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The Nyanza Genocide Memorial Site in Rwanda. PHOTO | DANIEL S NTWARI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
By James Kimonyo
Posted Saturday, April 2 2016 at 17:58
IN SUMMARY
- When a state descends upon a defenceless population and begins to kill them in the thousands under whichever pretext, it does not require a fact finding mission to determine that what is happening is genocide.
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As part of the activities to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which will take place next week on April 7, I was recently invited for a live talk show on Kenya’s KTN News where the host asked me a whole range of questions with regard to what is planned as we remember over a million people who were slaughtered in 1994 in Rwanda in the the worst mass killing of modern history.
As the show progressed, my host Yvonne Okwara asked me an interesting question: “Do you think Never Again is now a reality and are we sure that we will never see genocide happening again anywhere like it did in Rwanda in 1994?”
Based on the events that have happened after the Holocaust and the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, my answer was straightforward: The world has not yet learnt any lesson from the past owing to the fact that people continue to die at the hands of brutal murderers while the whole world watches.
What is most frustrating is that one sees the same old fashion of handling similar situations being applied in the sense of holding endless meetings, devising numerous mechanisms, adopting countless resolutions and spending much time trying to define what is happening in a particular country while innocent lives continue to be lost.
Historically, genocide never happens overnight. For genocide to be perpetrated, there are vital signs and actions that lead to the actual extermination. Genocide experts have listed them as: Classification, symbolisation, dehumanisation, organisation, polarisation, preparation, extermination and denial.
Before the actual blowout in Rwanda, General Romeo Dallaire, who was then the peacekeeping force commander, warned the UN Security Council that a genocide was imminent.
Despite the compelling facts and evidence he presented, they remained indifferent. Instead of acting, even the small number of troops he had were withdrawn, leaving the victims at the mercy of their killers.
Sure enough, after the UN troops had left, the genocidal government through its army and militia undertook a killing spree in which at least 10,000 people were massacred every single day and in a matter of 100 days, a million were gone.
Had it not been the swift and unprecedented intervention of the Rwanda Patriotic Army led by His Excellency Paul Kagame, even the few who survived would have been slaughtered along their loved ones.
When a state descends upon a defenceless population and begins to kill them in the thousands under whichever pretext, it does not require a fact finding mission to determine that what is happening is genocide.
Therefore, if we really wish to learn from the past and thus prevent future genocides, we need more than ever before to recommit to our Never Again pledge.
Despite Rwanda’s terrible past, under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, we have made tremendous progress in areas of governance, democracy and socio-economic transformation as confirmed by credible international organisations. Of course, there are still challenges ahead to be dealt with.
As we mark the 22nd anniversary of the 1994 genocide, I would like to highlight one major challenge: The denial that continues to be propagated by the perpetrators of genocide and their cronies.
Genocide denial is the last stage of genocide, for if it is left unchecked, it could herald the beginning of another cycle of genocide. In the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi, the genocidaires their allies have continued to deny, minimise, and trivialise it and have actually have tried to label those who singlehandedly stopped the genocide as perpetrators.
This is the classic method used by genocide deniers to kill the memories of the survivors as well as mislead the world about their heinous crimes, eventually leading to another genocide.
That is why the chosen theme for this year’s commemoration is Fighting Genocide Ideology, through which we shall be talking about how the world should learn from our experience to avoid similar atrocities anywhere in future.
As my president put it, “The body of Rwanda was tortured and assaulted but its spirit never died.”
The spirit referred to is the choice made by our people to transcend their differences and come together to forge a nation for all Rwandans. Which is what we wish for our neighbours and the entire world.
James Kimonyo is the High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda to Kenya.
