Over 50 researchers from universities in Sweden and the University of Rwanda visited a unity and reconciliation village in the Mayange sector of Bugesera District on April 22, 2024. The village is where survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, who have reconciled, reside.

The researchers are participating in the 2024 Annual Dialogue Meeting until April 24. The event commenced on Monday, April 22 with a trip to the Nyamata Genocide Memorial, where over 10,000 Tutsi lost their lives during the Genocide.

During the visit, visitors paid tribute to Genocide victims by laying a wreath in their honour. They witnessed powerful testimonies of unity and reconciliation by Genocide survivors and perpetrators living in harmony in the same village.

The unity and reconciliation initiative leaders in Rwanda also recognised the crucial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), mainly in the fields of mental health and psychology.

Etienne Ruvebana

"There are people who are still trivialising the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Now if researchers witness face-to-face the history of the Genocide, it helps fight genocide denial. Some write facts about history and if any of the researchers is inspired, they can do a lot in telling the truth. Among these researchers, some work on peace-building and conflict resolution, mental health, and social cohesion among others,” he said, adding that the reconciliation journey should be a lesson to the world.

Testimonies

Xavier Nemeye, 61, a Genocide perpetrator, killed five members of Laurence Niyonagira’s family, but they now live together in the reconciliation village.

He recounted how the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was planned and tried before 1994.

"In Mayange sector, the Genocide against the Tutsi was tried in 1992. Tutsi houses were burnt and we plundered their cows and other properties. Genocide ideology was taught in schools. I participated in killing five people in Niyonagira’s family but she has now forgiven me after confessing and asking for forgiveness,” he testified.

According to Nemeye, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was masterminded by bad leadership but insisted that citizens too made a wicked choice.

"I spent 10 years in prison. Prison Fellowship Rwanda came to the correctional facility and spread the gospel. We confessed and also wrote letters to Genocide survivors asking for forgiveness. We were ashamed and I was even afraid of standing in public or meeting survivors whose relatives I killed. Eventually, I even revealed the whereabouts of Genocide victims’ bodies for decent burial in the Gacaca courts where we would share testimonies of what we did. That is how we are living in harmony in the reconciliation village,” he said.

Intermarriage between families of genocide survivors, perpetrators

Today, the daughter of Niyonagira (Genocide survivor) is married to the son of Genocide perpetrator, Nemeye, as a sign of true forgiveness.

"I struggled with accepting this marriage. I was always suffering from trauma,” Niyonagira told the researchers.

"I fled to Burundi. When I came back to Rwanda, it was not easy to forgive the Genocide perpetrators. The difficult choice was to let my daughter marry the son of a perpetrator. I prayed a lot, and thanks to Prison Fellowship Rwanda, we embarked on a reconciliation journey and it was possible. We are now one family,” she said.

She said Nemeye revealed the whereabouts of the five family members he killed, to get a decent burial.

The reconciliation and healing initiative supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) also enabled residents of the reconciliation village to engage in agricultural activities through a cooperative they established.

Women from families that committed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and perpetrators, also created a basket-weaving cooperative dubbed "Basket of Peace”.

According to Celestin Ngarukiyinka, the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship Rwanda, the initiative was started in 1995 by bishops Deo Gashagaza and John Rucyahana.

"The main activity was to spread the gospel of God to inmates since there were many Genocide perpetrators in correctional facilities. We targeted them because they were disconnected from God. Then we followed with restorative justice where perpetrators and survivors can manage to reconcile and live together.

"The inmates confessed. We educated perpetrators about the power of asking for forgiveness, and Genocide survivors about the power of forgiveness. They did it and are living together in a reconciliation village that was constructed from 2003 to 2005,” he explained.

Sociotherapy healing programme

Ngarukiyinka said in collaboration with Interpeace, an international peace-building organisation, they established a socio-therapy healing programme.

In 2005, community-based sociotherapy was introduced in Rwanda to help people deal better with the consequences of the Genocide and its aftermath.

Sociotherapy soon became known as ‘Mvura Nkuvure’, meaning ‘I heal you while you heal me’.

Apart from enhancing social cohesion and providing mental health support, socio-therapy also contributes to reconciliation and peace-building and promotes economic livelihoods.

"The programme was extended to five districts across the country thanks to funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. We are also training 300 youth of Genocide survivors and perpetrators to work together, and live together by implementing different activities,” Ngarukiyinka said.

Helene Ahlberg, a researcher from Sweden, said that visiting the Genocide memorial, meeting people, and listening to testimonies about the Genocide against the Tutsi is a big takeaway.

"Listening to the people is very important because then there is a connection and you can see and hear the person. It is not just seeing something online. I need to understand the context of the people with whom I am working. I have to understand the reality of the life experience, understand the unique history of the country, and what people have lived through here, which makes Rwanda different from other places,” she said.

She said the reconciliation journey needs to be shared internationally.

"There is an incredibly important experience here. People who are witnessing should be there on the international stage and share their witnesses. I just want to highlight one thing that I personally take away, the importance of the healing initiative, socio-therapy. They have really shown the kind of aspects of healing as a person and as a community that other people also need to learn from,” she added.

Barni Nor, the Senior Research Advisor at the Swedish Embassy in Rwanda, added: "I learnt what determination looks like. And I am grateful for those lessons. I learnt what transformation is. And this is a lesson that you cannot learn by studying books. This programme that we are all part of today is looking at the next generation, it is looking at how to contribute and be part of this journey with Rwanda in its self-transformation.”