[Rwanda Forum] How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate.



Journal of Genocide Research (2004), 6(1), March, 85–98.

How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate.

This article has been limited to a narrow, but important question: how many Rwandans participated in the 1994 genocide? The article seeks an estimate based on an explicit methodology and micro-level field research. The net calculation is a perpetrator population of around 200,000 Rwandans. That estimate has implications for post-genocide Rwanda because it suggests that collective blame of "the Hutus" should be eschewed. Not all Hutu adults were ge ́nocidaires. Moreover, not all ge ́nocidaires participated to the same degree. Some killed many victims; others did not kill. As such, when analyzing participation in the Rwandan genocide, the category of "perpetrators" should be disaggregated.

The findings in the article also have theoretical implications. Even if not all Hutus participated in the genocide, an enormous number did. This mass participation requires explanation. What drove so many Rwandans to participate in genocidal violence? How can evidence be found to assess that question? The analysis also indicates that not all perpetrators had the same level of participation and that a large number of adult Hutu did not participate in the genocide. Thus, why did some participate more than others and why did some participate while others did not? These are critical questions, but ones that I hope to answer elsewhere.

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.474.5180&rep=rep1&type=pdf