Schools should take lead in fighting genocide ideology and deniers considering that they accommodate a big number of youth that is targeted, Valentine Uwamariya, the Minister of Education has said.
She was speaking, on May 28, 2022, at the 28th commemoration event into honour over 8,000 Tutsi who were killed in Petit Séminaire Saint Vincent de Ndera during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The genocide victims in this school include priests, seminary students, employees and thousands of other Tutsi from different areas who had come to seek refuge in Petit Séminaire Saint Vincent de Ndera.
"Organising events to commemorate the1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in schools is an important activity that will help in learning and understanding genocide history, preserving genocide history and its evidence as well as serving as a tool to fight against genocide deniers and genocide ideology," she said.
She said that the Ndi Umunyarwanda programme is a primary tool which schools should use to prepare a generation with values that build a unified and peaceful country.
Ndi Umunyarwanda programme was initiated in 2013, with an ultimate goal of building a national identity and to foster a Rwandan community that is based on trust and unity.
The programme is inspired by the desire to build a strong, united society after it was torn apart during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi
It was initiated as a way to strengthen the solidarity of the people, uphold their moral and spiritual values, as well as make them understand their fundamental rights as Rwandans.
Considering that the regime that planned and executed 1994 genocide against the Tutsi used schools to spread genocide ideology and divide Rwandans, Uwamariya said the schools should learn a lesson from the history and take a lead in ensuring genocide never happens again.
"We should join our efforts in a journey towards unity and reconciliation. Today no discrimination in schools. But there are those who are still spreading genocide ideology and therefore we have to increase efforts in the fight against them by following the values taught by Ndi umunyarwanda program," she said, adding, "Our vision must be different from that of the regime that planned and executed 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Those who are denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are using social media and we urge the youth to also use social media in telling truth about genocide against the Tutsi as a way of fighting against genocide deniers and genocide ideology, she noted.
"We also urged priests and Christians in general to intensify battle against whatever could lead to the destruction of the country. This is based on the fact that there are cases of such people who planned and committed 1994 genocide against the Tutsi," she said.
Survivor's testimony at Petit Séminaire Saint Vincent de Ndera
Adrien Hategekimana is a genocide survivor who survived in Petit Séminaire Saint Vincent de Ndera.
She testified that discrimination against the Tutsi started in schools until 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
"At schools, teachers used to discriminate Tutsi from Hutu students and this led to classmates to start torturing us," he said.
Hategekimana said that his family would spend many nights in bushes as they were always hunted and tortured as Tutsi.
"In 1994, on April 6 my brothers heard the news about the president's plane crash on RFI. We spent the whole night seeking to flee but had no idea where to go. When we had not yet decided where to flee, we saw an attack of Interahamwe-Militia coming to kill us with traditional weapons. We decided to seek refuge into Seminaire Ndera," he narrated.
He said that while his family was expecting a safe place, Interahamwe-Militia and soldiers start killing Tutsi in Ndera.
"I remember that we went into a chapel in Ndera under the advice of my mother to stay and pray to die inside it. But later we left the Seminary as attacks had intensified when grenades were also exploded to kill us. As days elapsed, we returned to Ndera seminary. We were thirsty and starving. Fortunately, one refugee had Irish potatoes and we also got water from a tap in Ndera," he recounted.
Hategekimana said that despite having survived, what grieves him so much is that he is not aware of the whereabouts of the priest who is his elder brother.
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"I survived in Ndera Seminaire when RPF-Inkotanyi intervened to rescue us. I commend their efforts in stopping genocide. I have now managed to study and complete university education," he said.
Theogene Kabagambire, the President of the umbrella body of the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Ibuka in Gasabo district said that apart from Gisozi memorial site, other sites house over 100,000 genocide victims in Gasabo districts.
"The genocide history is tragic in Gasabo. We have recently realized that 59 families were wiped out in one cell alone," he said.
Father Pascal Tuyisenge, Father Pascal Tuyisenge, rector of St. Vincent Ndera Minor Seminary said that commemoration is an important activity to learn and preserve genocide history adding that they are set to revamp the memorial site in Ndera.
"We also commend Father Andre Havugimana who protected Tutsi from being killed by Interahamwe," he said.
