{Dr. Raphael Nkaka, a senior lecturer at the University of Rwanda has described BBC’s documentary titled “Rwanda’s Untold Story” as a sheer piece of propaganda other than a professionally researched journalistic story. He added ‘it’s aimed at altering people’s knowledge of what happened in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against Tutsis.’ }
Dr. Nkaka made the observation this Tuesday while presenting his testimony as an expert witness to the five-member inquiry committee into BBC’s contentious documentary that was aired on BBC2 early October. Analyzing how the documentary is made, basing on internationally recognized research methods on historical issues, Dr. Nkaka said BBC never observed any of them, but just gave platform to some individuals who were repeating some falsehoods that have been in public over several years.
Dr. Nkaka who holds a PhD in History of civilizations from the “Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbone” in France, criticized the BBC for relying on hostile sources and never balanced its story by give opportunity to other alternative voices. He stressed that this isn’t against only media professional standards in Rwanda, but also international professional journalistic ethics as outlined in the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Discussing academically recognized techniques used by genocide deniers worldwide, Dr. Nkaka said ‘these are well entrenched within BBC’s narrative of what took place in Rwanda during the genocide.’ He cited an example where some of the interviewees attempt to minimize the number of Tutsis killed during the genocide from around one million to only two hundred thousand. And said this is a common technique applied by those interested in denying any genocide.
Concluding his testimony, Dr. Raphael Nkaka expressed his deep concern saying ‘BBC’s documentary is likely to impact negatively on the unity and reconciliation process that Rwandans have embraced for the past 20 years if the falsehoods depicted aren’t rectified. Those mostly likely to be affected are the young ones who don’t have first hand information about what really happened.’
Since its broadcast, the contentious documentary has attracted outrage from various quarters, including genocide survivors, academics and journalists. They accuse the British public broadcaster of genocide denial, revisionism and trivialization.
Leave a Reply