Rwanda, Burundi scholar Rene Lemarchand said: “Rever’s contribution is destined to become required reading for any one claiming competence on the Rwanda genocide.” https://t.co/ZfTnp0Pl7u https://t.co/2NpyuhILbF
— Judi Rever (@JudiRever) July 10, 2020
The French publishing house Max Milo says it go ahead and publish the translation of Judi Rever’s book ‘In Praise of Blood, The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front’ at the end of August. The book is controversial among many experts on the subject, who accuse the Canadian journalist of defending the controversial thesis of a double genocide.
Rumours of its release in March 2019, published by Fayard, had caused an outcry within the community of historians and specialists of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. Fayard finally gave up on publishing the book, but Judi Rever found a new outlet for the translation of her book.
The French publishing house Max Milo is preparing to publish it under the title Rwanda, l’éloge du sang (Rwanda, in praise of blood).
It is scheduled for release between 27 August and 3 September.
Since its release in March 2018 by Penguin Random House, the book, presented in the form of an investigation, has been at the heart of intense controversy.
The Canadian journalist accuses the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) of having infiltrated the Hutu Interahamwe militias, which were at the heart of the genocidal machine, and of having participated directly in the massacre of Tutsis.
A highly criticised book
In support of her remarks, Rever relies on a classified report from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) – a document that is not reproduced in her book. The book is strongly criticised by most experts on the subject, who accuse her of defending the highly controversial thesis of a double genocide that claimed 500,000 Hutu victims.
On the lalibrairie.com website, one of the online databases where the book is already referenced, it is accompanied by the following presentation: “Developed over two decades, this investigation into the Rwandan genocide calls into question the [official] version of the events of 1994. Instead of naming the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its leader, the current president, Paul Kagame, as the initiators of the end of the conflict, the journalist denounces the criminal nature of the events, thus putting forward the theory of a double genocide.”