Write on your country’s history, Rwandans told

KIGALI - The Minister of Sports and Culture Joseph Habineza has called on the general public to promote the culture of writing books so that Rwandan history is recorded. Habineza was speaking at the screening ceremony for “The Devil Came on Horseback,” a movie which was adopted from a book of the same title and tells the story of ex-US Marine Captain Brain Staedle. Staedle was employed by the African Union in 2004 to monitor a ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sudan along with its alleged Janjaweed militia and several rebel groups defending black Africans in Southwest Sudan. Jean De Diue Mucyo, who was recently appointed the Executive Secretary to the National Commission against Genocide, attended the ceremony. He said the movie was also a sad reminder of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. “I am proud that Rwanda acted very fast in sending peacekeepers to Darfur,” he said. Prof. Frank Chalk, the head of Montreal Institute of Human Rights, was introduced as an expert that will advise Government on genocide ideology. Steadle, who filmed some scenes in the 1994 Genocide in the movie said: “My efforts are just a short story through my eyes as to what is happening in western Sudan. It is our responsibility as citizens of the world to stop such things as happened in Rwanda is happening in Sudan.” Chalk said the move to end the “genocide” in Darfur was a responsibility for the entire universe. “If more people participate in every activity like watching this movie; there would not be any more genocide,” he said. He said that to end genocide ideologies one had to look at young Germans today.“The Government of Germany has introduced good education; they have prepared students well, invested a lot in all kinds of education especially multi-media education. Now, it is no longer an issue of whether one comes from East or West Germany because such stereotypes have been washed away through education.” Rwanda has 3,500 soldiers in the peacekeeping force in Darfur which total currently to 9000, far less than the required 26,000 troops. Many countries have continuously become reluctant in contributing forces for the hybrid AU-UN mission in the region where an estimated 200,000 people have died and two million others displaced0 This conflict has also partly contributed to another crisis in the neighboring Chad.Ends