First Ladies from some of the Commonwealth states who were in the country for The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, paid tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi at the Kigali Genocide Memorial on Friday, June 24.
The First Ladies from Lesotho, Jamaica, UK, Botswana, Tonga, St Lucia, Maldives, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Cameroun and Seychelles visited the memorial site where they laid a wreath in honour of over 250,000 victims laid there.
During the visit, the First Ladies were very emotional about the tragedy that happened in Rwanda, especially about the killing of the young innocent children, who had dreams but couldn’t pursue any more.
Damascene Bizimana the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, who led the delegation through this activity, said that the First Ladies add up to many other guests that have been visiting the memorial as part of their stay for CHOGM.
First ladies visit Kigali Genocide Memorial on June 24
Their impression, according to the Minister, was a commendation for having a memorial site to keep history alive.
Bizimana said that, "To them it is a place where many generations will learn from. It is very important to learn about the negative consequences of preaching hatred.”
He said that they commended the journey and success story of Rwanda for the past 28 years and how everyone should learn from Rwanda’s resilience towards unity and reconciliation.
"Their visit at the memorial means a lot; people get to see the reality of what happened in Rwanda. It helps in highlighting how important prevention of hatred speech is, and makes them realise that genocide perpetrators should face justice.”
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, who also visited the memorial earlier, and laid a wreath in honour of the victims, said that, "We have to keep the memories of the lost lives, to pick out against all forms of discrimination. Together we build resilience fighting against hatred in all its forms. I say this not only as the President of the UN General Assembly, but as a father, part of our practice of remembrance, we must tell our children about April 7 1994, one of the darkest chapters of our shared human history.”
He added that; it is our role and responsibility to ensure our children are told, so they can inform their children who will tell the future generations. We must do everything we can to ensure that they fully understand the senseless fault and preventable nature of the Tutsi Genocide that occurred in 1994.
Shahid concluded that remembrance must be practiced; "I can only commend the strength of Rwandans who have made remarkable progress towards healing of wounds. Rwanda stands as an inspiration to the international community through their contribution to peace keeping, to spare others the pain they have endured.”
They toured the memorial to learn about Rwandan histrory