Rwanda’s ambassador to the United States of America, Mathilde Mukantabana, has referred to the efforts of sharing the story of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi as a solemn task that Rwandans owe to the survivors of the tragedy. On Friday, April 7, Rwandans in the USA along with friends of Rwanda gathered in Washington DC to commemorate the Genocide against the Tutsi. “Our solemn task is to speak plainly about what happened in 1994 and to counter efforts to obscure or distort this history. We owe this to victims and survivors, of course -- but it is no less an obligation to generations yet to be born,” Mukantabana told those who were attending. · Newcastle City Council honours victims of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi · There is no hiding place from facts of our history – Kagame · Germany, Belgium send messages of solidarity Mukantabana called upon the audience to think about what made the unimaginable all too real - the forces that made the Genocide possible, perhaps even inevitable. “The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi may have shocked the world in its scale and ferocity, but it was not a sudden or unpredictable eruption of savage violence. The spectre of genocide hung over Rwanda for many years before April 7, 1994,” she said. “By examining the political and historical context that made genocide in Rwanda possible, we can discern lessons that can help prevent mass atrocities elsewhere. Genocide is a crime against all humanity, and we share the obligation of prevention where possible and intervention where necessary,” she noted. During the event, Prof Fiacre Bienvenu, a scholar of post-conflict identity formation and ethnicity politics, provided insights into causes and the systematic planning of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, while Jason Nshimye, the president of Ibuka-USA, stressed the importance of unity. We are united, we remember, we will never forget, we learned from our history, it will never happen to us again,” Nshimye said.
