Kigali – April 7, 1994 will forever signify the beginning of a dark period in Rwanda’s, and the world’s, history. In the months that followed, the world slowly realised that it was yet again witnessing genocide. Despite having pledged to never let the atrocities of the Holocaust happen again roughly half a century earlier, the Genocide against the Tutsi occurred in broad daylight, claiming around one million lives and leaving the country in ruins.
Last year, I came back to Kigali. Back, yes, as I had worked in the country intermittently from fall 1994 to summer 1995. What I encountered then, was a devastated country. It was a time of incredible loss and sorrow. It was also a time of deep and widespread incomprehension. How this could ever have happened was a question that was not only asked by all Rwandans, but also by the international community as a whole. And we still do not have all the answers. Yes, there are political, economic, legal and sociological explanations – Rwanda’s tragic history has been researched by many. But what really happened, on a human level - why people killed their neighbours, old and young, why thousands of defenseless women were raped, why the social fabric of this country was disrupted in so many ways – remains something beyond human comprehension.
This month, we honor those lost, and those who are still here but whose lives were changed irreversibly. This is not an easy task. The memories and images etched on our consciences continue to stir deep emotion. Yet however painful, it is important to pause and think about what happened in 1994: the Genocide against the Tutsi. To reflect on what humans are capable of, under the wrong circumstances. We owe it to both the victims and the survivors to learn from the past, to see that justice is done, to reunite for a better future and jointly react when we see the signs emerge.
And this is indeed what Rwanda has done. The myriad of challenges that the country was facing in the direct aftermath of the Genocide seemed insurmountable. It was easy to underestimate the determination of the Rwandan people to rebuild their society and to convert a legacy of despair into hope for the future. Yet in those days on several occasions I accompanied government members on field visits, where they addressed the people in the villages and listened to them with the aim to tackle the roots of divisionism and build a new nation. I discovered the wish to be heard and the thirst for justice on a visit to Ntarama in September 1994. People were queuing there to give testimony about what had happened to a representative of the ICRC, right next to the church where so many of their community members had been brutally murdered. It were such events which already in those days indicated the way forward. Today the results are there to see for everyone; Rwanda is a transformed country.
To highlight one aspect, Rwanda has reconstructed its judicial system, almost from scratch. Holding the perpetrators accountable was not an easy task, given the mass participation in the Genocide and widespread feelings of anger and resentment.
To be able to process the enormous caseload, but also to ensure justice went hand in hand with reconciliation, Rwanda installed the Gacaca courts. The majority of perpetrators confessed and pleaded their case at special village courts, after which survivors across the country accepted the perpetrators back into their communities. I cannot begin to imagine the courage this must have taken. Without the Gacaca courts, the backlog of cases would still be insuperable today. The files of the hearings that took place everywhere in Rwanda have a special part in the process of reconciliation. They are the tangible memories of what happened. I am glad that the Netherlands together with Aegis and the Rwandan government has made the preservation and digitalisation of those files possible.
The formal judicial system has been strengthened as well. Prisons have been built, lawyers and judges have been trained and various institutes such as the GFTU have been established. These interventions have helped Rwandans to gain access to justice. The Netherlands will continue to help bringing perpetrators to justice, where possible in the country where they committed their crimes. Let it be clear: there can be no impunity for such atrocities.
Please allow me to use this opportunity to pay tribute to Rwanda’s people for what they have accomplished. For how they have shown the world that after unthinkable evil, communities can reestablish their values and find dignity on the road to a shared future. The Netherlands wants to show its friendship by accompanying Rwandans in that process and contributing to the collective quest for truth and reconciliation.
The writer is the Ambassador of The Netherlands to Rwanda.
The views expressed in this article are of the author.