The Rwandan genocide of the spring and summer of 1994 has spawned a rich and growing literature. This account, focused mostly on events on the ground, offers little new information about the international context and, unfortunately, covers only the first chapter of these grim events, ending with the July 1994 military victory of Paul Kagame and his Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front and the start of a chaotic exodus of hundreds of thousands of Hutus to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite these shortcomings, Melvern, a journalist who has written before about Rwanda and the UN, provides an authoritative account.
Breaking new ground, she documents the extensive preparation for the genocide by extremists within the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana going back at least to 1991. When the genocide began, they had bought and distributed the equivalent of one machete for every three Hutu males and, with breathtaking cynicism, manipulated the media and state institutions to stoke anti-Tutsi passions to a fever pitch.
Nicolas Van de Walle
Foreign Affairs, November/December 2004
"Linda Melvern’s earlier book, A People Betrayed: the Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide, published in 2000, was already a clear and scrupulously researched account of events surrounding Rwanda’s genocide and the West’s reaction – or non-reaction - to it. With Conspiracy to Murder, published in April 2004, the author expands and extends her analysis, drawing from material that has only recently become available. This includes files, letters, memoranda and records left behind by the génocidaires when they fled Rwanda, and the transcript of the interrogation of Jean Kambanda, prime minister of the government that planned and orchestrated the genocide.
So densely factual a book could make for heavy reading, but this one does not. Within the cool, unsensationalised narrative are the voices of Rwandans, the comments and testimonies of victims and perpetrators alike. The facts are presented alongside the experiences of recognisable individuals. We hear their words. From the 1970s (and earlier) through to the nightmare of 1994, the background, causes, reactions and associated events are clearly laid out. As the horror unfolds, the numerous strands are held firmly together to give a comprehensive picture. The underlying theme remains the West’s failure to act.
All the appropriate adjectives have been over-used in connection with Rwanda’s genocide – but still it’s hard to get away from “appalling”, “incomprehensible”, “chilling” and “horrifying”. The power of Conspiracy to Murder is doubled by the fact that Linda Melvern tells her story without using such words. It took my breath away."
Janice Booth
'Linda Melvern's work on Rwanda is in the finest traditions of investigative journalism. Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide extends her previous book, A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda's Genocide, a brilliant investigation into the tragedy for which the 'international community' was itself responsible. With testimony from witnesses and access to documents previously unseen, she tells an epic and shaming story of culpability and missed opportunities.'
John Pilger
"Your book is really a huge consolation. I agree with you we've been betrayed! Thanks indeed writing a book on us, we are not alone."
Genocide Survivor
"Thank you so much for taking the trouble to write something so detailed about the situation in Rwanda. I wrote a dissertation for my Journalism MA about British newspaper coverage of the 1994 genocide, and it was enormously helpful for, quite literally, filling in the gaps. After reading several books and reports about it, I found your book one of the most informative and well researched out of all the ones I read."
A Student
