1994 seems like a long time ago but at the same time, it also feels like just yesterday, over a million dreams were cut short in just 100 days. We like to say that time heals all wounds and it has for many, but for others, the pain is still raw. We have to remember that some people lost not just their immediate but extended family too and picking up the pieces has been and still is quite the challenge. People grieve and heal differently. While some forgive easily, others need more time and it’s not up to us to dictate how they should deal with their trauma. What we can and should do is offer our support—moral, physical, financial and generally any help they need. The hope is that we all continue to learn from the past so history doesn’t repeat itself. Sadly though, we seem to have such short memory as evidenced from the senseless killings continuing around the world despite all the ‘Never Again’ proclamations. Hard to believe there’re individuals out there actively perpetuating false narratives about what happened 27 years ago during the Genocide against the Tutsi but also elsewhere. What’s even more disheartening is that some believe the lies to the point where authorities now have to revert resources that would have gone towards helping rehabilitate survivors to countering these false claims. Where’s our humanity? Why do we have such disregard for life? These atrocities wouldn’t be happening if we stopped committing them. It’s that simple. Put yourself in the victims’ shoes and imagine your own parents, siblings or children being subjected to the same brutality and tell me you won’t think twice about inflicting it on someone else. Credit to everybody pursuing justice on behalf of the victims and survivors of these despicable abuses, even for cases that take decades to resolve. Justice delayed is not ideal but it’s still justice. Just can’t believe a convicted war criminal so brutal he was nicknamed ‘The Terminator’ tried to get acquitted! 30 years is not enough punishment for even a single life he brutalised, let alone the thousands who’ll never get to see their loved ones again.
