Edit filter log

'{{Orphan|date=February 2018}} {{Denial of Mass Killings}} {{quote|By seeking to eliminate a part of the [[Bosniaks|Bosnian Muslims]], the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity.<ref>ICTY; "Address by ICTY President Theodor Meron, at Potocari Memorial Cemetery" The Hague, 23 June 2004 [http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2004/p860-e.htm UN.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403003018/http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2004/p860-e.htm |date=3 April 2009 }}</ref> - the Presiding Judge [[Theodor Meron]]}} '''Bosnian genocide denial''' is the act of denying the planned systematic genocide or the assertion that the [[Bosnian genocide]], planned and perpetrated by Serb academic, political and military establishment against [[Bosniak]] Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not occur in the manner or to the extent described by [[Scholarly method|scholarship]] and established by the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|ICTY]] and the [[International Court of Justice|ICJ]] through its judgments. The Bosnian genocide is widely acknowledged and regarded by genocide scholars as the biggest and worst war-crime perpetrated on European soil since [[World War II]]. With its ''"culture of denial"'', it can be compared to similar negationist historical revisionisms such as Armenian and Rwanddan genocide denial, Nanking Massacre denial, or even Holocaust denial. {{TOC limit|2}} ==Cuture of denial== [[Sonja Biserko]], president of the [[Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia]], and Edina Bećirević, the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies of the University of Sarajevo, have pointed to a ''culture of denial'' of the genocide in Serbian society: {{quote|Denial of the Srebrenica genocide takes many forms [in Serbia]. The methods range from the brutal to the deceitful. Denial is present most strongly in political discourse, in the media, in the sphere of law, and in the educational system.<ref>[http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2638 Denial of genocide – on the possibility of normalising relations in the region] by Sonja Biserko (the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia) and Edina Becirevic (faculty of criminology and security studies of the University of Sarajevo).</ref>}} === Tactics and methods === The debate among revisionist ranges from challenging the judicial recognition of the killings as an act of [[genocide]] to the denial of a massacre having taken place. The finding of genocide by the ICJ and the ICTY, has been disputed on evidential and theoretical grounds. The number of the dead has been questioned as has the nature of their deaths. It has been alleged that considerably fewer than 8,000 were killed and/or that most of those killed died in battle rather than by execution. It has been claimed that the interpretation of "genocide" is refuted by the survival of the women and children. ==== Attempted cover-up by mean of reburials to secondary and tertiary mass graves ==== From approximately 1 August 1995 to 1 November 1995, there was an organised effort to remove the bodies from primary mass gravesites and transport them to secondary and tertiary gravesites.<ref>ICTY: Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic Trial Chamber Judgment Case No. IT-02-60 Section II G [http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/bla-050117e.htm#IIG Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105101311/http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/bla-050117e.htm#IIG |date=5 January 2008 }}</ref> In the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] court case "Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic", the trial chamber found that this reburial effort was an attempt to conceal evidence of the mass murders.<ref>ICTY: Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic Trial Chamber Judgment Case No. IT-02-60 paragraph 382 [http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/index.htm Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310174358/http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/index.htm |date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> The trial chamber found that the cover up operation was ordered by the [[VRS Main Staff]] and subsequently carried out by members of the [[Bratunac]] and Zvornik Brigades.<ref>ICTY: Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic Trial Chamber Judgment Case No. IT-02-60 paragraph 383 [http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/index.htm Prosecutor v. Blagojevic and Jokic] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310174358/http://www.un.org/icty/blagojevic/trialc/judgement/index.htm |date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> The cover-up operation has had a direct impact on the recovery and identification of the remains. The removal and reburial of the bodies have caused them to become dismembered and co-mingled, making it difficult for forensic investigators to positively identify the remains.<ref name="Durnford-BBB">Durnford, Laura [http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/science/050711rf "Bridges of Bone and Blood"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206153153/http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/science/050711rf |date=6 February 2007 }}</ref> For example, in one specific case, the remains of one person were found in two different locations, 30&nbsp;km apart.<ref>The Scotsman "Finding the Bodies To Fill Bosnia's Graves" commentary by Adam Boys (ICMP) comment # 16.[http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=398822007 Adam Boys Commentary]</ref> In addition to the ligatures and blindfolds found at the mass graves, the effort to hide the bodies has been seen as evidence of the organised nature of the massacres and the non-combatant status of the victims, since had the victims died in normal combat operations, there would be no need to hide their remains.<ref name="Durnford-BBB" /><ref>Wood, Peter [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3640788.stm "Pollen Helps War Crimes Forensics"]</ref> ===Johnston, Herman & Robles=== [[File:HuseinovicSadik.jpg|right|thumb|Grave of a 13-year-old - Herman & Peterson claim "only military age men were targeted"]] Similarly to their writing on Rwandan genocide, economist [[Edward S. Herman]] and independent researcher [[David Peterson]], as well as Diana Johnston and [[John Robles]] were engaged in revision and denial of the [[Bosnian genocide]]. In several articles, such as ''"The Politics of the Srebrenica Massacre"'', written by Herman, or ''"The Srebrenica Massacre was a Gigantic Political Fraud"'', penned by Herman and Robles, while repeating claims about political motives by western government and NATO conspirators from Herman & Peterson book "Politics of Genocide", authors, concentrating on the [[Srebrenica massacre]], state that Serb at Srebrenica were actually "killing (of) Bosnian-Muslim soldiers" and even that was in response to the "killing of over 2,000 Serb civilians, mostly women and children, at the location by Bosnian-Muslim army", and that the numbers of executed Bosnian-Muslim soldiers "were probably in the order of between 500 and 1,000 (...) (i)n other words, less than half of the number of Serbs civilians killed before July, 1995".<ref name="Herman-Srebrenica-Gigantic-Political-Fraud-globalresearch">{{cite web|author1=Edward S. Herman|author2=John Robles|authorlink1=Edward S. Herman|title=The Srebrenica Massacre was a Gigantic Political Fraud|url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-srebrenica-massacre-was-a-gigantic-political-fraud/5321388|website=globalresearch.ca|accessdate=21 April 2017|date=11 July 2016}}</ref> For this complete reversal of reality they rely on and cite informations provided by another independent researcher Diana Johnston, who herself never set foot in Bosnia, without a shadow of a doubt or critical examination into evidence and sources provided. They cite that women and children were largely spared and that only military age men were targeted.<ref>The Politics of the Srebrenica Massacre, Z Net, 7 July 2007, by Edward S. Herman, [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8244 zmag.org] {{webarchive |url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090701033541/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8244 |date=1 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.mail-archive.com/serbian_way@antic.org/msg00008.html "The real story behind Srebrenica"], ''The Globe and Mail'', 14 July 2005.</ref> This view is not supported by the findings of the ICJ or the [[ICTY]].<ref>ICTY, ''Prosecutor vs Krstic, Trial Chamber Judgement'', Case No. IT-98-33-T, paras 43–46. [http://www.un.org/icty/krstic/jug33-e.htm UN.org]</ref> ======== Revisionist-denialist claims per sources: * [http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-srebrenica-massacre-was-a-gigantic-political-fraud/5321388] Herman-Srebrenica-Gigantic-Political-Fraud-globalresearch Edward S. Herman|author2=John Robles|authorlink1=Edward S. Herman|title=The Srebrenica Massacre was a Gigantic Political Fraud|website=globalresearch.ca|accessdate=21 April 2017|date=11 July 2016}}</ref> * [http://www.srebrenica-report.com/ Report] of Srebrenica Research Group, alleged that "the contention that as many as 8,000 Muslims were killed has no basis in available evidence and is essentially a political construct". * [http://128.121.186.47/ISSA/reports/Balkan/Sep1903.htm Report of ''International Strategic Studies Association'' (ISSA)], claimed that the "alleged casualty number of 7,000 victims [is] vastly inflated and unsupported by evidence" * [http://www.mail-archive.com/serbian_way@antic.org/msg00008.html The real story behind Srebrenica] by the former UNPROFOR commander, Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, ''The Globe and Mail'', 14 July 2005. * [http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg-sreb101604.htm "The Forbidden Srebrenica report"], report denying the Srebrenica massacre issued by the Republika Srpska Bureau for Cooperation with the ICTY in September 2002. * [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091001191412/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8244 The Politics of the Srebrenica Massacre] article argues that only some Bosniaks were executed, most died in battle, and some of the bodies in mass graves are actually Serbs, by Edward S. Herman, 7 July 2005</ref> Critics, such as [[Edward S. Herman]] in his book ''The Srebrenica Massacre'' and the British journalist [[Mick Hume]], cite a discrepancy between a figure of over 8,000 victims and the number of bodies found and identified as casting doubt on the explanation of the events, despite the long delays in locating mass graves and identifying the bodies in them. During the Bosnian war, Slobodan Milošević had effective control of most Serbian media.<ref>Armatta, Judith (27 February 2003).[http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/tribunals/yugo/2003/0227prop.htm "Milosevic's Propaganda War"], ''Institute of War & Peace Reporting''. Retrieved 31 July 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii011122e.htm |title=ICTY Indictment of Milosevic, clause 25, section g |publisher=United Nations |date=5 March 2007 |accessdate=26 May 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040307125137/http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii011122e.htm |archivedate=7 March 2004 }}</ref><ref>Bennett, Christopher. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/karadzic/bosnia/media.html "how yugoslavia's destroyers harnessed the media"], ''Frontline''. Retrieved 31 July 2008.</ref><ref>EXPERT REPORT OF RENAUD DE LA BROSSE "Political Propaganda and the Plan to Create 'A State For All Serbs:' Consequences of using media for ultra-nationalist ends", [http://hague.bard.edu/reports/de_la_brosse_pt4.pdf paragraph 74]</ref> Following the end of the war, scepticism about Srebrenica continued to be widespread among Serbians.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/05/balkans.warcrimes|location=London|work=The Guardian|title=How video that put Serbia in dock was brought to light|author=Tim Judah and Daniel Sunter|date=4 June 2005|accessdate=2 August 2012}}</ref> In March 2005, Miloš Milovanović, a former commander of the Serb paramilitary unit [[Serbian Guard]] who represents the [[Serbian Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)|Serbian Democratic Party]] in the [[Srebrenica]] Municipal Assembly said that "the massacre is a lie; it is propaganda to paint a bad picture of the Serbian people. The Muslims are lying; they are manipulating the numbers; they are exaggerating what happened. Far more Serbs died at Srebrenica than Muslims."<ref>{{cite news|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|title=After the massacre, a homecoming|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/apr/30/weekend.edvulliamy|newspaper=The Guardian|date=30 April 2005|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Stacy|title=The Wall of Denial|url=http://iwpr.net/report-news/wall-denial-0|newspaper=Institute for War & Peace Reporting|date=5 July 2005}}</ref> ==Denial by officials== Similarly to case of Rwandan genocide denial or Armenian genocide denial, revisionist and denialist often claim that genocide is result of international political conspiracy, which invoked violence itself or exeggregated or invented , Roger Booboh, who declared that "to claim that a genocide occurred is closer to the politics of surrealism than to the truth".{{sfn|Lemarchand|2013|p=[http://www.massviolence.org/RWANDA-THE-STATE-OF-RESEARCH,742?artpage=10#outil_sommaire_5 10]}} A high-ranking Serb and a UN official have claimed that no genocide on Bosniak Muslims the took place at all: [[File:Milorad Dodik mod.jpg|thumb|[[Milorad Dodik]], president of Republika Srpska, has repeatedly insisted that massacre cannot be labeled as genocide.]] * [[Milorad Dodik]], President of Republika Srpska, stated in an interview with the Belgrade newspaper [[Večernje Novosti]] in April 2010 that "we cannot and will never accept qualifying that event as a genocide". Dodik disowned the 2004 Republika Srpska report acknowledging the scale of the killing and apologising to the relatives of the victims, alleging that the report had been adopted because of pressure from the international community. Without substantiating the figure, he claimed that the number of victims was 3,500 rather than the 7,000 accepted by the report, alleging that 500 listed victims were alive and over 250 people buried in the Potocari memorial centre died elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20100427-srebrenica-was-not-genocide-bosnian-serb-leader |title=Srebrenica was not genocide: Bosnian Serb leader |date=27 April 2010 |agency=Agence France-Presse |accessdate=28 April 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717064036/http://www.france24.com/en/20100427-srebrenica-was-not-genocide-bosnian-serb-leader |archivedate=17 July 2010 }}</ref> In July 2010, on the 15th anniversary of the massacre, Dodik declared that he did not regard the killings at Srebrenica as [[genocide]], and maintained that "If a genocide happened then it was committed against Serb people of this region where women, children and the elderly were killed en masse" (referring to eastern Bosnia).<ref name="Srebrenica massacre 'not genocide'">[http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/srebrenica-massacre-not-genocide-20100713-1083q.html Srebrenica massacre 'not genocide'], ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]/[[Agence France-Presse]]'', 13 July 2010</ref> In December 2010, Dodik condemned the [[Peace Implementation Council]], an international community of 55 countries, for referring to the Srebrenica massacre as genocide.<ref>{{cite news|last=Arslanagic|first=Sabina|title=Dodik Again Denies Srebrenica Genocide|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/dodik-slams-international-community-for-referring-to-srebrenica-massacre-as-genocide|newspaper=Balkan Insight|date=3 December 2010}}</ref> * [[Tomislav Nikolić]], President of Serbia, stated on 2 June 2012 that "there was no genocide in Srebrenica. In Srebrenica, grave war crimes were committed by some Serbs who should be found, prosecuted and punished. […] It is very difficult to indict someone and prove before a court that an event qualifies as genocide."<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|title=Serbian president denies Srebrenica genocide|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/02/serbian-president-denies-srebrenica-genocide|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2 June 2012|location=London}}</ref> ===UN officials and commanders=== * Phillip Corwin, former UN Civilian Affairs Coordinator in Bosnia, advisor and contributor to the work of the Srebrenica Research Group<ref name="srebrenica-report.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.srebrenica-report.com/people.htm |title=Srebrenica Research Group – Group members and mission |publisher=Srebrenica-report.com |accessdate=13 July 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324201929/http://www.srebrenica-report.com/people.htm |archivedate=24 March 2008 }}</ref> said "What happened in Srebrenica was not a single large massacre of Muslims by Serbs, but rather a series of very bloody attacks and counterattacks over a three-year period."<ref>Quoted in International Strategic Studies Association – Special Report [http://128.121.186.47/ISSA/reports/Balkan/Sep1903.htm Srebrenica Controversy Becomes Increasingly Politicized] ISSA Special Report – Balkan Strategic Studies, 19 September 2003</ref> * [[Lewis MacKenzie]], former commander of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia, was continuing to challenge the description of genocide in 2009 on the grounds firstly that the number of men and boys killed had been exaggerated by a factor of 4 and secondly that transfer of the women and children by bus contradicted the notion of genocide – the women would have been killed first if there had been an intent to destroy the group. Writing in the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies (Vol. 12, Issue 1, Fall 2009), MacKenzie expressed his opinion without reference to the detailed arguments published by the ICTY Trial and Appeal Chambers in the Krstic case judgements published several years earlier and confirmed by the ICJ since.<ref>[http://www.jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/284/297 MacKenzie (ret'd)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203165618/http://www.jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/284/297 |date=3 February 2010 }}. Jmss.org. Retrieved 13 August 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glypx.com/BalkanWitness/MacKenzie.htm |title=Balkan Witness – General Lewis MacKenzie |publisher=Glypx.com |accessdate=13 August 2010}}</ref> ===Other individuals and groups who have engaged in denial=== * ''La Nation'', a bi-monthly Swiss newspaper, published a series of articles claiming that 2,000 soldiers were killed in the "pseudo-massacre" in Srebrenica. The [[Society for Threatened Peoples]] and Swiss Association Against Impunity filed a joint suit against ''La Nation'' for [[genocide denial]]. Swiss law prohibits genocide denial.<ref name="Seattle19Apr2010">{{cite news |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2011645243_apeubosniasrebrenica.html |title=Rights group sues paper for Bosnia genocide denial |date=19 April 2010|agency=Associated Press |accessdate=19 April 2010}}{{dead link|date=March 2016}}</ref> * The Srebrenica Research Group, a group led by [[Edward S. Herman]] and including two former UN officials,<ref>and includes UN former officials, journalists see http://srebrenica-deconstructed.com/people.htm.</ref> claimed in their conclusions published in ''Srebrenica And the Politics of War Crimes (2005)'', "The contention that as many as 8,000 Muslims were killed has no basis in available evidence and is essentially a political construct".<ref name="SrebResGr">{{cite web |url=http://srebrenica-deconstructed.com/conclusions.htm |title=Srebrenica And the Politics of War Crimes - conclusions |publisher=Srebrenica Research Group |accessdate=19 July 2015}}</ref> {{Multiple image | align = right | image1 = Yehuda Bauer 1.jpg | width1 = 120 | image2 = Efraim Zuroff (May 2007) (cropped).jpg | width2 = 122 | footer_align = left | footer = The description of Srebrenica as a genocidal massacre has been disputed by [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] scholar [[Yehuda Bauer]] (''left''), and the director of the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] office in [[Jerusalem]], [[Efraim Zuroff]] (''right'') }} * Genocide scholar [[William Schabas]] in his 2009 book ''Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes'' summarises the legal opinions regarding the status of the atrocities committed in Srebrenica and throughout the Bosnian war, deeming them [[ethnic cleansing]] and not [[genocide]], stating that "Ethnic cleansing is also a warning sign of genocide to come. Genocide is the last resort of the frustrated ethnic cleanser."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Genocide-International-Law-Crimes/dp/0521787904/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242453917&sr=1-5|title=Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes|pages=175–200, 201|last=Schabas|first=William|accessdate=16 May 2009|date=18 September 2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-78790-4}}</ref> * Israeli [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] scholar [[Yehuda Bauer]] described Srebrenica as "an act of mass murder, not a genocide" and stated that he could see no evidence that Serb forces intended, in whole or in part, to exterminate the Bosniaks.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=RTRS|title=Bauer: U Srebrenici je bilo masovno ubistvo, a ne genocide|trans-title=Srebrenica was Mass Murder, not Genocide|language=Serbian|date=29 June 2015|url=http://lat.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=156685}}</ref> * The director of the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] office in Israel, [[Efraim Zuroff]], also disagrees that Serb forces had genocidal intent. He explained: "As far as I know, what happened [in Srebrenica] does not [fit] the description or the definition of genocide. I think the decision to call it genocide was made for political reasons. Obviously a tragedy occurred, innocent people lost their lives and their memory should be preserved." Zuroff also called attempts to equate Srebrenica to the Holocaust "horrible" and "absurd", saying: "I wish the Nazis moved aside Jewish women and children before their bloody rampage, instead of murdering them, but that, as we know, did not happen."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=B92|title=Nazi hunter: Comparing Srebrenica and Holocaust is "absurd"|date=17 June 2015|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2015&mm=06&dd=17&nav_id=94472}}</ref> RUANDA ==Herman and Peterson== In ''The Politics of Genocide'' (2010), economist [[Edward S. Herman]] and independent researcher David Peterson, while not denying the scale of the killing during the period of extreme violence of April–July 1994, questioned the distribution of the victims for those months, arguing that Hutus comprised the majority of the dead, not Tutsis.{{sfn|Herman|Peterson|2010|pp=51–68}} Their detractors have charged them with [[genocide denial]],<ref>{{Cite web|author=George Monbiot|authorlink=George Monbiot|date=13 June 2011|title=Left and libertarian right cohabit in the weird world of the genocide belittlers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/13/left-and-libertarian-right|publisher=[[The Guardian|guardian.co.uk]]|accessdate=9 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Martin Shaw|date=16 September 2010|title=The politics of genocide: Rwanda & DR Congo|url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-shaw/politics-of-genocide-rwanda-and-dr-congo|publisher=[[openDemocracy.net]]|accessdate=9 August 2013}}</ref> accusations that have been condemned by Herman and Peterson.<ref>[[Edward S. Herman|Edward Herman]] (19 July 2011). [http://www.zcommunications.org/reply-to-george-monbiot-on-genocide-belittling-by-edward-herman "Reply to George Monbiot on 'Genocide Belittling{{' "}}]. [[ZNet]]. Retrieved 7 August 2013.</ref><ref>[[Edward S. Herman]]; David Peterson (9 February 2011). [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/hp020911.html "George Monbiot and the ''Guardian'' on 'Genocide Denial' and 'Revisionism{{' "}}]. [[Monthly Review|mrzine.monthlyreview.org]]. Retrieved 9 August 2013.</ref> Their book goes much further than others who have questioned the consensus view of the genocide: it states that common knowledge is not simply partly incorrect, but is actually "a propaganda line&nbsp;... that turned perpetrator and victim upside-down."<ref name = "H&P 2010 51">{{Harvnb|Herman|Peterson|2010|p=51}}.</ref> The pair are critical of fundamental aspects of the well-known report by Alison Des Forges,<ref>{{Cite report|last=Des Forges|first=Alison|authorlink=Alison Des Forges|year=1999|title=Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/rwanda/rwanda0399.htm |location=New York, NY|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|isbn=1-56432-171-1}}</ref> and maintain that she obfuscates the issue of who assassinated Habyarimana (they argue it was clearly the RPF) and that, contrary to the conclusions of Des Forges's report, the only well-planned regimen of massive violence perpetrated after the assassination was the RPF's invasion to drive the Hutu from power.<ref name = "H&P 2010 51-52">{{Harvnb|Herman|Peterson|2010|pp=51–2}}.</ref> Herman and Peterson ultimately conclude that the RPF were "prime ''[[génocidaires]]''", while the ''Interahamwe'' were "the RPF's actual victims."<ref name = "H&P 2010 54">{{Harvnb|Herman|Peterson|2010|p=54}}.</ref> Their book argues that the accepted version of the events of 1994 implies Rwanda is "the first case in history in which a minority population, suffering destruction at the hands of its tormentors, drove its tormentors from power and assumed control of a country, all in the span of less than one hundred days", a narrative Herman and Peterson deem "incredible in the extreme."<ref name = "H&P 2010 56-57">{{Harvnb|Herman|Peterson|2010|pp=56–7}}.</ref> Africa specialist [[Gerald Caplan]] criticized Herman and Peterson's account, charging that "why the Hutu members of the government 'couldn't possibly have planned a genocide against the Tutsi' is never remotely explained".<ref>Caplan, Gerald, [http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/65265 "The politics of denialism: The strange case of Rwanda - Review of ''The Politics of Genocide''"], ''Pambazuka News'', #486, 16 June 2010.</ref> Herman and Peterson's position on the genocide was found "deplorable" by James Wizeye, first secretary at the Rwandan High Commission in London.<ref>Wizeye, James, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/25/tutsi-rwanda-genocide-hutu "To claim Tutsis caused Rwanda's genocide is pure revisionism",] ''The Guardian'', 25 July 2011.</ref> [[Adam Jones (Canadian scholar)|Adam Jones]] has compared Herman and Peterson's approach to [[Holocaust denial]].<ref>[http://www.genocidepreventionnow.org/Home/GPNISSUES/Issue11Fall2012/tabid/185/ctl/DisplayArticle/mid/1103/aid/611/Default.aspx?skinsrc=%5BG%5D/Skins/GPN/printskin "See No Evil-Amazing People are Denying Every Genocide in Sight"], ''Genocide Protection News'', #11, Fall 2012.</ref> According to sociologist Martin Shaw, [[Noam Chomsky]] subscribes to the Herman–Peterson thesis.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Shaw | first = Martin | date = 16 September 2010 | title = The politics of genocide: Rwanda & DR Congo | url = http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-shaw/politics-of-genocide-rwanda-and-dr-congo | website = openDemocracy | accessdate = 19 December 2014 }}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} === Bibliography === {{Refbegin}} :{{Cite book |last1= Herman |first1= Edward S. |authorlink= Edward S. Herman |last2= Peterson |first2= David |year= 2010 |title= The Politics of Genocide |location= New York, NY |publisher= [[Monthly Review Press]] |isbn= 978-1-583-67213-6 |ref= harv }} :{{Cite web |last= x |first= y |authorlink= xy |date= May 2013 |title= Scholarly Review: xy |url= http:// |accessdate= 12 November 2013 |work= [[Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence]] |ref= harv }} {{Refend}} == See also == *[[Genocide denial]] *[[Historical revisionism (negationism)]] {{Historical revisionism}} {{Conspiracy theories}} {{Genocide topics}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosnian Genocide denial}} [[Category:Bosnian genocide|Denial]] [[Category:Genocide denial]]'