Residents of Nyarugenge District were on Tuesday urged to speak the truth about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in order to weaken deniers and those who trivialise it. The call was made by the Mayor of Nyarugenge, Solange Mukasonga, during the 21st commemoration of the Genocide at Nyamirambo Sector. “Those who deny and trivialise the Genocide want to hide the role they played in it. They use various channels like media and non-0governmental organisations (NGOs) to hide the truth. Luckily, there are historical records and deniers cannot run away from history,” Mukasonga said. “The 1994 Genocide had been in the pipeline for decades. For instance, the late president Gregoire Kayibanda once said: “Let us suppose the impossible; suppose the Inyenzi stormed Kigali? It would be the precipitated end of the Tutsi.” “When Habyarimana was asked about Tutsi killings in schools in 1973, he said it was a group of gangsters that was being fought. Most of those deniers are aware of what transpired but they try to hide the truth for their benefit. We should join hands to fight them,” Mukasonga urged. Judith Mukamana, a survivor from Gitega Sector, said it was high time Rwandans joined hands to combat Genocide ideology. “We all know that what happened to us is the result of the Genocide ideology. Those of us who are lucky to be alive should fight hard to defeat those who want to bring back the ideology,” she said. For Jean Pierre Ndayisaba who survived after hiding in a toilet at Kabusunzu during the Genocide, people should create anti-genocide clubs to fight Genocide denial and ideology. “It is necessary to create anti-genocide clubs in villages and schools so that they can help improve our understanding of the Genocide and raise awareness, especially among the youth, about the dangers of genocide ideology and denial,” Ndayisaba said. Léoncie Kantengwa, who in 1994 was holed up at Sainte Famille Church, said diplomacy should be used to pursue deniers wherever they are. “We tried to cope with the wounds caused by the Genocide and have restored hope for the future. Hearing deniers on international radios continuing to spread their ideology rekindles the grief among us. We should create diplomatic ways to pursue them in the countries where they live so that they can be arrested and brought to book. For those in Rwanda, the law should take its course.” The 21st commemoration of the Genocide is being held under the theme; “Remember, Unite ,Renew” with a focus on combating Genocide denial and ideology.
