A group of participants at the‎ ongoing International Course on the Kigali Principles on Protection of Civilians (PoC) on Monday visited Kigali Genocide Memorial to pay homage to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

The course, which is being undertaken at Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze District, is attended by members of the military, police, prisons and civilians from 12 African countries plus the United States and The Netherlands.

According to a statement from Rwanda Defence Forces, the students toured different sections of the memorial and took valuable lessons on how the Genocide was planned and executed. 

At the end of the visit, Major J. Banda, a participant from Zambia, observed that; "It is quite emotional to see how a human being can butcher another human being in this manner, like what happened in the Genocide against Tutsi,” he said.

Linking this situation to the course on PoC, Banda pointed out that from the visit they learnt clearly that protection of civilians must be the core mission of any Peace Keeping Operation. 

Lauren Spink, a participant from the United States said she was very saddened by what she had witnessed adding that visiting the Genocide memorial was a moment to reflect on worse things that human beings can do to humanity. 

She further said that UN member countries need to devise a mechanism where protection of civilians is made a priority in all circumstances.

The International Course on the Kigali Principles is set to come to an end tomorrow, Wednesday.