Rwandans and their friends living in Norway held the 29th commemoration of 1994 the Genocide against the Tutsi.
The event was organized by the Urukundo Rwandan Organization in collaboration with the Rwandan embassy to the Nordic countries. Held under the theme "Remember-Unite-Renew,” the commemoration was attended by people from Norway, Sweden, Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The mourners called for unity and a renewed commitment to preventing similar atrocities in the future.
ALSO READ: Kwibuka 29: There is no hiding place from facts of our history – Kagame
Felix Muhigana, a Rwandan living in Norway, gave a presentation on Rwanda’s post-independence politics, which led to the Genocide against Tutsi that claimed more than one million lives within 100 days.
Rwanda’s ambassador to the Nordic countries, Dr. Diane Gashumba, encouraged the participants of the event to fight against all causes of genocide, emphasized the message of love and togetherness to build a better Rwanda.
Rwandan children and youth born after the Genocide against the Tutsi performed plays in memory of the victims, conveyed messages of support to survivors and expressed their commitment to ‘Never Again.’
ALSO READ: Call for non-divisive politics as Genocide commemoration week ends
Edissa Mihana, a survivor of genocide against the Tutsi, gave testimony of her ordeal and how she survived as a seven-year-old.
The president of Urukundo Rwanda Organisation in Norway, Marie-Chantal Muhigana, thanked RPF-Inkotanyi to have stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Muhigana explained that the reasons behind the annual commemoration of Genocide against the Tutsi are to keep the memory of the victims, pay tribute to victims and support survivors, fight genocide denial and ideology.
It is also to make sure that justice is served, and to keep the determination that life should go on, and that future generations will live in peace.
The national mourning week was closed on April 13, but commemoration activities in Rwanda and abroad continue for 100 days until July 3, the eve of Liberation Day.
In July 1994, the RPA stopped the Genocide against the Tutsi and liberated Rwanda, putting an end to an era of divisive politics that plunged the country into one of the worst tragedies in history, the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.