Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century

The massacre of the Tutsis in Rwanda, argues Alain Destexhe, is the first incontestable case of genocide since 1945. Yet the term has been frequently used by the media to emphasise the horror of many of the world's mass killings: from Cambodia and East Timor to Somalia and Bosnia. Destexhe demonstrates that genocide has a very specific definition and places the concept under close scrutiny, arguing that failure to limit the term to situations where it is clearly applicable under the terms of the UN Convention on Genocide detracts from the gravity of the offence. It must now be reinstated as the most infamous of all crimes. Setting the study in its historical context by analysing the Armenian and Jewish genocides, Destexhe concludes that a failure to grasp the reality of the situation in Rwanda undoubtedly explains the failure of the international community to take adequate action.

The horrific slaughter in Rwanda has once again driven home the deeply rooted existence and continuing presence of genocidal impulses. In this passionately argued volume-first published to great acclaim in France and considerably updated during the translation process-a deeply involved witness of the massacres takes an unflinching look at recent events in Rwanda and what they can tell us about the nature of genocide. Table of Contents Foreword By William Shawcross 1. The Unlearned Lesson of History 2. Three Genocides in the Twentieth Century 3. The Hutu and the Tutsi 4. From Indifference to Compassion 5. Justice Must be Done Appendix 1: Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Appendix 2: Chronology Notes Index