January 1991-1994: CNLG highlights major events leading to the Genocide

The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), yesterday, published highlights of key dates that marked the month of January 1991-1994 in the planning and testing of the Genocide against the Tutsi. In a series that will be published monthly until April, CNLG said the move aims at countering Genocide deniers. The highlights, which show remarkable events that happened in the month of January of every year from 1991 to 1994, will help to further indicate that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was never an accident, according to CNLG executive secretary Jean-Damascène Bizimana. “We want to keep the documentation work going to show the extent of planning the Genocide and its implementation. Even if people already know that the genocide was planned, they don’t know the details very well and we want to bring them out for everyone to see,” Dr Bizimana told The New Times yesterday. With less than four months before Rwanda and the international community commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi for the 23rd time, CNLG officials said every month in the lead-up to the commemoration day, it will be reminding Rwandans of major dates that marked the preparation of the Genocide. The move is in line with continued efforts by CNLG to tell the truth about the Genocide and counter the distortion of history by Genocide deniers and promoters of genocide ideology. “One of the things that Genocide deniers use as an arm is the claim that the Genocide against the Tutsi was never prepared. We want to prove them wrong by keeping up documentation work that shows the genocide was a terrible action prepared by the former government in Rwanda with the help of foreign governments, especially French officials,” Bizimana said. In the first batch of the historical extracts, released yesterday, CNLG has indicated how the former government used the RPF’s capture of Ruhengeri town during the Liberation Struggle as an excuse to kill several Tutsi from the Bagogwe community in the northern region and how French soldiers and top officials supported Habyarimana’s government in the killings. The dossier shows how the Habyarimana government distributed guns and grenades to Interahamwe militia and formed newspapers that sensitised the militia to kill Tutsi as well as how notorious Genocide convict Col Théoneste Bagosora prepared and executed the Genocide while the UN force in Rwanda stood by. By releasing the files, CNLG officials said that the move was necessary to keep reminding those who deny the Genocide and consistently spread their lies or distort the fact that the Genocide was meticulously planned and executed and that denying that fact demeans the victims who were killed on the basis of their nature or because they opposed the killers’ plans. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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January 1991-1994: CNLG highlights major events leading to the Genocide