ensuring that the truth about the Genocide against the Tutsi is not obscured by revisionist narratives.

The legacy of the Genocide against the Tutsi continues to cast a long shadow over the Great Lakes region, and figures like Jean Luc Habyarimana serve as a reminder that the battle against genocide denial and the preservation of historical truth is far from over. His attempts to defend the FDLR and shift the narrative away from the true causes of the conflict must be challenged at every turn.

The international community must not repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing revisionist narratives to go unchallenged. Just as the world once stood against the Nazi regime, it must now stand against those who seek to revive the genocidal ideologies of the past. This is not just a matter of historical memory; it is a matter of ensuring that such atrocities never happen again.

The comparison between Jean-Luc Habyarimana and a hypothetical son of Hitler defending the Nazis is not just a rhetorical device; it is a glaring warning. The indifference of the international community to such rhetoric is a failing and a complicity that could have dire consequences. It is time for the world to wake up to the dangers posed by genocide denial and to take action to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

The legacy of the Genocide Against the Tutsi must be preserved, and the voices of those who seek to deny or minimize it must be challenged at every turn. Jean-Luc Habyarimana may seek to defend his father’s legacy, but the world must remember the true cost of that legacy—a cost paid in the lives of over a million innocent men, women, and children.