Kagame Fires Back at British Broadcaster BBC for Negating Rwanda Genocide, Reports KT Press

KIGALI, Rwanda, Oct. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Paul Kagame has said the BBC 2 Channel is arming genocide negators and enemies of Rwanda after airing a documentary featuring fugitives and deniers of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda.

The documentary 'Rwandan Genocide; The Untold Story,' aired on October 1, has also angered the survivors of the genocide and provoked protests in London.

Those interviewed in the documentary insinuate that of the one million people killed by the Interahamwe militias during the genocide, only 200,000 were Tutsi and the other 800,000, were instead Hutus killed by Kagame's Rwanda Patriotic Army rebels.

"BBC has gone as far as denying the genocide," Kagame said. "BBC has turned genociders into victims and turned us into killers...this is coming from part of the world that teaches us about freedom."

President Kagame was speaking in Parliament at a ceremony to elect Former Prime Minister Bernard Makuza as senate president.

Those interviewed in the one-hour film include Filip Reyntjens, a Belgian academic, who last visited Rwanda years before the genocide--over 20 years ago. Others are Rwandan exiles – some of whom are wanted in Rwanda for various crimes. 

Kagame questioned the British broadcaster's motive of reducing the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi into a mere political gimmick. "Before, they told the genocide in a different way, now they are giving us an altered narrative," he said, amid loud applause.

"With every challenge put on our way, we get stronger, not weaker. Our body may become weak but our spirit never will," said President Kagame. "Let our challenges be the motivation to do more, to get more progress and move faster to develop our nation."

Meanwhile, letters from 38 genocide scholars and another from Ibuka, the umbrella of survivors, have been sent to BBC management. (Letter here: http://www.kwibuka.rw/experts-call-for-bbc-genocide-denial-inquiry). There have also been ongoing protests outside the BBC headquarters in London.

A petition seeking one million signatures is also being circulated around the world. You can sign it here: https://www.change.org/p/bbc-trust-bbc-trust-should-apologise-to-the-rwandan-people-over-rwanda-the-untold-story-documentary?recruiter=163635584 

Kagame said the BBC is known for giving platforms to deniers of other genocides.  "Would BBC do with what happened in Bosnia and the Jewish Holocaust," Kagame said.  "What they have done is not about criticism, this is criminal."

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SOURCE KT Press