Benjamin Sehene vs Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka: the fictional trial of a genocide priest

Abstract

The first francophone Rwandan novel published since the 1994 genocide, Benjamin Sehene's Le Feu sous la soutane (Fire Beneath the Cassock) is a fictional exploration of a Catholic priest's involvement in the genocide. Published in 2005, the novel is inspired by the true story of the infamous Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka who, despite indictments and a conviction for crimes against humanity including genocide and rape, lives and works with impunity as a parish priest in France. Having revealed the real-life story on which Le Feu sous la soutane is based, this article analyzes the fictional reconstruction of Munyeshyaka's story as presented in Sehene's novel. It considers the ways in which Sehene submits Father Munyeshyaka to a trial by fictional proxy. In reading the novel as a fictional trial, the article suggests that Sehene's novel goes some way towards exposing the failure of current systems of justice to respond adequately to crimes against humanity.

Le premier roman francophone rwandais paru après le génocide de 1994, Le Feu sous la soutane de Benjamin Sehene est une représentation fictive du rôle d'un prêtre catholique dans le génocide. Publié en 2005, le roman est inspiré par l'histoire vraie du tristement célèbre père Wenceslas Munyeshyaka qui, malgré de nombreuses accusations et une condamnation pour crimes contre l'humanité, dont pour génocide et viol, continue à habiter et à exercer en tant que curé en France. Après avoir détaillé l'histoire vraie sur laquelle est fondé Le Feu sous la soutane, nous analyserons la mise-en-scène romanesque de l'histoire de Munyeshyaka par Sehene. Nous proposerons que Sehene utilise la fiction pour soumettre le père Munyeshyaka à un jugement, et, ce faisant, expose l'incapacité du système justicière actuel à répondre de manière satisfaisante aux crimes contre l'humanité.

Mots-clés: Rwanda; genocide; Wenceslas Munyeshyaka; Benjamin Sehene; fiction; justice

Keywords:

• Rwanda
• genocide
• Wenceslas Munyeshyaka
• Benjamin Sehene
• fiction
• justice

Notes

On 8 June 2004, the European Court of Human Rights criticized France for its slowness and one of the priest's alleged victims was awarded compensation (The Hague Justice Portal).

The publishing list of Editions Source du Nil is dominated by titles that take a pro-Hutu, anti-FPR stance. These include books by Augustin Ngirabatware, Ferdinand Nahimana and Edouard Karemera, all of whom have been indicted by the ICTR for crimes of genocide.

All translations are my own.

When the RPF took control of the country to end the genocide, they killed a large number of alleged Hutu perpetrators (Staub 2011, 65–6).

The role of the many Rwandan churches in the genocide is discussed in some detail in Rittner et al. (2004). I focus here on the Catholic Church not to deny the participation of members of the many other Christian denominations in Rwanda, but rather to demonstrate Sehene's implied criticism of the particular institution Father Wenceslas represents.

Sehene is referring to the ethnic stereotype of the Rwandan Tutsi as very tall and slim with small noses.

Le Parti du Mouvement et de l'Emancipation Hutu, PARMEHUTU, became the ruling single party in Rwanda from independence (1962) until 1973 when Kayibanda was overthrown by Habyarimana.

For example, the 1999 African Rights volume contains the testimony of Father Célestin Hakizimana who trained at the seminary with Munyeshyaka and worked at the nearby pastoral centre of Saint Paul. Unlike Munyeshyaka, Hakizimana is remembered for his bravery (African Rights 1999, 93–6; Mukagasana 2001, 95).

Father Wenceslas was defended by a distinguished firm of Paris lawyers appointed by the French Catholic Church (African Rights 1999, 8).

The hotel and its manager, Paul Rusesabagina, were made famous by the 2004 feature film Hotel Rwanda (dir. Terry George).

For details of the ‘social revolution’ or ‘muyaga’, see Prunier (1997, 57–72).

Whereas Mamdani refers to 27 priests, the ICTR indictment states that the letter was signed by Munyeshyaka and ‘twenty-eight other Hutu Rwandan Catholic priests’ (The Hague Justice Portal).

Wenceslas Munyeshyaka has claimed that he had to appear to be supporting the militia because his own life was threatened several times (African Rights 1999, 5).

‘Cafard’ ‘(inyenzi’ in Kinyarwanda), meaning ‘cockroach’ was the nickname given to the Tutsi by Hutu extremists.

According to the Hamitic hypothesis, the Tutsi, a Hamitic tribe, came from the North, from Egypt or Ethiopia, and conquered the Bantu Hutu. Sehene discusses the origins and consequences of this myth in Le Piège ethnique (1999, 4–18).

Many thousands of dead Tutsi were subsequently thrown into rivers during the genocide.

See the 31 comments on Sehene's Rue89 article, ‘Rwanda: La justice des hommes a encore failli’ (2007b).