Nyanza memorial to showcase world failure in ‘94 Genocide

KICUKIRO - The Nyanza Genocide Memorial Site which is currently under construction is to be made a monument to demonstrate the failures of the International Community to stop the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This was revealed by Jean de Dieu Mucyo, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission to Fight against Genocide. Constructed in Kicukiro District along the Kigali-Bugesera highway, the memorial is home to over 10,000 victims of the Genocide and all of them suffered their death after being abandoned by UN troops. “We intend to construct historical gardens that will tell the story of how the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) abandoned refugees at Technical School of Kicukiro (ETO), under the protection of a Belgian contingent and were later massacred,” Mucyo said by phone yesterday. Thousands of Tutsis in 1994 had sought refuge at the school were attacked by militias after the Belgian troops left. Mucyo also confirmed that the memorial centre will play host to the fifteenth commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis to be held in April next year. In a related development, the Minister of Sports and Culture, Joseph Habineza, last week informed a cabinet meeting that next year’s commemoration will hinge on fighting revisionism. It will be held under the theme; ‘let’s keep the memory of the genocide against Tutsis by fighting revisionism and rebuilding the country.’ Rwanda has over the years called upon the international community to denounce revisionism of the Genocide which is especially promoted by some elements who move freely in several countries, especially Europe. Ends