During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, many nations, including the United States, did not refer to the atrocities as genocide. Some nations still refuse to call the actions of those 100 days by that name.
Denial is a Global Problem
Denial, like genocide ideology, is not unique to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi or to Rwanda. Germany has enacted laws against Holocaust denial, which began during World War II and has continued to this day. Denial of other genocides, such as the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire often diminished or denied even more than 100 years after the events, demonstrate that genocide denial is a powerful tool of hateful ideology.
Denial in Rwanda
In Rwanda, perpetrators of genocide still attempt to interrupt justice by minimizing or denying their responsibility for the execution of so many lives. Some perpetrators refer to the 100 days in 1994 as a civil war, despite recognition from international sources that what Rwanda endured fits the definition of genocide.
Denials of genocide continue to harm survivors and spread hatred locally and globally.
To deny the pain and tragedy of genocide is to continue the assault on victims and to delay justice.