English text is below the French version. #TeamOnana
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Affaire Charles Onana : Pour la justice et la liberté académique
Le Dr Charles Onana, journaliste d'investigation dédié à la documentation des génocides dans les Grands Lacs, est aujourd'hui la cible de poursuites judiciaires en France. Sous couvert de lutte contre le négationnisme, cette procédure vise à réduire au silence un chercheur dont les travaux dérangent.
Le 9 décembre 2024, le tribunal de Paris a condamné M. Onana et son éditeur sur la base de 19 phrases isolées d'un ouvrage de 662 pages consacré à l'opération Turquoise. En France, remettre en question la narration officielle ou nuancer l'histoire rwandaise est désormais passible d'un an de prison et d'une forte amende.
Pourtant, le travail d'Onana est rigoureux, fondé sur des archives et des sources primaires. Loin d'être un négationniste, il a été l'un des premiers à alerter sur le génocide au Congo.
Malgré sa méthodologie, le journaliste a subi une campagne de diffamation médiatique orchestrée, utilisant des citations tronquées pour le condamner publiquement avant même le verdict. L'appel débutera cet automne : nous appelons à votre soutien pour défendre la vérité et la liberté d'expression.
L'envers du décor : une justice instrumentalisée
Le Dr Onana est poursuivi par sept associations basées en Françaises, dont la FIDH et la LICRA. Le paradoxe est flagrant : alors qu'il est condamné, la justice française a récemment acquitté des militaires français accusés de complicité dans les massacres de Bisesero, validant ainsi indirectement les recherches d'Onana. Pourtant, le tribunal a ignoré que son ouvrage est issu d'une thèse de doctorat validée par l'Université de Lyon et reconnue internationalement.
L'hypocrisie est totale : ces ONG, qui traquent Onana, gardent le silence sur les persécutions et les assassinats de rescapés du génocide par le régime rwandais. En imposant un « apartheid des victimes », elles semblent agir comme des relais d'influence du pouvoir rwandais, notamment via la Communauté rwandaise de France, liée au ministère des Affaires étrangères du Rwanda.
Nous refusons l'instrumentalisation du droit pour museler les lanceurs d'alerte.
L'enjeu réel : occulter la vérité
Ces poursuites visent à :
- Protéger le régime rwandais en masquant les crimes du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR) avant, pendant et après 1994.
- Écarter les analyses historiques qui nuancent le récit simplifié des « 100 jours ».
- Intimider les journalistes d'investigation.
- Couvrir les atrocités commises au Congo depuis 1996.
Pourquoi votre soutien est crucial ?
Soutenez la Vérité et la Justice !
L'attaque contre le Dr Onana est une tentative de museler l'investigation et d'imposer un récit officiel. Sans notre action, l'autocensure s'installera et l'impunité triomphera. La justice exige la vérité complète : c'est tout l'enjeu des travaux d'Onana.
Votre don finance:
- La défense juridique pour l'appel.
- La poursuite des recherches et la publication de travaux occultés.
- La préservation d'archives historiques.
- Engagez-vous :
- Luttez contre la censure et l'intimidation. Chaque contribution compte.
Faites un don. Partagez. Défendez la vérité.
Pour plus d'informations, vous pouves nous contacter: African Great Lakes Action Network info@aglan.org
#TeamOnana
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Charles Onana on trial in France: Defend Truth, Justice, Academic Freedom and Free Speech
Investigative journalist Dr. Charles Onana is currently being prosecuted in France. He has spent three decades documenting genocide and mass atrocities in the African Great Lakes region. This case is an attempt to silence factual, groundbreaking research, all while shielding the perpetrators Onana vehemently denounces. It is a classic strategy for targeting whistleblowers world-wide: persecute the messenger to obscure the message.
On the 9th of December 2024, a Paris Criminal Court convicted Charles Onana and his editor Damien Serieyx for genocide denial based on 19 sentences cherrypicked from his 662-page book on the UN-led French humanitarian operation titled Rwanda, the truth about Operation Turquoise, when archives speak. Lengthy legal proceedings are expected in this case and your support is needed. The appeal is planned to start this autumn/fall.
The conviction was based on a French press freedom law that punishes the denial, minimization, or trivialization of any genocide recognized by French or international courts. Violations are punishable by up to one year in prison and a €45,000 fine.
Consequently, presenting a nuanced reconstruction of Rwandan history—and challenging a binary categorization of victims—is now a punishable offense in France. Critical insights into the recent history of the Great Lakes region are actively suppressed.
Anyone who has followed Charles Onana's analyses is aware of his Pan-Africanist and anti-colonial stance in numerous investigations covering a dozen African countries. Working exclusively with primary sources, archives and key witness testimonies, Onana’s work is evidence-based, often corroborated by multiple sources.
Onana also clearly acknowledges the Rwandan genocide. If anything, he is ahead of the curve in documenting and speaking out against genocide whether in Rwanda or elsewhere. He was one of the first to denounce genocide in Congo and recently defined it—over 10 million lives lost since—as a Holocaust.
During his trial, a variety of media outlets unleashed a widespread smear campaign against Onana labeling him a genocide denier, even before the conclusion of legal proceedings. The selected sentences used to pursue him were taken out of context in court, yet these same groundless accusations were widely picked up by the media, unchallenged.
Join us in saying no to weaponizing justice to silence the spread of factual information. Such legal proceedings set a dangerous legal precedent and foster a culture of impunity for the real criminals.
What Is Actually Happening?
Seven French-based NGOs- Ibuka-France, Survie-France, FIDH, LICRA, CPCR, LDH, and the Rwandan Community of France- are prosecuting Onana since 2024.
Crucially: Just three days after Onana's conviction, the Paris Court of Appeal closed an 18-year case against four French military officers (pursued by some of the same NGOs) accused of complicity in the Bisesero/Rwanda massacres during Operation Turquose —vindicating Onana's research on his book Operation Turquoise. All accusations against the soldiers were dismissed.
The book Operation Turquoise is the fruit of a 2017 doctoral thesis at the University of Lyon and was endorsed by an international panel for its scholarly value, yet its findings were ignored in Court.
The NGOs pursuing Onana for his research remain deafeningly silent when the Rwandan regime jails, harasses, and even kills genocide survivors who dare to tell their full story. These NGOs have fostered, through their legal actions and their media outreach, an apartheid of victims in Rwanda and in the diaspora. Allegedly acting as agents for the Rwandan regime’s interests, these NGOs are silent about Rwanda's role in the ongoing genocide in Congo.
Such allegations are not far-fetched given that one of the NGOs is the Rwandan Community of France, which is an active part of the global Rwandan Community Abroad (RCA) network: serving as the official diasporic association for Rwandans living in France. It works in close alignment with Rwanda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Join us and SAY NO to weaponizing the legal system and to smear campaigns against truthtellers. Say NO to an Apartheid of victims institutionalized by the Rwandan regime.
The Real Agenda: Silencing Truth
This is about:
- Protecting the Rwandan regime from scrutiny over the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) crimes before, during, and after the 1994 genocide
- Silencing dissenting voices and historians who provide context beyond the simplistic 100-day narrative
- Intimidating journalists who investigate the full picture
- Covering up atrocities in Congo since 1996
Why Your Support Matters Now
This is our moment to stand for truth, justice, and free speech. Those pursuing Dr. Onana are hoping to achieve the following:
- Investigative journalism on sensitive topics will be stifled
- Researchers will self-censor
- The official narrative becomes the only narrative
- Accountability for all crimes becomes impossible
Real justice requires the full truth. That's what Onana’s research provides.
Where Your Donation Goes. Your contribution funds:
- Legal fees for the appeal and court related costs
- Ongoing research to get more stories published
- Publications the mainstream media ignores
- Documentation for future generations to know the truth
Join Us. Donate today to defend:
- Truth over political narratives
- Justice over censorship
- Free speech over intimidation
- Accountability for all crimes
Every contribution matters. Share this campaign and speak up for truth and justice.
For more information, contact info@aglan.org African Great Lakes Action Network
#TeamOnana
About the organizer: My name is Claude Gatebuke along with a group of supporters in different parts of the world. I am a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and support the truth being told and justice being served. I am also the executive director of AGLAN which is the organization that will receive funds and transfer to Charles Onana. Like many other survivors, I have known, met and collaborated with Onana for many years now.
