Contested Counting
Toward a Rigorous Estimate of the Death Toll in the Rwandan Genocide
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6196852 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Omar Shahabudin Mcdoom (0000-0001-5660-1903, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 83-93 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Genocide Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1462-3528 • E-ISSN: 1469-9494 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14623528.2019.1703252 |
| OpenAlex | W2998438728 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
As a world-historical event that has become indelibly etched into the conscience of humanity, the Rwandan genocide unequivocally merits scholarly attention to establishing its death toll.The historical record demands it.Preserving the memory of the victims, recognizing the enormity of the crime, and attributing full responsibility to the perpetrators are also compelling reasons to account for the lives taken.Justice also demands it.Yet in the twenty-five years since the genocide, dramatically divergent claims have emerged in respect of two fundamental aspects of the death toll: the number and the identity of the victims.How many Rwandans were killed?And how many of them were Tutsi, and how many Hutu?If one examines the claims for the overall number killed, at the higher end lies the figure of 1,074,017 Rwandan dead.This number originates with the Rwandan government which conducted a nationwide census in July 2000, six years after the genocide. 1Toward the lower end lies an estimate from Human Rights Watch, one of the first organizations on the ground to investigate the genocide, of 507,000 Tutsi killed. 2 Differences in the claims concerning the victims' ethnic identities are even more stark.In the Rwandan government's census, 93.67% or just over one million were Tutsi. 3 In contrast, two 1 Government of Rwanda, Dnombrement Des Victimes Du Genocide: Rapport Final (Kigali
Conscience · Criminology · Death toll · Genocide · Humanity · Political science · Sociology · Toll · Demography · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · History · Law · Medicine · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Psychology · Immunology
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |