Why do nations like the US insist on using the term “Genocide against the Tutsis”?
Some European countries and the United States of America are at the forefront of those who want to belittle, where in their statements they refuse to show that what happened in Rwanda is a Genocide against the Tutsis, yet it was confirmed by the United Nation in an irrevocable way.
Rwanda’s politics experts say that how the United States and Great Britain still use confusing terminology for the Genocide against the Tutsis in 1994 and adopting the names different from the one agreed upon by the UN is a great insult and indicates that their change is far away.
100 days of commemoration of the 29th Genocide against the Tutsis in April 1994 began on April 7 in Rwanda and across the world.
Numerous nations with which Rwanda has diplomatic ties have shown their solidarity with the country and its people through sending messages in various forms, and some leaders from other nations have also been elsewhere to Rwanda to join the 29th commemoration of the Tutsi Genocide.
This time, people are on one flame, but mixed with a message posted on Twitter by the United States Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Antony Blinken, who said that his country, in commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsis, bowed “with others who were killed” for not supporting the regime of ‘the genocidals.
Social media users criticized him for this statement, and many said that those who died because of how they have born should not be associated with those who perished because of their opposition to the Genocidal government.
Blinken wasn’t the only person to exhibit these behaviors; in a speech to Rwandans living in the US, Mary Catherine “Molly” Phee, the Secretary of the United States of America in charge of Foreign Affairs, Department of Africa, used language that belittle the Genocide against the Tutsis.
“On this day, we commemorate the lives of individuals who died in the last 100 days as a result of supernatural violence. We also remember the thousands of Tutsis who perished, men, women, and children who were all murdered as a result of their ethnicity. We also commemorate those who perished for defying the homicidal rule, like the Hutu, Batwa, and others.
This mindset has been prevalent in nations like the United States for a while, but Rwanda has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not agree with it by requesting that those who wish to do so must stop it.
Senator Nkusi Juvenal, a seasoned politician, told IGIHE that this nation continues to practice nationalist politics, which he views with contempt.
He said, “They dont understand it [the Genocide against the Tutsis] they despise it. It is an expression of mixed contempt. It is the politics of Nationalism and the United States is doing it all over the world. […]Their change is far a way.”
Rwandan’s politic Expert Tito Rutaremara also expressed that the attitude of the United States to the Genocide against the Tutsis is not surprising because it has been happening for a long time.
“It is not surprising,” he continued, “since only that nation [the United States] and the British did not vote to label it Genocide against the Tutsis, although the Tutsis were pursued because of what they were. Nobody knows why they chose that stance, but they ought to have known.
According to Tom Ndahiro, a genocide researcher, if you don’t mention the people who genocide aimed to murder, you want to kill them twice because you want to forget about them.
Ndahiro condemns these nations, stating they should examine themselves and recognize the reality of the genocide committed against the Tutsis in April 1994, even though they claim to comprehend Rwanda’s concerns.
President Kagame issued a warning to anyone who wish to escape from the history of what happened by twisting the facts or distorting the truth when he declared this week a commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
There is no way to conceal the reality of what occurred in our history, he declared. People don’t have to conceal the reality of what occurred if they take the time to explain what they want and if they say it, it could help them achieve their goals.
“Some of those who try to distort the facts of our history, they have no shame,” the head of state stated. However, we each have a life to live, and nobody else will choose how we should spend it. We derive a great deal of strength from this past.
During his last visit to Rwanda in 2022, Blinken was asked why his country was stubborn in accepting the title of Genocide against the Tutsis. Based on the question Blinken was asked and his answer, it is very contradictory because the reason for his stubbornness did not continue.
“Our position is known when it comes to accepting the Genocide and the atrocities committed,” he stated. I’ll have time to go to the monument soon so I may continue to experience the suffering that so many people have endured. In order to attain any right historical title and make every effort to prevent a recurrence of this history, we will continue to cooperate within the United Nations.