Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide

by Linda Melvern

In April 1994 up to a million people were slaughtered in Rwanda during a murderous campaign of horrifying efficiency.The ferocity of the killing and the cruelty inflicted on defenceless people has no comparison in modern times.

Conspiracy to Murder is the story of how that genocide was planned. It reveals how, from as early as 1990, the political, military and administrative leadership of Rwanda became involved in planning the complete extermination of the Tutsi population. A vicious hate campaign filled the media, urging Hutus to kill; a network of roadblocks was devised to prevent any escape; civil-defence groups were established throughout the country, with eventually every third Hutu being armed; half a million machetes and other agricultural tools were imported, and 85 tons of munitions were distributed country-wide, in the year leading up to the genocide.

In an outstanding example of investigative journalism, Linda Melvern reveals the full story behind the conspiracy, detailing the involvement of world governments whose responses ranged from complicity to apathy. She shows how the killers outmanoeuvred the Security Council and led UN peacekeepers into a steady trap; how the French military trained the killers and how their 'humanitarian intervention' in June 1994 enabled many of those killers to escape justice; how the John Major government ignored warnings and then proceeded to mislead the British Parliament about what was really happening; how the US is still withholding wiretap and satellite evidence showing that the genocide had begun; and how significant was the knowledge of then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Rwanda, History, Politics, War, Military Fiction

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, one of the strongest books on the Rwandan Civil War (1990-1994)
Clear headed, but possibly too detailed for a casual reader
My recommendation is Shake Hands with the Devil or Andrew Wallis' Silent Accomplice (France)

This is well suited for someone's first book on this topic, or for someone going in depth, Melvern is a a first rate academic with excellent and sound research

[Patricia Jäger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book required a lot of concentration to keep up with all of the names and follow all of the facts and their significance. For sure not an easy read but worth it. I feel like I know a lot about the Rwanden genocide now and could return to this book for more details. I still don't think I have paid enough attention and understood every aspect of it. There is a lot of detail and nuance that I would only be able to understand on a second reading attempt. The author also did not make it easy for the reader by lining up facts without providing much interpretation or context. Sometimes I read a sentence that seemed disconnected from the rest of the paragraph and ended up asking myself: OK but why is that relevant and what's the significance? Sometimes the answer arrived pages later, sometimes not at all.
While the research is unparalleled on the subject and the level of detail in this book is incredible, I had to deduct some stars for the dry and dense delivery. It is still a great book for those who are up for a challenge though!

[Mollie Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent, thorough, highly detailed, well-researched exploration of events & causes and of the betrayal of the international community
Not super well written and oddly strung together in terms of timeline and narrative
Leaves out a lot of the research that Straus concluded as far as motivations and assumes ethnic tensions are at the root of the conflict.

Casual readers without historical background will struggle with Melvern's work. Recommend reading Prunier's Rwanda Crisis first.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that adds additional details to her previous book on the Rwandan Genocide. Having just finished that book, I found the majority of this book to be "already read" excepting the new information included. Strangely, I didn't find this book as well written, though it is still a damning indictment of the UN Security Council, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the USofA, the UK, and especially France. Compare the level of intervention by "The West" in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990's to the out and out indifference to the genocidal slaughter in Rwanda and it is frighteningly obvious how racist attitudes in "The West" had to do with what did and did not happen. Arguably the saddest historical occurrence of the 20th Century because it could have easily been prevented, or at least noticeably mitigated.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting the Genocide Memorial in Kigali, I picked up this book in the gift shop. I knew a fair amount about what occurred in 1994.

Melvern provides a detailed and precise account not only of the genocide, but the decades leading to it and the dozen or so years after. This is an extremely comprehensive telling of what happened and how so many in power failed the Rwandan people.

On a side note I’ve never mentioned in a review, be careful when buying this book. The binding by Marston Book Services Ltd. is the worst I’ve come upon. The words fall into the spine throughout. My hands are aching from the difficulty I experienced trying to open the book enough to not miss words. Perhaps I got a dud. Perhaps not. Bad job by the binder.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1990s, mostly between April and December 1994, close to one million Rwandans were murdered in a systematic genocidal campaign. As a reference for the important events of the genocide, this book rates five stars. It is very well researched, and the pieces of information is presented clearly. As an engaging account, however, it is no better than three stars. Melvern shows what happened in Kigali and throughout Rwanda, and importantly, what failed to happen in the UN and in the leadership of other countries, but she somehow fails to make a story of the history.

[Rachel Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very wordy, very in-depth account of the Rwandan genocide. If you want all the details, all the facts, this is probably the book for you. However, if most of this is new territory for you, as it was for me, you might prefer to ease yourself in with something else, such as Shake Hands With the Devil, written by the man in charge of the UN peacekeeping mission, Romeo Dallaire.

[Gatonye Jm]

This book made me realise how politicians can incite one community against another by making that community believe that the other is the enemy. That part about a woman removing another woman's uterus, brought a tear to my eye.

[Kenzie Thal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is research of the highest caliber — shocking, informative, and thorough, and a biting indictment of those outside governments who did not do enough, it misses nothing (except for some American commas).

[Jukka Häkkinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kauhistuttavan yksityiskohtainen kuvaus Ruandan kansanmurhan taustoista ja tapahtumista.

[Iza Konings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lowkey a slog to get through, and kid of repetitive, but I think it has a lot of very useful information

[Liv Stapleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sent me absolutely spiraling but I do think everyone who has a chance should read it. Took a star off because it's really hard to follow.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is one of the worst compilations of words I have come across in years. Each sentence on its own makes sense, but Melvern seems to not understand how to string sentences together to make paragraphs, let alone how to organize whole chapters coherently. It's as choppy as a basic newspaper article, which is palatable for a few column inches but not for a whole book. The thing has a few pieces of good information inside it, but they are so hard to extract that reading it is like making pomegranate juice, one seedy capsule at a time... I have to warn anyone interested in this subject that they shouldn't bother reading this thing - just go for Gourevitch's excellent book on the same subject, or even Elizabeth Neuffer's book on Rwandan and Bosnian/Serbian reconciliation processes. You'll get a lot more out of either one for your investment of mental energy.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

For dedicated readers only.

The research is solid and the content is intriguing but the whole work is plagued by a bewildering writing style. Unfortunately this means that most readers will give up on the work - a shame as it does give unique insight in certain areas - or else instill a distinct sense of confusion in readers not already enamoured in the subject.

Best approached with patience and with the objective of completing one's knowledge, rather than founding it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, everything I knew about what happened in Rwanda in 1994 came from the movie, Hotel Rwanda. The movie was sickening enough. Linda Melvern's research is incredibly thorough. Being aware of the US, and the UK's appalling indifference, and of France's baffling support of the interim government, gives one a feeling of absolute disgust. This atrocity must be one of the most shameful failures of the UN and of the international community imaginable.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed an in dept introduction to the events of the Rwandan genocide and this provided me with that superbly. It read like a horrifying narrative and it told of the build up to the genocide starting as early as 1959. I know it's not necessarily the most common book on the Rwandan genocide that people read, but it was a great read. My only criticism is that it is firmly rooted in journalism and doesn't really seek to analyze any part of the genocide.

[Namrirru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well resourced. But before reading this book, the reader should read Prunier's "Rwandan Crisis." It has more pre-colonial and colonial history than this book and provides a better backdrop for what she writes.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a very rare thing when I can't finish a book. This one is too academic for a general audience and too poorly written for an academic one. Undoubtedly an expert in the field, the writing does a disservice to the content.

[Matthew Luttermoser · Rating 4 out of 5]

incredibly informative but sometimes the details of the genocide will make your stomach turn.

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic detail but when reading other books, it looks a bit one-sided and ignores what the RPF / RPA got up to ...

[Chris McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg. All that could have been done and was not. No wonder the UN is always under such skepticism. So good and yet so painful to read.

[Gillian Quigley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Factual