HUYE

A psychiatric expert has cautioned the public against pushing individuals to testify about the dark moments of their lives, pointing out that instead of helping the victim to heal, such a move tends to worsen their situation.  Dr Naasson Munyandamutsa, presently the Deputy Director of the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP), a local think-tank, is a trained and practicing psychiatrist and researcher."Testimony giving is one of the ways of healing broken hearts, but once it is done in a bad way, its results are harmful,” he noted.He observed that such a move could make the victim relive the horrors they underwent in the past, thus causing further trauma."Testimony giving is an oral reproduction of what someone went through.  If such testimonies are about negative things, for them to be a healing tool, a number of conditions have to be met first,” he said, citing the willingness and readiness of the victim as some of the conditions."We should avoid putting pressure on individuals to give testimonies about their lives. This is a deliberate decision which is only undertaken by someone with full knowledge of the reason to do so."The person testifying first needs  to discover and understand why they need to give testimonies about their lives, identify a suitable time to do so, discover who they address themselves to and why they are telling their story,” Munyandamutsa explained.  The expert’s comments come as the country marks the 18th commemoration of the Genocide against Tutsi. The week-long commemoration period started on April 7 and wound up on April 13 but remembrance activities will be held countrywide until July.Last week, Munyandamutsa led a discussion on remembrance at the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB).In his presentation, he told the hospital staff that the Genocide commemoration is vital in building the future of the country."Remembrance should serve as a starting point to prepare a bright future for this nation rather than an obstruction”, he advised.