Charles Onana found guilty of contesting crimes against humanity

Charles Onana, a 60-year-old Franco-Cameroonian author, was found guilty by a Paris court on December 9 for “complicity in publicly contesting the existence of a crime against humanity”. His conviction stems from statements in his 2019 book, Rwanda, the Truth About Operation Turquoise, where he referred to the notion of a Hutu-planned genocide as “one of the greatest scams of the 20th century.”

Onana was fined €8,400, while his publisher, Damien Serieyx of Éditions du Toucan, was fined €5,000. They must also pay €11,000 in damages to human rights organizations that filed the lawsuit.

The case follows France's 2017 press freedom law, which criminalizes the denial or minimization of recognized genocides. Onana’s book had drawn complaints from associations like Survie, the Ligue des droits de l’Homme, and the International Federation for Human Rights.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide, orchestrated by an extremist Hutu regime, claimed 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, according to the UN.

Outside the courtroom, some of Onana’s supporters chanted slogans like “Onana innocent” and “Kagame assassin,” referring to Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Security forces quickly dispersed the protest.