Survivors should tell their stories – scholars

Experts at the International Conference of Genocide, which concluded in Kigali yesterday, believe that despite their strong education background, they are not in the best position to tell the story of the 1994 Genocide better than the survivors.The conference was organised as part of the activities of the 18th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed over a million lives.“The fact that victims are heard does not necessarily mean they are listened to. Intellectuals can’t speak for victims. What we, scholars, could do is create a forum for the survivor to speak,” Prof Wandia Njoya, a Kenyan academic and researcher, observed.Njoya was in the limelight, last year, for strongly criticising the self-acclaimed Hotel Rwanda hero, Paul Rusesabagina. She has written several publications about the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “The victims are the truth. Without them, there wouldn’t be scholastic work…Hotel Rwanda was a project of return to normal for the Americans, implying that despite what happened to Rwanda, America still remained with the same stand and policies,” Njoya pointed out.“This is what I consider as dehumanising victims of the Genocide.”Addressing the issue of trauma which is common during the commemoration period, Dr Helena Young, a trauma expert, in her research proposed that re-traumatisation is seen during commemoration activities in Rwanda because trauma impact does not just go. “Concerted effort needs to be made to avert stress levels, family conflicts amongst survivors and trauma…high levels of depression in Rwandan communities means people are less able to work and earn an income. Post- Genocide trauma will adversely affect the social fabric in Rwanda and impact on economic participation by citizens,” said Dr Young.She observed that a lot of knowledge in Rwanda about Genocide does not find its way into international publications but advised the country to develop a top leading research centre on psycho-social responses to genocide trauma.According to Prof. Garry Caplan, there is no country in Africa that is as influential as Rwanda. “I have witnessed big companies struggling to come to Rwanda and make friends with President Paul Kagame, but at the same time, there is no country in the world that is hated with passionate and brutal anger like Rwanda and this makes the country very exceptional.“History has set Rwandans apart and this is why Rwanda has a responsibility to ensure that no genocide happens anywhere in the world. But still I have a question; What is the responsibility of the friends of Rwanda?” Caplan pondered.He added; “I consider myself an honest friend of Rwanda, a permanent and lifetime independent ally for the fight against Genocide denial. Rwanda should tell its story and accept the burden of being a special country.”

National

Survivors should tell their stories – scholars