Rwanda to hold annual genocide survivors pilgrimage
Guests attend the 28th Rwanda genocide commemoration ceremony at a mass grave in Ggolo Landing Site, Mpigi District, at the weekend. PHOTO | STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Mr Julius Kivuna, the head of regional peace and security at the Ministry of foreign Affairs, who represented government, told the guests that following the genocide, the UN requires all people in unison to look out for hate speech.
The Rwanda High Commission in Uganda has said it will upgrade the annual 1994 genocide memorial celebrations in the country to annual pilgrimages for survivors.
Speaking at the 28th Rwanda genocide commemoration at Ggolo Landing Site in Mpigi District at the weekend, Mr Joseph Rutabana, the Rwanda High Commissioner to Uganda, said they intend to bring many survivors to visit the mass graves.
“This day means a lot because what happened was not a normal thing for human beings hunting down people who were neighbours for many years and exterminating them,” he said.
Mr Rutabana added that the mass graves are a permanent reminder to humanity and a comfort to the survivors .
100 dark days
More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by armed militias in an onslaught that started on April 7 until July14, 1994.
The commemoration attracted diplomats from Tanzania, South Sudan, Japan, Ethiopia, Algeria, Kenya, Cuba, Germany, Turkey, Lesotho, France, Ireland, Germany and International Organisations such as the International Red Cross and the Food Agriculture Organisation.
Mr Jean de Dieu Uwamungu, 37, narrated how eight of his family members were killed under his watch, and how he survived when a dog pulled him out of a shallow grave.
Mr Julius Kivuna, the head of regional peace and security at the Ministry of foreign Affairs, who represented government, told the guests that following the genocide, the UN requires all people in unison to look out for hate speech.
“This is any kind of communication in speech, writing or media that uses pejorative of discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, decent, gender or other forms we should look for this hate speech and fight against it,” Mr Kivuna said.
“It is painful when you read about those who try to deny genocide because the burial sites exist and hate speech messages of hatred against the Tutsis were communicated through megaphones,” he added.
