President Paul Kagame on Monday, April 7, said diplomats from an unnamed country threatened the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement Jean-Damascène Bizimana with visa restrictions for pointing out countries like Belgium that played a role in Rwanda’s history of ethnic discrimination and in the lead-up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Kagame said this during the ceremony marking the 31st commemoration of the Genocide, which claimed more than one million lives in three months. The event took place at Kigali Genocide Memorial where a flame was lit in memory of victims of the Genocide. The President spoke after Bizimana had detailed the colonial-era policies of Belgium, which polarised the Rwandan society, resulting in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. On multiple occasions, Bizimana has highlighted how the European country continued to undermine Rwanda’s efforts to rebuild from the tragedy. ALSO READ: Kagame urges Rwandans to fight for their dignified lives “Bizimana made another presentation another time that involved the same people he was talking about [earlier] and the next day people from embassies came to him, threatening him,” Kagame said, without naming the country the diplomats represented. “They're so foolishly brave...They went to him and I think another message went through [the Ministry of] Foreign Affairs. It's like ‘this man who is saying this...’ and they were not saying it is not true; they were [threatening him] for daring to say it even if it is the truth.” “They threatened him and they even started saying he will not get visa to travel to some places... somebody from the embassy threatening our minister.” ALSO READ: Role of Belgium in decades-long violence against Tutsi exposed as Rwanda marks Genocide The President said that Rwandans always have to deal with “the dark past” and “the cruel present” in which they constantly have to explain themselves for choosing their own path of development and reconstruction from the Genocide. President Kagame condemned the condescending behaviour shown by some Western diplomats. “Of course, I can’t blame them that, given this history we have had, from the embassy they even think they are above the minister,” he said. Kagame continued: “[The diplomat] wasn’t saying [to Bizimana] ‘This is contrary to the truth or evidence we have, why did you present lies?’ No. He was just saying ‘Whether lies or truth, you shouldn’t have said it.’” “That is the cruel present we live in. But we must confront it, and we will, we shall, no question about it,” he said. The President noted that Rwanda had already seen its worst chapter and the Genocide would not happen again. “The worst has already happened to us. I don’t think anything worse will happen, ever,” he said, adding the Rwandans should not be fearful to fight for their lives and defend the country.
