Staff and management of the Vivendi Group’s subsidiaries in Rwanda, comprising of CanalBox, Canal+ and Canal Olympia, on Monday, April 24, visited Kigali Genocide Memorial and paid tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. It is an important place of remembrance and learning and receives visitors from all around the world.
The members of the group laid wreaths to honour the more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide who are interred there. Through a physical guide of the memorial exhibits, the group learnt more about the history of Genocide and Rwanda's journey to rebuilding. The visit to the Memorial by the Vivendi Group was in line with the 29th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Julius Kayoboke, the CEO of CanalBox, speaking on behalf of the group, emphasized that the staff and management of Vivendi Group should learn and understand genocide history so that they play a significant role in ensuring that genocide never happens again. He denounced genocide denial and urged the public to remember and visit genocide memorials to witness the evidence about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
"We have to remember and pay respect to those who died so that genocide never happens again. We should not forget. We are now all the same. There is no ethnicity,” he said.
He called for intensified fight against genocide deniers, saying: "This visit was especially important for us as the average age of our staff is 27 years. And so it is important that the young generation should learn about the Genocide against the Tutsi, so that they make sure that genocide never happens again. They should not follow the illogical fallacies that Genocide deniers use a lot.”
He reiterated that there is hope that genocide will never happen again as the young generation is actively participating in commemoration where they learn and understand genocide history.
Testimony
Jean Marie Vianney Maurice Gasasira, a genocide survivor who was living in Muhima, in Kigali, testified about how genocide was planned and executed.
"The Tutsi were not killed because of [president Juvenal] Habyarimana's plane crash. The plan to exterminate the Tutsi was there for a long time. I was born in 1978 and when I was in senior secondary school, I experienced a lot of persecution against the Tutsi. From 1990 to 1993, there was clear evidence that there was a plan to exclude and exterminate the Tutsi,” he said.
He said that since 1990, Tutsi students were also severely persecuted in schools.
"I remember when I went back to school from holiday, we saw the list of Tutsi students displayed on the wall in our dormitory. It had been prepared by classmates saying they had to kill us.”
He witnessed many situations where Tutsi homes were destroyed even before 1994.
"During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, I survived together with my four little siblings. My parents were killed. My mother had a little baby who was taken by a housemaid but until now we do not know their whereabouts,” he recounted.
The victim remembers figures such as the Catholic priest, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka (currently in France), Angeline Mukandutiye - then inspector of education in Nyarugenge Commune, former Kigali City prefect Col. Tharcisse Renzaho, and others, who played a role in killing his family members and other Tutsi who had sought refuge in Saint Famille church and other areas.
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Gasasira joined RPA-Inkotanyi that was coming for their rescue in Kabuga.
"I later retired from the army. We have rebuilt ourselves. I am married and have two children.”
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Dieudonné Nagiriwubuntu, the Kigali Genocide Memorial manager, said that despite the testimonies and evidence about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, genocide deniers are still trivializing the 1994 Genocide.
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"We console genocide survivors and commend them for their resilience. We urge the young generation to learn genocide history and understand that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was planned and executed by the government.
"Rwandans were living in peace and harmony but colonialists and bad leadership disintegrated the unity by spreading hatred in schools, in the community and families which led to genocide against the Tutsi,” he noted.
He said the Tutsi were dismissed from job positions and many had no chance to be admitted to schools even when they passed exams.
"Genocide was tried and tested in many places and there is evidence of massacres of the Tutsi in areas like Bugesera. Liberation launched by RPA-Inkotanyi was ‘option Z’ because the government had refused to accept and welcome all Rwandans in their country.”
About Vivendi
Since 2014, Vivendi has been building a world-class content, media, and communications group. The group owns leading, highly complementary assets in television and movies (Canal Group), fiber internet (Group Vivendi Africa - CanalBox), communications (Havas), publishing (Editis), magazines (Prisma Media), video games (Gameloft) and live entertainment and ticketing (Canal Olympia & Vivendi Village). It also owns a global digital content distribution platform (Dailymotion). Vivendi’s various businesses cohesively work together as an integrated industrial group to create greater value. Vivendi is committed to the environment and aims to help mitigate climate change by adopting an approach aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreements. In addition, the group is helping to build more open, inclusive, and responsible societies by supporting diverse and inventive creative works, promoting broader access to culture, education, and its businesses, and increasing awareness of 21st -century challenges and opportunities.