Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwandan communities in Poland and Canada, together with friends of Rwanda on April 7, gathered to commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and paid their tributes to more than one million lives lost.
During the Kwibuka 31 events that were also attended by host government officials, lawmakers, academics, and diplomats, the mourners called global efforts to fight genocide denial and ensure justice by prosecuting perpetrators, either through extradition to Rwanda or trials in host countries.
Held under the theme; “Remember, Unite and Renew”, the events reflected on Rwanda’s past and commended the strength and resilience exhibited by Rwandan people over the past three decades since the Genocide.
Anastase Shyaka, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Poland, reflected on the root causes of the Genocide, the state of regional and international affairs, and the enduring power of Rwandan resilience and home-grown solutions.
Shyaka also spoke about the security situation in the Great Lakes Region and persistent failures of the international community to adequately respond to local peace imperatives, such as the need to dismantle the FDLR, a DR Congo-based militia linked to the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Ambassador Shyaka also talked about the role of home-grown solutions in the country’s socio-economic development.
“In the face of existential uncertainties, Rwandans’ resilience made the impossible possible,” he noted.
He also cited the Gacaca courts, a community-based justice system, as a transformative tool that helped reconcile a broken society and encouraged national unity.
“In the aftermath, reconciliatory home-grown solutions like Gacaca paved the way for social cohesion and national unity. Since then, home-grown solutions have become Rwanda’s biggest resources for socio-economic transformation,” he said.
“We have modernized our tourism and agriculture sectors; we built our institutions and made them efficient.”
Shyaka also made a plea to the international community to respect and support Rwanda’s sovereign path.
“Can Rwanda be allowed to freely deploy its own home-grown out solutions and use its own brain to innovate. This can help in addressing its own challenges and shape its future and think big to engender economic prosperity,” he said.
“Can we be allowed to cooperate with other willing nations, institutions and people in pursuit of the betterment of our society? And finally, when we choose to be one [Rwandans], for obvious existential and long-term security imperatives, can we be given a hand, and if not, at least be left alone?” he added.
Ambassador Prosper Higiro during the commemoration in Canada
Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Canada Prosper Higiro highlighted how the Genocide left the country in ruins, with the society torn apart, economy collapsed, and infrastructure destroyed.
“Rwanda is today a country that, 31 years later, has been able to defy all the predictions of the time, has become a united and stable nation, reconciled with itself, and has made great progress in the transformation and modernization of its economy and governance, taking into account this painful history,” Higiro noted.
He expressed concern that Rwanda and the wider Great Lakes Region continue to face challenges from the Genocide against the Tutsi noting that genocide ideology is still being spread, especially through social media and networks of genocidaires and their supporters abroad, particularly in Western countries, undermining Rwanda’s progress.
“I am aware that Rwanda and Canada don’t have the same understanding of the security situation in eastern DR Congo for now and I hope for the best in the near future,” he said.
Higiro noted that Rwanda and Canada have collaborated to promote the responsibility to protect in peacekeeping missions. However, he criticized recent events where UN forces, despite over 25 years of efforts to eliminate the FDLR and other negative groups in the DR Congo, ended up supporting a Congolese coalition that includes the FDLR as its main fighting force.
Rtd Major Philip Charles Lancaster speaks at the commemoration
Rwandan communities with friends of Rwanda gathered to commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Canada
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