We must say No to mockery of survivors

Editor,The story about the brave heroes from Bisesero brings back in me the deep rage and helplessness I felt in 1994 when Tutsis were being killed in Rwanda. I was glued then on my TV watching from a safe distance in faraway South Africa.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Innocent Rukundo and Annualite Kayitesi carry the Kwibuka Flame at its arrival in Bwishyura, Karongi District on Thursday. The New Times/ Bucyensenge

Editor,The story about the brave heroes from Bisesero brings back in me the deep rage and helplessness I felt in 1994 when Tutsis were being killed in Rwanda. I was glued then on my TV watching from a safe distance in faraway South Africa.The memory of the then UN’s Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, telling the world that what was going on in Rwanda was inter-tribal fighting, still looms over me.The word "Genocide” was like a swear word in the UN dictionary and it took months of debating for the dreaded word to be used. To them, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was a jungle out there – lions were killing rabbits and rabbits were killing lions.If there was really justice in the world, those fellows at The Hague should have tried the French and some of the other culpable members of the UN’s Security Council.Kaitakirwa, Kokstad,South Africa*************************Recounting the horror that befell Tutsis in Bisesero, for me the problem is that French Government seems to never recognise the role they played during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, or at least come forward to apologise for their complicity.Instead, they are still piercing needles into the swollen and fresh wounds of the Genocide survivors. Remember that horrible, polemic play recently broadcast on Canal+ mocking the Genocide?Majyambere,RwandaReactions to the story, "Bisesero survivor: In 1994, French troops tricked us out of our resistance hideout” (The New Times, January 18)