2. d. Hutu victims versus Tutsis victims
The first revisionist theories on the genocide against Tutsis emerged soon after the genocide was stopped and since then they have developed and to revise completely the genocide’s history. In their book “The Politics of Genocide”, Mr Edward S. Herman –an American Professor Emeritus – and Mr David Peterson –an American independent researcher – claimed that no genocide against Tutsis happened in Rwanda, simply because the reported death toll of Tutsis is inferior to the number of Hutus who died during the war to stop the genocide; a war which was led and won by the RPA army forces. Christian Davenport and Allan Stam according to the reports of their research published on their website and which Mr Davenport defended in the ‘Rwanda, the untold story” recently on BBC2, they agreed with a toll death of one million of people believed to have had their lives claimed by the Rwandan events of 1994, but argued that among these people, only 200.000 were Tutsis and 800.000 remaining were Hutus.
The war to stop the genocide took place in the country almost simultaneously with the genocide and like any other war, it claimed many lives of civilians. What many people tend to forget in the case of Rwanda, is that by the time the RPA force(Rwanda Patriotic army) fought the FAR(Forces Armées Rwandaises - Rwanda Army Force), the country was almost exclusively inhabited by Hutus. The majority of Tutsis were already murdered by the time the soldiers of RPA were reaching different regions of the country and the few survivors were turning themselves to the RPA army for protection. At the same time, Hutus, both innocents and genocidaires were fleeing the war zones as the RPA forces advanced. For various reasons these civilians were very scared and moved well ahead of the attacks of the RPA. Mostly because of the propaganda spread by the government on power at the time, reporting killings of civilians by the RPA army. But also the fear for a possible revenge of the massacres of Tutsis in case of the rebels’ victory.
When the RPA forces fought away the government army, a lot of Hutu refugees moved after them and always camped no far from their changing positions, for protection and with a hope to return home quickly. The Rwandan government continued to promise a quick defeat over the rebellion army despite heavy losses in the national army and in territory. The fact that big masses of civilian refugees camped around the army’s positions increased the death toll of the war’s collateral victims. These civilians were exclusively made by Hutus because of the reasons mentioned above.
The government on power in the country in 1994 failed to protect hunted Tutsis but also exposed Hutus. Leaders of that time misled their ability to judge the situation by providing false hopes of victory after every one of their defeats. That made a big number of people wait long before they took the decision to flee their places as RPA forces advanced. In more other significant cases, the local authorities even urged villagers to stop running every time the RPA forces fired a bullet, but stand instead and fought with whatever weapon they could find. And yet these local authorities knew that RPA was defeating a well trained and well armed army. The fact of sending untrained and poorly armed peasants to fight with that same force only increased the number of civilians’ losses. This detail seemed to be in none’s interest in the polarized Rwandan atmosphere of after the genocide. None ever pointed this fact out, not even before the International Court for Rwanda based in Arusha, as it would have been an opportunity to expose some of the unspoken realities of the Rwandan crisis. Something which would help shading a light on that component of the Rwandan war.
When the RPA forces were about to liberate the entire country, the international attention which seemed to be distracted at the time when Tutsis were being slaughtered, suddenly woke up and covered the war; starting from where they found it. This fact gave the Rwandan 1994 spring events a total different meaning. It turned things upside down by highlighting the war to stop the genocide’s collateral victims and putting the genocide itself in a shadow. And American researchers like E. Herman, D. Peterson, C. Davenport, A. Stam, P. Erlinder and many others picking things from there, started questioning seriously the existence of the Genocide against Tutsis. Whether they do it intentionally or they are misled, they are the only one to tell.
When Professors Christian Davenport confirmed on BBC2 in October 2014, his research’s results already available on the website he shared with Professor Stam, he claimed that only 200.000 of Tutsis were slaughtered during the genocide and added that the other 800.000 would be Hutus. Mr Davenport went ahead saying that there was not enough Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 to give half a million of victims. To him and his colleague the government of Rwanda inflated the number of Tutsis killed in the sole purpose to legitimise a Genocide against Tutsis.
Where Are my People? A Question for Genocide Deniers Page 4
