Intent to Deceive: Denying the Genocide of the Tutsi

by Linda Melvern

The news was so disturbing that Kofi Annan, under-secretary- general for peacekeeping operations, was dispatched immediately to Kigali. There he met Gersony, who gave an oral briefing and described how the RPF used ‘subtlety and finesse, covering their tracks with greater dexterity than the militia’ when they carried out their killings. Gersony believed that between 25,000 and 45,000 people had been killed by the RPF, including 5,000 people in August. Listening to these accounts with some disbelief was UN Special Representative Ambassador Khan. He was aware that UN military observers and aid agencies were present in the areas Gersony mentioned. Khan wondered how it was possible to massacre 30,000 people without attracting attention. In any case, the RPF did not travel with hoes and machetes. When he briefed members of the new Rwandan government the following day, Gersony described ‘a mass genocide by the RPA’.