REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

National Commission for the Fight against Genocide  

RWANDA 15th COMMEMORATION OF THE GENOCIDE AGAINST TUTSIS
The genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda was a tragedy not only for Rwanda but also for humanity.
April 2009 marks the 15th commemoration of the genocide in which more than a million men, women and children were murdered in one hundred days. While today Rwanda is forward looking and full of hope, the past is not forgotten.
The 15th commemoration will be marked by a week – long event from 7th – 13th April to remember the victims, show solidarity with survivors and look to the future.
15 years after the genocide a new Rwanda has grown putting forward unity and reconciliation, not division ; peace and not hatred. Like a new dawn it provides hope.
15 years after the genocide, a new generation has also grown outside Rwanda who should learn about genocide in order to prevent the needless destruction of human life.
15 years is a short time for those who survived. Although support has been given to survivors thousands struggle materially, physically and with trauma. They remain vulnerable not because they live in a poor country, but because they are disadvantaged from losing the support of family.

15th commemoration events

On 7th April, the national commemoration day will be held at Nyanza Kicukiro in the city of Kigali. In April 1994 about five thousand (5,000) had sought refuge with the two thousand (2000) United Nations peacekeeping force, based at the E.T.O (a technical school), near Nyanza-Kicukiro. Even though they were surrounded by their killers, the UN force withdrew, leaving them to be slaughtered by Interahamwe militias and EX-FAR. Thousands of victims were driven to be killed in Nyanza-Kicukiro, a place for Kigali garbage pits before 1994, as Tutsis were also considered as garbage. Nyanza-Kicukiro, now a memorial, will be unveiled as the headquarters of the umbrella survivors’ association “IBUKA” (Remember). The site is a symbol of the international failure in Rwanda and a warning to world leaders of the consequences of ignoring dangerous ideas that propagate hatred and of failing in their responsibility to protect people at risk of genocide. Few survivors left are grateful for the former army of RPF Inkotanyi for its action to stop genocide.

Before the national commemoration day, an International conference of genocide scholars will be held between 4-6th April 2009 in Kigali. It will help perpetuate establish the memory of genocide and combat its ideology, negationism and revisionism.
To enable people all around the world to participate in the 15th commemoration events, three related activities are being launched by prominent personalities:

• Lighting a Candle of Hope: Donations to survivors will start before April and a candle of hope will be lit at the commemoration vigil on April 7th.
• Messages of Hope will record messages expressing hope for the future by survivors of genocide. The message will be published globally through web pages and tele-visual media and within Rwanda as mobile phone messages, radio broadcast, and newspaper content. A new message from a different genocide survivor will be released on each of the 100 days of genocide.
• One Dollar Campaign Project, a fundraising initiative of the Rwandan Diaspora, will also continue throughout the 100 days and beyond in which people are encouraged to support survivors.

 

For further details visit the official website of the 15th commemoration: www.rwanda15.org