Modern archive commissioned at Murambi Genocide centre

NYAMAGABE-The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), commissioned modern archives displayed at Murambi Genocide memorial site in Nyamagabe district. The digital archives are part of efforts to conserve historical facts about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and has records covering the period before, during and after the genocide. The archive was set up by CNLG in partnership with Aegis Trust. In the dark rooms at the centre, small electric lamps illuminate big images posted on the walls and accompanied with text. Video testimonies can be watched in some of the rooms. An old radio receiver highlights the role of media, especially broadcast, in the planning and execution of the genocide. An audio recording of a leader calling on Hutus to kill Tutsis can be heard. A digital map shows mass graves and roadblock sites while survivors’ testimonies can be heard on various audio and video tools reveal the brutality of Interahamwe militia at Murambi. Over 50,000 Tutsis were butchered in Murambi in 1994. At the time, Tutsis from several parts of the former Gikongoro Prefecture sought refuge in a technical school which was under construction. However, today only 13 of them are known to have survived the killings which were carried out by Interahamwe militias in conjunction with soldiers and gendarmes, according to testimonies. Speaking during the official opening, Dr Vincent Biruta, the Senate president, noted that it was important to exhibit facts about the Genocide in order to challenge revisionists. “Keeping and exhibiting facts and proof of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi prove that it happened and that it is not an invention. It is a message to revisionists that the truth will prevail,” Biruta said. He urged the population to visit the centre in order to learn from the past. “Lessons from here can help everyone take measures to make sure that the horrific moments we went through do not happen again”. At the event, the remains of nine Genocide victims were accorded a decent burial. Ends