Today the 12th April 2014, Rwandans and their friends gathered in the city of Leeds-UK to honour their family members and friends who were victims of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide and other crimes of war and crimes against humanity before and after the genocide in Rwanda and Congo. The event was organised by the Rwanda community in UK.

Under the banner “ They are all Rwandans, they were killed by Rwandans , let’s remember them together”, about two hundred people from Rwanda ( Hutus and Tutsis ) as well as their friends from Kenya, Tanzania, Congo and Britain prayed and sang love and reconciliation songs.

The event started by prayers from a Catholic priest who was followed by a Pentecostal Minister. They both preached love and forgiveness. The priests used also words of Martin Luther King and Mandela to advocate for love, forgiveness and non-violence.

Jonathan Musonera, who is a genocide survivor, spoke about the Rwandan history and how politicians had pitted Hutus and Tutsi against each other during the era of Monarch and  during the first and the second republics. He then said “the current regime has done even worse, killing not only Hutus but also Tutsis while some people think the current regime in Rwanda is Tutsi”.  He encouraged Rwandans both in exile and in Rwanda to rise and challenge Kagame’s divisive and criminal dictatorship. He reminded the participants that love and truth are the only weapons that will liberate Rwanda.

The atmosphere was so solemn, friendly and supportive that Hutus and Tutsis started giving their testimonies about their experiences before, during and after the genocide both in Rwanda and Congo. A Tutsi told a very touching story of how he hid in the latrines for 3 weeks and could hear his sister being raped and his family members being killed with machetes by Interahamwe. Then a Hutu recounted how the RPF soldiers killed his father with a hammer in Byumba after binding his hands and feet, an RPF killing technique called “Akandoya”. The stories were so moving and touching that at some point everybody was crying. Fortunately they were also all comforting one another.

Non-Rwandans who were there thanked and encouraged the organisers to continue and expand this activity not only to other parts of the UK but also to Rwanda itself. A British in attendance said “Last time when I was in Rwanda, they were only talking about Tutsis who died during the genocide. I kept wondering whether there were no Hutu killed. Now I understand why I was reading in Rwandese newspapers that some people there were indifferent to the remembrance event. This is a godly initiative because if you do not tell the truth to each other, then there will be no forgiveness and those frustrated will one day burst causing more damage. Please keep this up, only the truth, love and forgiveness can save Rwanda from another human tragedy”.

The event lasted 5 hours but it was clear that people wished there was more time. They all resolved to be the agents of positive change in Rwanda. They committed to do this kind of activities every year, the second week-end of April. All together they said they want a Rwanda where “Never again is not an empty political slogan, but truly means NEVER AGAIN”.

Amb William Nkurunziza

Although the event was a success we have learnt that the Rwandan High Commissioner, Mr William Nkurunziza threatened the Minister of a church where the event was supposed to be held, telling him that doing this amounts to opposing the Rwandan Government. We have also learnt that he called the Leeds City Council asking them to stop that event, but he failed. Finally the information we have is that the Rwandan High Commission had organised a parallel event in Birmingham, about 70 miles from Leeds. However in that event only Tutsi victims were remembered because for the Rwandan government policy, according to the Rwandan government, mentioning the death of Hutus who were killed by the RPF soldiers amounts to denying genocide.