Students urged to keep genocide memory alive

Students at the Centre for Human Rights –Ajeprodho Jijukirwa – have been urged to keep the genocide memory alive for them to be able to advocate against its evils and the possibility of reoccurrence. The call was made by officials of the Human rights Commission recently to 40 high school, undergraduate and post graduate students from Ajeprodho following their visit to Gisozi Memorial site. Madeleine Nirere, the chairperson, Human Rights Commission, said there is a need for every Rwandan youth, especially the generation emerging after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, to understand the realities on the ground and the ugly past that befell the country. She also urged them to conduct visits to genocide memorial sites to have a better appreciation of what happened. “Human rights education promotes values, beliefs and attitudes that encourage all individuals to uphold their own rights. Therefore, training Rwandan youth on human rights is very necessary since it improves everyone’s common responsibility to make human rights a reality in Rwanda’s community where genocide has roots,” she said. Tom Mulisa, a researcher and lecturer at Uppsala University in Sweden, said some Rwandan youth participated in the actual killings during Genocide. “Its very important for the young students to remember the past since it safeguards the future for a genocide-free society,” he noted. For Moses Mutabazi, a post graduate student at Centre for Human Rights - Ajeprodho, there is a need for youth to understand human rights violation in Rwanda so that they never do the same. “We read fabricated stories about Rwanda; however, when we visit genocide memorial sites it keeps our memory awake so we can never engage in such,” he said. Ajeprodho teaches fundamental basics of people’s human rights to Senior Six graduates, undergraduates and post graduate students.

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Students urged to keep genocide memory alive