It has been 25 years since the beginning of the genocide in Rwanda. The African nation commemorates the anniversary still bearing its wounds, but united once more.
One hundred days of national mourning. This is how, from Sunday 7 April, Rwanda has chosen to commemorate the 25 years since the terrible genocide that left its mark forever on the history of the African country. One hundred days: the same length of time as the massacre of the Tutsi population at the hands of the Hutu lasted, between April and June 1994.
During those dramatic months, racial hatred and the madness of a handful of extremists succeeded in unleashing unprecedented violence. The death toll from the slaughter, never fully established, was over 800,000. Perhaps more than a million. Killed largely by machete blows.
The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, together with the president of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, gathered in the capital Kigali to launch the commemorations. Three young people aged 25 — 80 per cent of the population is under that age — symbolically presented the African head of state with a torch, which will remain lit throughout the entire period.
"Light is returning to Rwanda, but we must not forget the past," the European leader stated. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, took the floor to offer his nation's apologies, as in his view the crime "was also the result of a failure of the international community".
Shortly before, flowers had been laid at the Kigali Memorial, built in the late 1990s and inaugurated in 2004. This is where the remains of at least 250,000 victims rest. It is one of the country's 267 memorial sites. Numerous African heads of state attended the ceremony, among them Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo), Mahamadou Issoufou (Nigeria), Idriss Déby (Chad) and Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (Djibouti).
The president of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, Jean-Damascène Bizimana, recalled in this regard how "at the time, despite the warning signs, no one acted." And he did not hesitate to point the finger at "those states that still today refuse to prosecute the criminals or to extradite them." A direct allusion to France, in which, according to the official, "some of those responsible for the genocide reside without any fear of justice."
But the most eagerly awaited speech was Kagame's. Around thirty minutes during which the African leader dwelt on the concept of reconciliation: "Today Rwanda has become a family again. What happened will never happen again." The president then ideally embraced the survivors and thanked the criminals who had repented, admitting their actions.
He then launched a forceful attack on the denialists: "They want to make us suffer again, but we will not allow it. No one will be permitted to diminish what happened. In 1994 there was no hope, there was only darkness. Today we Rwandans have managed to build a new beginning. Based on a state of permanent commemoration. Every day. In everything we do. So, twenty-five years on, we are here. All of us. Wounded and with broken hearts. But not defeated."
