In April 1994, when Christians across the world were still in the spirit of Easter celebrations and Africans were cheering on their favorite teams in the African Cup of Nations, in Rwanda, darkness was taking over as the worst atrocities in the recent history of mankind unfolded. The hatred and anger that had been planted in her people for decades, burst out and in just 100 days, more than a million lives of innocent Tutsi were brutally taken. This year, we are commemorating for the 28th time the 1994 genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi. The past 28 years have been years of rebuilding and reuniting as a nation, and the core part of this has been remembrance. In the early 1900s, when the colonizers started establishing themselves in Rwanda, the people’s unity and oneness started getting diluted. With the colonizers divide and rule policy, Rwandans who were a close-knit society that always identified themselves as one, were introduced to differences they had never known about before. They were told that they were neither of the same race nor tribe, that their physical appearance, mental capabilities, culture, and their origins were never alike. Colonizers were so devoted to these preachings that in 1933 they launched new national identification cards, commonly known as Ibuku, and since then, Rwandans were no longer identified as Rwandans but as either Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa. This history and its aftermath are what we will never forget and from remembering, our purpose to stay united is strongly redefined. The hatred and division colonizers instilled in the country and was later spread by some of her people elsewhere in the country through media and their political parties thus giving birth to the genocide, is what our efforts are aiming to uproot. This history has left us with numerous scars. But as beauty can still rise from the ashes, the country’s new dreams are no more of exterminating a certain group of her population, but rather of being a better place where everyone feels at home and safe. After the 1959 revolution, Tutsis started being killed while others were forced into exile. In 1963-64, between 25,000 and 35,000 Tutsis were massacred and those who survived the massacres were denied their rights to education while others were expelled from their occupations. This persecution went on for years. At the time, Tutsis lives were reduced to that of animals. They were given names like “snakes” and “cockroaches” which gave Hutus some sort of excuse to exterminate them fearlessly as they would do to a real snake or cockroach. 28 years later, we still remember this painful history and we will always do. We remember the power of speech in dehumanization, and that bad leadership is always a threat to humanity. For this we say Never Again and renew our commitment to building a strong nation free of any form of discrimination and tribalism. In commemorating the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the sad truth that this was neither accidental nor inevitable always hit hard. The international community and the United Nations which had prevention of “the crime of genocide” under its mandate knew clearly of the government’s plan to exterminate Tutsis but acted like they were not concerned. On January 11, 1994, General Roméo Dallaire, the Force Commander of a UN mission in Rwanda, sent a fax to peacekeeping headquarters in New York, in which he reported, in startling details, the preparations that were under way to exterminate the Tutsi. In this fax, Dallaire cited the information from his informant who revealed to him that the RGF, the then government forces, had several weapons caches and was training hundreds of Interahamwe militias all over the country. The informant was a former member of President Habyarimana’s security staff and at the time of the fax, he was assigned to compile lists of Tutsis and train Interahamwe to do away with them. He told Dallaire that “he has already distributed 110 weapons including 35 with ammunition” and the militias he has trained “could in 20 minutes kill up to 1000 Tutsis.” In this fax, Dallaire showcased his intentions to raid the weapons cache within 36 hours but in replying, Kofi Annan, the then head of U.N peacekeeping, said that this plan “clearly goes beyond the mandate entrusted to UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR).” It was such reckless decisions that could not stand in the way of Hutu death squads killing Tutsis, and on April 07, 1994, they executed their plan with no disturbance. Tutsis all over the country were hunted down and slaughtered, not even sparing fetuses. Few days after the genocide had started, some countries withdrew their contingents from the mission, reducing UNAMIR strengths from 2,548 to 270. More than 3,000 Tutsis who had sought refuge at the UNAMIR-protected Eto Kicukiro were left to be slain by the militias and only a handful of them survived. This is the history we remember. It is bitter and painful, but it is ours and there is no way under the moon we will ever forget. From remembering it, stems our great desire and aspirations to be self-reliant in all aspects of life. We have picked up our hard-learned lessons that our lives and land are only ours to protect. But our pain calls us also to look beyond ourselves and be our brothers keepers. As of today, Rwanda is the second country contributing most to the UN peacekeeping mission. From our history, we fetch great passion and responsibility to give the world the peace we were denied. We endeavor to prevent such atrocities from happening elsewhere by taking part in the good fights of peace and prosperity. 28 years later, it is so unfortunate that the genocide ideology is still lingering around and the perpetrators alongside their allies are still so extremist on this. Like they have always done, they are using mainly digital media to channel their ideology. And this is the present and the future we must deal with fiercely because if we forget and become complacent, the battle is won by our adversary, and we are risking the repeat of history. Today, many perpetrators are still freely roaming around the globe. They have found themselves safe havens in the so-called powerful countries which haven’t grown beyond their hate but still take pride in adding salt to the open wounds of the survivors by denying them justice. Nevertheless, the survivors still rise. Beyond their pain and sorrow, they brought to the country a beam of hope whose light never dimmed. During Kwibuka28, we honor their resilience and the courage to never allow death to have power over them. Rwanda is, because you are, and it will forever be, for your descendants are more determined than ever to keep your legacy alive. Every day we are living a life in remembrance from which our zeal to better this land is fueled.
