French-Cameroonian writer Charles Onana is set to stand trial in Paris, facing accusations of complicity in contesting the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days.
In a book published five years ago, Onana claimed that the idea the Hutu government orchestrated the genocide was “one of the biggest scams” of the 20th century.
Onana’s lawyer, Emmanuel Pire, maintains that his client does not deny the genocide or the targeted killings of Tutsis.
Pire told AFP that the book represents “the work of a political scientist based on 10 years of research to understand the mechanisms of the genocide before, during, and after.”
Onana, now 60, and his publishing director at Editions du Toucan, Damien Serieyx, were sued four years ago over the same book by the NGO Survie and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) for “publicly contesting a crime against humanity.”
Monday’s trial will be only the second in France involving denial of the Rwandan genocide. French law criminalizes the denial or “minimisation” of any genocide officially recognized by the country.
Camille Lesaffre, campaign manager for Survie, told AFP that the trial is “historic” as it will establish case law related to the Rwandan genocide. “We will mainly base ourselves on case law related to the Holocaust,” she added.
In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron asked for forgiveness from Rwandans for France’s role in the genocide.
Macron acknowledged that France had ignored warnings of the impending massacre and had “valued silence over examination of the truth,” but he denied that France had been complicit in the killings.
Source-BBC
