Understanding mass crimes

The faces of Augustin Bizimana and Félicien Kabuga drawn with a cross, among the main fugitives for their alleged involvement in the Rwandan genocide, at the office of the Research Unit for Genocide Fugitives, in Kigali, on May 22, 2020. Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP

By: Marie-France Chatin Follow

A few weeks ago, in the Paris region, Félicien Kabuga was arrested, wanted for his central role in the genocide committed in Rwanda from April to July 1994. 

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The man had been established in France for several years, under an assumed identity. Until his arrest, he was one of the last major perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide still free and alive. As the "financier" of the genocide, he was also the most wanted. When we talk about the mass killers of the greatest crimes in contemporary history, we wonder who these men are capable of mass killing. What do they experience in their consciousness? Do they not feel the horror of their actions? Don't they have compassion for their victims?

Guest : 
Richard Rechtman , anthropologist and psychiatrist, director of studies at EHESS. "  The ordinary life of genocidaires  ", CNRS editions.

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  • Crime
  • Rwanda

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