Benjamin Sehene (born 1959) is a Rwandan author whose work primarily focuses on questions of identity and the events surrounding the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

. He spent much of his life in Canada and lives in France. Sehene was born in Kigali to a

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...

family. His family fled Rwanda in 1963 for

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, and he studied in Paris at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in the early 1980s, before emigrating to Canada in 1984. He lives in Paris. He is a member of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

. In the aftermath of the 1994

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

, Sehene returned to Rwanda, hoping to better understand what had happened. He subsequently wrote Le Piège ethnique (''The Ethnic Trap'') (1999), a study of ethnic polemics, and Le Feu sous la soutane (''Fire under the Cassock'') (2005), an historical novel focusing on the true story of a

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the p ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, Father Stanislas, who offered protection to Tutsi refugees in his church before sexually exploiting the women and participating in massacres. Sehene also contributes articles to the online newspaper

rue89 Rue89 is a French news website started by former journalists from the newspaper ''Libération''. It was officially launched on 6 May 2007, on the day of the second round of the French presidential election. Its news editor is Pascal Riché, forme ...

Publications

* '' Le Piège Ethnique''(''The Ethnic Trap'')] Éditions Dagorno, Dagorno, Paris, (1999)
Rwanda's collective amnesia
in ''The

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Courier'', (1999). * '' Un sentiment d'insécurité'', Play, Paris, 2001 * "Dead Girl Walking" (short story) * '' Le Feu sous la soutane'' (''Fire under the Cassock''), L'Esprit Frappeur, Paris (2005)
"Ta Race!" (Short story)
Éditions Vents d'Ailleurs, a Roque d'Anthéron France, 2006 *''Die ethnische Falle'

Wespennest ''Wespennest'' (literally translated "wasps nest") is a bi-annual literary magazine published in Austria. It includes texts and images by authors and artists, presenting themes on specific countries, literature, art theory or politics, along wit ...

2006

Publications

External links