Rwandan groups denounce genocide claims by NDP leadership hopeful

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OTTAWA — Blog posts by a federal NDP leadership hopeful garnered scorn from Rwandan-Canadian groups, accusing him of denying a genocide that claimed nearly one million lives.

In a Sept. 22, 2017, article posted to a blog run by Yves Engler, he dismissed generally accepted narratives surrounding the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994 as oversimplified and claimed the death toll of between 800,000 to one million people is overinflated.

“Canadian commentators often claim more Tutsi were killed in the genocide than lived in Rwanda,” he wrote.

“Since it aligns with Washington, London and Kigali’s interests, as well as liberal nationalist Canadian ideology, the statistical inflation passes with little comment.”

He claimed these death tolls don’t reflect what he considers to be “official” calculations of the Tutsi population in Rwanda.

Engler is a contentious figure in Canada’s far-left, anti-Israel ecosphere and a prominent voice in pushing the narrative that Israel’s self-defence against Palestinian terrorism amounts to a “genocide.”

Earlier this year, he announced his intentions to replace former MP Jagmeet Singh as leader of the federal NDP party.

Occurring between April and July 1994 during the Rwandan civil war, a number of sources estimate that the genocide saw upward of one million members of the Tutsi ethnic group as well as some moderate Hutus systematically slaughtered by extremist Hutu militants with many more subjected to assaults, torture and sexual violence.

Pascal Kanyemera, president of the Humura Association — a Canadian association of survivors of the Tutsi genocide — are among signers of a joint statement condemning Engler’s post that also included B’nai Brith Canada.

“Downplaying what happened in Rwanda in 1994 is not only unacceptable, but also dangerously harmful,” Kanyemera told the Toronto Sun.

“Such comments are akin to killing survivors twice — once in the physical sense and again in the emotional and psychological sense by invalidating their suffering.”

Kanyemera said the comments are even more concerning, considering Engler’s hope of becoming the next leader of the federal NDP.

“They are particularly concerning given the context of someone seeking a position of leadership in a major Canadian political party, where responsible and truthful discourse should be upheld,” he said.

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In an email to the Toronto Sun, Engler condemned what he described as a “smear from the pro-genocide lobby” and took specific aim at B’nai Brith — and not the four Rwandan groups who also signed the statement.

“Yves Engler has spent his entire adult life fighting for human rights and against militarism,” Engler wrote.

“Quotes taken out of context and twisted to fit a narrative do not change this fact. Perhaps B’nai Brith should focus its efforts on the current and ongoing genocide in Gaza, rather than smearing those who are trying to stop it.”

Engler’s comments were described as “appalling” by Richard Robertson of B’nai Brith Canada.

“There is no excuse for individuals in Canada, especially those who aspire to be a political leader in this country, to deny or diminish the scope of the genocide that occured in Rwanda in 1994,” he said.

“We believe his actions are an affront to the memory of the victims and have caused further trauma to the survivors of this unprecedented atrocity.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume