Rwandans mark 15th genocide memorial
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The President and Mrs. Kagame led thousands of Rwandans and members of the international community in commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Genocide against Tutsis at Nyanza. (PPU photo).] The President and Mrs. Kagame led thousands of Rwandans and members of the international community in commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Genocide against Tutsis at Nyanza. (PPU photo). KICUKIRO - Tears surged as Rwandans yesterday mourned, for the fifteenth year, remembering April 1994 with just a few exceptionally strong-willed people able to hold them back. This was because memories were refreshed during the national commemorative event at Nyanza Memorial Site in Kicukiro where thousands had gathered. Only interludes of music and poetic recitations featuring messages of hope often managed to calm the anguished gathering. President Paul Kagame, in his keynote address, reminded all present that remembering what happened should not prevent Rwandans from marching on to a better future. "As we remember, life must go on and, we must continue to build for a better future. This is the message. A message we must constantly carry," Kagame said. "If we must remember the past, the history, we must also remember to shape our future." It is clear, Kagame acknowledged, that building on top of the ashes of a million lives lost is no easy feat, but it is the challenge Rwandans face. However difficult, he noted, much has been achieved in the past 15 years and, there is still more to be achieved. And there are reasons for this hope, one being the young children who are the hope for tomorrow – hope for the future. Those implicated in the genocide are also coming forth and admitting guilt and, opting to help build the country, which he considered another indicator of hope. Kagame said that if survivors can now meet those who killed their families, it is a significant sign of hope, which some have chosen to ignore. "The deniers of genocide, the cynics and others, have accused us, accused Rwanda of exploiting the guilt of those who would have done something about what happened here in Rwanda." The guilty, he suggested, were those who abandoned people they had come to protect. "And by saying this I think they are even insulting the courage and resilience and wisdom of the people of Rwanda." "That is assuming that we are not capable of standing up to the challenges we face. I don’t think it is correct," he said. Kagame also criticized those who persistently frustrate the country’s achievements in the justice arena. "As we forgive, as we reconcile, there is certainly need for justice and justice to be done. We provided Gacaca. People blamed us for it. And every time we asked for the alternative, they could not give us what could do better than Gacaca." He also underscored the reluctance of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to transfer cases of Genocide architects to be tried here. "We have been rebuilding our justice system for the last fifteen years with very significant and tremendous progress. Every other time they say, no, we cannot allow cases to be tried in Rwanda because we are not satisfied with the justice system." "Here, I want to point out something about double standards and hypocrisy. The authors of the genocide, the masterminds, who freely live, who move about all over the place in Europe, in America and other places that we have raised endlessly with these countries. Always the answer is we cannot give you these people because we are not happy with your justice system." Kagame reiterated his call for Rwandans to determine their own destiny. "It is up to the people of Rwanda. It is up to me, it is up to you, to know how to build our future. The kind of future, the life we deserve and, we deserve nothing less than any other human being anywhere in the world deserves." Vincent Karasira, a survivor gave a testimony of how over 5,000 victims, most of whom laid to rest at the Nyanza site, were abandoned by forces of the UN Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to be killed by the militias. "Whenever a baby could cry out, they asked the mother to go and breast feed it and then they would take her aside and kill her," Karasira said. His narration moved many to tears. "They started, first with guns. They fired at us, and then used grenades which wiped us out and we were bleeding all over, lying in pools of blood. One could just feel an arm taken off." "I survived because my arm had been chopped off and I was lying in a pool of blood. Not more than one hundred people survived this incident. And even those who survived here, are not complete as you can see, no one person remained unscathed," Karasira said. The event marked the beginning of a week long mourning period throughout with flags flying at half mast and series of other events organised in memory of the over one million victims.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9nocide_au_Rwanda
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/rwanda94/sitepers/dosrwand/rwframe.html
The President and Mrs. Kagame led thousands of Rwandans and members of the international community in commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Genocide against Tutsis at Nyanza. (PPU photo).] The President and Mrs. Kagame led thousands of Rwandans and members of the international community in commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Genocide against Tutsis at Nyanza. (PPU photo). KICUKIRO - Tears surged as Rwandans yesterday mourned, for the fifteenth year, remembering April 1994 with just a few exceptionally strong-willed people able to hold them back. This was because memories were refreshed during the national commemorative event at Nyanza Memorial Site in Kicukiro where thousands had gathered. Only interludes of music and poetic recitations featuring messages of hope often managed to calm the anguished gathering. President Paul Kagame, in his keynote address, reminded all present that remembering what happened should not prevent Rwandans from marching on to a better future. "As we remember, life must go on and, we must continue to build for a better future. This is the message. A message we must constantly carry," Kagame said. "If we must remember the past, the history, we must also remember to shape our future." It is clear, Kagame acknowledged, that building on top of the ashes of a million lives lost is no easy feat, but it is the challenge Rwandans face. However difficult, he noted, much has been achieved in the past 15 years and, there is still more to be achieved. And there are reasons for this hope, one being the young children who are the hope for tomorrow – hope for the future. Those implicated in the genocide are also coming forth and admitting guilt and, opting to help build the country, which he considered another indicator of hope. Kagame said that if survivors can now meet those who killed their families, it is a significant sign of hope, which some have chosen to ignore. "The deniers of genocide, the cynics and others, have accused us, accused Rwanda of exploiting the guilt of those who would have done something about what happened here in Rwanda." The guilty, he suggested, were those who abandoned people they had come to protect. "And by saying this I think they are even insulting the courage and resilience and wisdom of the people of Rwanda." "That is assuming that we are not capable of standing up to the challenges we face. I don’t think it is correct," he said. Kagame also criticized those who persistently frustrate the country’s achievements in the justice arena. "As we forgive, as we reconcile, there is certainly need for justice and justice to be done. We provided Gacaca. People blamed us for it. And every time we asked for the alternative, they could not give us what could do better than Gacaca." He also underscored the reluctance of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to transfer cases of Genocide architects to be tried here. "We have been rebuilding our justice system for the last fifteen years with very significant and tremendous progress. Every other time they say, no, we cannot allow cases to be tried in Rwanda because we are not satisfied with the justice system." "Here, I want to point out something about double standards and hypocrisy. The authors of the genocide, the masterminds, who freely live, who move about all over the place in Europe, in America and other places that we have raised endlessly with these countries. Always the answer is we cannot give you these people because we are not happy with your justice system." Kagame reiterated his call for Rwandans to determine their own destiny. "It is up to the people of Rwanda. It is up to me, it is up to you, to know how to build our future. The kind of future, the life we deserve and, we deserve nothing less than any other human being anywhere in the world deserves." Vincent Karasira, a survivor gave a testimony of how over 5,000 victims, most of whom laid to rest at the Nyanza site, were abandoned by forces of the UN Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to be killed by the militias. "Whenever a baby could cry out, they asked the mother to go and breast feed it and then they would take her aside and kill her," Karasira said. His narration moved many to tears. "They started, first with guns. They fired at us, and then used grenades which wiped us out and we were bleeding all over, lying in pools of blood. One could just feel an arm taken off." "I survived because my arm had been chopped off and I was lying in a pool of blood. Not more than one hundred people survived this incident. And even those who survived here, are not complete as you can see, no one person remained unscathed," Karasira said. The event marked the beginning of a week long mourning period throughout with flags flying at half mast and series of other events organised in memory of the over one million victims.http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9nocide_au_Rwanda
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/rwanda94/sitepers/dosrwand/rwframe.html