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It is 28 years since the genocide of the Tutsi of Rwanda when in three terrible months more than 1 million people were murdered. In the intervening years, the perpetrators have waged a pernicious campaign to deny their crime, attempting to falsify history and blame the victims for their fate.
From the moment when the genocidaires seized state power in Rwanda in April 1994, they determined to distort the perception of events to the outside world, and their skilful use of disinformation was integral to their genocidal conspiracy. In their genocide denial the facts are reversed, fake news promulgated, and phoney science given credence.
The génocidaires and their supporters continue to peddle falsehoods and have found new and receptive audiences and fooled gullible Western journalists and unwary academics. The Rwandan génocidaires continue to pose a threat, especially to those who might not be aware of the true nature of their crime.
The harm to the survivors caused by this campaign of denial is incalculable. Denial devalues the gravity of their experiences and memories. It ensures the genocide is a crime with no end. In allowing denial to continue unchecked we show a callous indifference.
Intent to Deceive published in February 2020, tells the story of this campaign.
“Linda Melvern has made it something of a life mission to take on the Rwandan genocide deniers and debunk their poisonous fact-muddying claims … A clear, crisp and important contribution to the literature on the genocide. In particular Melvern forensically rebuts attempts by apologists for the genocidaires, including western academics, to suggest a moral equivalence between the parties in Rwanda.” – Alec Russell, Financial Times
“This book is a fine and exceptionally well-written microscopic examination of the denial phenomenon relating to the genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. It contributes, together with the author’s other work on Rwanda, to an absolutely indispensable body of forensic and historical work for all who want to understand the stages of this genocide – from its early dynamics to those who would now deny it.” – Ken Booth FBA, presently Distinguished Research Professor and formerly EH Carr Chair in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, and a former Chair of the British International Studies Association
A People Betrayed
The Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide
Zed Books 2000
Three editions
“Quite extraordinary: precise, and yet overwhelming; a fine balance in the face of depravity… Linda Melvern has written an extraordinary account of the Rwanda genocide, and the shocking failure of the West to lift a finger… What Melvern demonstrates so powerfully is that where Western geopolitical interests are absent, Western morality and ‘civilised’ concerns are nowhere to be found … A brave and compelling book.”
Professor Richard Falk
Conspiracy to Murder
Verso 2004
Paperback 2006
Three Editions
Voted the Best Book on Africa by Foreign Affairs and Outstanding Academic title in 2004 by Choice.
“Essential …. quite possibly the definitive account of the origins of the tragedy. Melvern relies heavily on material that had not been available to earlier researchers, such as captured Rwandan government documents… Scholars will appreciate the meticulous research and extensive endnotes. Melvern’s writing is clear and direct. Accessible to all readers.” Choice
The Ultimate Crime
Allison and Busby 1995
“…the 1990’s has seen something of proliferation of books on the UN. Linda Melvern’s book deserves a place on or very near the top of the pile…. this is a hidden history of the UN, indeed of the post-1945 world which will be of value to academics and the general reader. It is a major work of fact and argument which deserves considerable attention from those wanting to know how the UN worked during its first 50 years.”
Dr. Mark Imber
Linda is a British investigative journalist, the author of seven non-fiction books. For several years she worked for London’s Sunday Times recruited from the newsroom to join the investigative Insight team.
For the past 27 years she has researched and written extensively on the circumstances of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. A consultant to the Military One prosecution team at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), documents from her extensive archive were used in this trial. She is a former Honorary Professor in the Department of International Politics, University of Wales and former second vice-President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Linda Melvern 