Response to Alain Frachon’s article in Le Monde (‘ La France et le Rwanda : questions sans réponse’- 6, May 2010)

Sir, People can think what they want about Kagame’s regime. But when you write about Ingabire: “It is a whole lawsuit against a moderate Hutu, who has nothing to do with the killings of 1994...” one has to wonder if you have seriously tried to analyze the ideology of her political party. I attached some excerpts extracted recently from her website or that of her party, which are eloquent for those who have closely followed events in Rwanda for a long time now. In fact, she does nothing other than repeat genocide clichés (the RPF aggression of 1990 explains the genocide of 1994. The only massacres mentioned are those committed by the RPF, etc.) It’s only since her arrest recently that I saw for the first time, a statement mentioning the Genocide against the Tutsi (before there was only the Rwandan genocide, a bit like saying the Genocide of World War II or of Poland without talking about the Jews). In fact, Ingabire is like new and ‘good-looking’ clothes of the Hutu Power, which deep inside, she hasn’t denied. Her speech for those who read (barely) between the lines, is redundant: For the international community, it is an acceptable democratic façade; for Rwandans, subliminally, she restores ethnicity, the cause of the Genocide. Her speech, when she arrived in Kigali, was absolutely clear to those who can decode: “Hutus, you have also suffered from these Tutsis, it is time to revenge.” If she had had access to radio Rwanda, without the shadow of the doubt this is what a lot of Hutus would have understood. Fortunately, she didn’t! The Genocide ideology in Rwanda (just like the Nazis), is still based on a misleading terminology (deportation to the east for the Nazis; “finishing the job” for the Hutu power, etc.)). The day a democratic opposition that will have really broken up with the ideology of genocide arrives in Rwanda, then it will definitely be interesting. It is certainly not this Ingabire who is going to reflect it. Kind Regards Alain Destexhe, Belgian Senator

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Response to Alain Frachon’s article in Le Monde (‘ La France et le Rwanda : questions sans réponse’- 6, May 2010)