Benoit Karenzi, a senior lecturer at the Catholic Institute of Kabgayi (ICK), said this while appearing as an expert witness at the ongoing probe into the documentary.
Karenzi, who is also an expert in filmmaking, told the commission that the manner in which BBC 2 edited the images in the on-hour documentary shows the intention of the producers.
“I critically watched this documentary and was very saddened by the manner in which these people twisted facts of events that I personally covered as a journalist in 1994,” said Karenzi, who worked for Rwanda Television during the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
He said most of the clips used in the documentary were acquired from the national broadcaster’s archive and that he was part of the crew that filmed them but told the commission that they were twisted to give an interpretation that suited a particular narrative.
“This documentary is aimed at one thing – character assassination. The producers focused on tarnishing the image of President Kagame. Most of the clips they used are those we filmed after the Genocide at Orinfor but the editing, interpretation they gave the images is what changes the whole meaning,” he said.
He singled out a clip where the renowned 600 RPA fighters entered Kigali as part of the Arusha Peace Agreement, saying that the general mood in the country at the time was that the war was coming to an end but Jane Corbin, the presenter and producer of the BBC film, insinuates that actually RPA smuggled in more weapons and fighters, which is totally false.
“The script she used on these images gives a completely different perspective. In her script she claims the ‘Tutsi cheered on as hundreds of RPF soldiers arrived in the capital Kigali under the ceasefire agreement but many more troops were smuggled in. Such contradictory statements are meant to divert the viewers from the truth,” Karenzi said.
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