Genocide commemorated in China, Arusha

Rwandans in China were this week joined by well-wishers to remember those who perished in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis. The event was held at the Embassy of Rwanda in Beijing and was attended by ambassadors, and diplomats from various countries as well as Chinese government officials and academics. The ceremony started with one minute of silence, and later, a short documentary on the Genocide was screened. The Acting Dean of African Ambassadors, Victor Sikonina, the Ambassador of Madagascar, delivered a speech calling for “unity and reconciliation and urged all diplomats to carry this lesson and teach the whole world that what happened in Rwanda should never happen again anywhere else. “He wished Rwanda Peace, Prosperity and Justice.” In his speech, Rwanda’s ambassador to China, Francois Xavier Ngarambe, urged the world to draw lessons from the Genocide, stating that: “Everyone should understand the necessity to fight all sources of poor governance, hatred, injustice and discrimination. Forgetting or denying genocide is denying the humanity of the victims; it is assuring impunity to its planners and perpetrators, and it is making it possible for Genocide to be repeated again and again.” The ceremony was concluded with a movie “Sometimes in April”. The Rwandan community in Arusha, Tanzania, on Thursday also marked the 19th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi with a call on the international community to always act in solidarity in the face of injustice. Hundreds held remembrance prayers at Arusha’s Zion City Church where the church’s leader, Apostle Trice Shumbusho, preached love, peace and tolerance. Frank Kayijuka, the Second Counsellor at the Rwanda High Commission in Tanzania, reiterated Rwanda’s commitment to defence of peace and human rights having drawn lessons from its experience of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “I believe we have an obligation not to be indifferent in the face of injustice and fail to act in solidarity with the victim of gross human rights violations,” he said. The Chairperson of the Rwandan community in Arusha, Desire Rusatira, told mourners that the Rwandan experience for the last 19 years has been of resilience, commitment to development, peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, and pursuit of love and tolerance. “This was truly a crime against humanity of a different scale - one where the citizens of the country were being attacked by its government, a government that is meant to protect them,” Rusatira said. Samuel Akorimo, Head of Office of the Arusha Branch of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), called on the international community to fully cooperate in ensuring Genocide never happens again anywhere in the world. He said his office will continue its efforts in the search and arrest of Genocide fugitives who remain at large. The ceremony was also attended by John Hopkins, the head of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT).