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{Captain Guillaume Ancel (center) served under France’s “Opération Turquoise” in Rwanda during the Genocide that claimed a million lives. The Captain says the French force was not in Rwanda for protecting civilians but aimed at removing RPA rebel Army from state control.}

{{A French Army Captain Guillaume Ancel who was deployed under {“Opération Turquoise”} in Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s has opened up saying the French forces had an objective of pushing back the Rwanda Patriotic Army rebels.}}

Capt. Guillaume Pictured above said “Opération Turquoise” was not in Rwanda to protect vicilians but to fight against APR rebel Army. The Captain told {Jeune Afrique } recently a version that contradicts that of the French Government.

According to Capt. Guillaume, he was instructed to deliver guns and other ammunitions to the fleeing Rwanda Army. He said he would pack guns in civilian vehicles and deliver them to the defeated government troops on their way to DRCongo.

The controversial captain explains that delivering weapons to the fleeing government troops was to show them that they were still allies and wouldn’t want to be viewed as enemies thus preventing attacks against French troops.

Capt. Guillaume reveals that between July 23 and August 22, the French troops would launch a military offensive against the RPA rebel army that was gaining larger control of the country.

According to him, the operation would be supported by the French Airforce that would strike against RPA bases in Kigali and the French army would launch protracted attacks on ground from the “Turquoise” zone.

Zone Turquoise was an area covering the Cyangugu-Kibuye-Gikongoro triangle which was under French influence.

In May 2006, the Paris Court of Appeal accepted six court suits deposed by victims of the genocide to magistrate Brigitte Reynaud.

The charges raised against the French army during Operation Turquoise from June to August 1994 are of “complicity of genocide and/or complicity of crimes against humanity.”

The victims allege that French soldiers engaged in Operation Turquoise helped Interahamwe militias in finding their victims, and have themselves carried out atrocities.

The former Rwandan ambassador to France Jacques Bihozagara testified, “Operation Turquoise was aimed only at protecting genocide perpetrators, because the genocide continued even within the Turquoise zone.” France has always denied any role in the killing.

{{The remains of over 60, 000 victims of the Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s will be given a descent burial on April 19 at Kinazi cell in Ruhango district.}}

The victims had been previously buried at Rutabo cell in Kinazi sector. However, their remains will be relocated to Kinazi cell where they will be given a descent burial to coincide with the 20th Commemoration of the Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s.

Dusengiyumva Samuel the representative of Genocide survivors and also the chairperson of the committee in charge of commemoration events and burial of genocide victims in former Ntongwe Commune hailed the efforts to grant descent burial to over 60000 victims of the genocide.

“This is what we have been waiting for. The victims are our brothers, sisters and parents, they were not buried properly. However, this time giving them a descent burial will help in healing some of the pain we have been enduring due the Genocide”.

Former Ntongwe Commune was host to hundreds of thousands of Tutsi’s that were fleeing from Interahamwe is other neighbouring communes including Bugesera,Nyanza and Kamonyi.

Most of Tutsi’s that sought refugee were rounded up in Ntongwe and were murdered en-masse.

{In this Ditch populary known as CND is where Tutsi’s were murdered}

{This is the new Genocide Memorial at Kinazi where over 60,000 victims will be officially given a descent burrial on April 19.}

{{The United states Secretary of State John Kerry has joined Rwandans in the 20th commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s in which over a million lives were lost in a span of 100 days.}}

In his remarks, Kerry noted that the world should unite and bring an end to Genocide once and for all.

“We renew our commitment to rallying the international community to protect universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, prevent mass atrocities, and bring an end to genocide once and for all.”

He added, “as we reflect on one of the most tragic and horrific events in human history, we stand with the Rwandan people and are inspired by their efforts to build a brighter future for their country.”

Kerry explained that it was almost inexpressible to think that the world is now marking 20 years since the start of the Rwandan genocide, which senselessly and savagely murdered more than a million fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters.

However, “ we also reaffirm our commitment to help ensure that other countries do not face the pain and suffering Rwandans endured two decades ago.”

{{A New film on Rwanda Genocide exposes the role of the Catholic Church in the preparation and execution of genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s in 1994 a period when a million Tutsi’s were brutally murdered.

Nearly three quarters of the Rwanda Population are Catholics. However, during the dark chapter in 1994, many Tutsi’s that were hunted took refugee in catholic churches in their communities. However, it’s in these churches that that Tutsi’s were murdered.

Gasigwa Leopold a Rwandan film maker is the man behind this film titled {“L’abscé de la vérité”.} {{Watch official trialer}}…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9O-f7oBYso

The new film will be screened today April 8 for the first time to coincide with the 20th commemoration of the Genocide against Ethnic Tutsi’s.}}

{President Paul Kagame delivers speech at the 20th Commemoration of Genocide Against the Tutsi. Kigali, 7 April 2014. the Events were held at Amahoro National stadium and Kigali Genocide Memorial.}

{{• Excellencies Heads of State and Government;
• Excellency Secretary-General of the United Nations;
• Excellency Chairperson of the African Union Commission;
• Former Heads of State and Government;
• Distinguished Government Officials from around the world;
• Esteemed Guests;
• My Fellow Rwandans:}}

I don’t have enough words to express my appreciation to all of you, who have come from near and far to be with us, on a day as important as this. I also thank all of those who have stood with us in Rwanda’s incredible journey of rebuilding.

We are gathered here to remember those who lost their lives in the Genocide and comfort those who survived.

As we pay tribute to the victims, both the living and those who have passed, we also salute the unbreakable Rwandan spirit, to which we owe the survival and renewal of our country.

To our parents, children, brothers, and sisters who survived — to Rwandans who defied the call to genocide and to those who give voice to their remorse — it is you who bear the burden of our history.

We have pursued justice and reconciliation as best we could. But it does not restore what we lost.

Time and again these past twenty years, Rwandans have given of themselves. You have stood before the community to bear witness and listened to others do the same. You have taken responsibility and you have forgiven.

Your sacrifices are a gift to the nation. They are the seed from which the new Rwanda grows. Thank you for allowing your humanity and patriotism to prevail over your grief and loss. Thank you very much.

Historical clarity is a duty of memory that we cannot escape. Behind the words “Never Again”, there is a story whose truth must be told in full, no matter how uncomfortable.

The people who planned and carried out the Genocide were Rwandans, but the history and root causes go beyond this country. This is why Rwandans continue to seek the most complete explanation possible for what happened.

We do so with humility as a nation that nearly destroyed itself. But we are nevertheless determined to recover our dignity as a people.

Twenty years is short or long depending on where you stand but there is no justification for false moral equivalence. The passage of time should not obscure the facts, lessen responsibility, or turn victims into villains.

People cannot be bribed or forced into changing their history. And no country is powerful enough, even when they think that they are, to change the facts. After all, les faits sont têtus.

Therefore, when we speak out about the roles and responsibilities of external actors and institutions, it is because genocide prevention demands historical clarity of all of us, not because we wish to shift blame onto others. And those others should have their moment to be humble in the face of historical facts.

All genocides begin with an ideology — a system of ideas that says: This group of people here, they are less than human and they deserve to be exterminated.

The most devastating legacy of European control of Rwanda was the transformation of social distinctions into so-called “races”. We were classified and dissected, and whatever differences existed were magnified according to a framework invented elsewhere.

The purpose was neither scientific nor benign, but ideological: to justify colonial claims to rule over and “civilise” supposedly “lesser” peoples. We are not.

This ideology was already in place in the 19th century, and was then entrenched by the French missionaries who settled here. Rwanda’s two thousand years of history were reduced to a series of caricatures based on Bible passages and on myths told to explorers.

The colonial theory of Rwandan society claimed that hostility between something called “Hutu”, “Tutsi”, and “Twa” was permanent and necessary. This was the beginning of the genocide against the Tutsi, as we saw it twenty years ago.

With the full participation of Belgian officials and Catholic institutions, this invented history was made the only basis of political organisation, as if there was no other way to govern and develop society.

The result was a country perpetually on the verge of genocide.

However, Africans are no longer resigned to being hostage to the world’s low expectations. We listen to and respect the views of others. But ultimately, we have got to be responsible for ourselves.

In Rwanda, we are relying on universal human values, which include our culture and traditions, to find modern solutions to our unique challenges.

Managing the diversity in our society should not be seen as denying the uniqueness of every Rwandan. If we succeed in forging a new, more inclusive national identity, would it be a bad thing?
We did not need to experience genocide to become a better people. It simply should never have happened.

No country, in Africa or anywhere else, ever needs to become, quote, unquote, “another Rwanda”. But if a people’s choices are not informed by historical clarity, the danger is ever present.

This is why I say to Rwandans — let’s not get diverted. Our approach is as radical and unprecedented as the situation we faced.

The insistence on finding our own way sometimes comes with a price. Nonetheless, let’s stick to the course.

To our friends from abroad — I believe you value national unity in your own countries, where it exists. Where it doesn’t, you are working to build it, just as we are.

We ask that you engage Rwanda and Africa with an open mind, accepting that our efforts are carried out in good faith for the benefit of all of us.

For those who think that for Rwanda, or Africa to be governed properly by its people, by the leaders chosen by these people still requires their endorsement, they are still living in a too distant past.

We want you to know that we appreciate your contributions, precisely because we do not feel you owe us anything.

Rwanda was supposed to be a failed state.

Watching the news today, it is not hard to imagine how we could have ended up.

We could have become a permanent U.N. protectorate, with little hope of ever recovering our nationhood.

We could have allowed the country to be physically divided, with groups deemed incompatible assigned to different corners.

We could have been engulfed in a never-ending civil war with endless streams of refugees and our children sick and uneducated.

But we did not end up like that. What prevented these alternative scenarios was the choices of the people of Rwanda.

After 1994, everything was a priority and our people were completely broken.
But we made three fundamental choices that guide us to this day.

One — we chose to stay together.

When the refugees came home — we were choosing to be together.

When we released genocide suspects in anticipation of Gacaca — we were choosing to be together.

When we passed an inclusive constitution that transcends politics based on division and entrenched the rights of women as full partners in nation-building, for the first time — we were choosing to be together.

When we extended comprehensive new education and health benefits to all our citizens — we were choosing to be together.

Two — we chose to be accountable to ourselves.

When we decentralise power and decision-making into the towns and hills across the country — we are being accountable.

When we work with development partners to ensure that their support benefits all our citizens — we are being accountable.

When we award scholarships and appoint public servants based on merit, without discrimination — we are being accountable.

When we sanction an official, no matter how high-ranking, who abuses their power or engages in corruption — we are being accountable.

As a result, our citizens expect more from government, and they deserve it.

Three — we chose to think big.

When Rwandans liberated our country — we were thinking big.

 
When we created Rwanda’s Vision 2020 and committed to meeting our development goals — we were thinking big.

When we decided to make Rwanda attractive for business — we were thinking big.

When we invested in a broadband network that reaches all our 30 districts — we were thinking big.

When we became a regular contributor to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions — we were thinking big.

We may make mistakes, like every country does. We own up and learn and move forward.

There is more hard work ahead of us than behind us. But Rwandans, we are ready.

A few years ago, at a commemoration event, I met a young man who was one of the twelve people pulled alive from under 3,000 bodies in a mass grave at Murambi.

He still lived nearby, totally alone. When the perpetrators he recognised came home from prison, he was understandably terrified.

When I asked him how he managed, he told me: “I could not do it unless I was convinced that these impossible choices are leading us somewhere better.”

Twenty years ago, Rwanda had no future, only a past.

Yet as Fidel told us just now, today we have a reason to celebrate the normal moments of life that are easy for others to take for granted.

If the Genocide reveals humanity’s shocking capacity for cruelty, Rwanda’s choices show its capacity for renewal.

Today, half of all Rwandans are under 20. Nearly three-quarters are under 30. They are the new Rwanda. Seeing these young people carry the Flame of Remembrance, to all corners of the country over the last three months, gives us enormous hope.

We are all here to remember what happened and to give each other strength.

As we do so, we must also remember the future to which we have committed ourselves.

I thank you.

{{We join with the people of Rwanda in marking twenty years since the beginning of the genocide that took the lives of so many innocents and which shook the conscience of the world.}}

We honor the memory of the more than 800,000 men, women and children who were senselessly slaughtered simply because of who they were or what they believed.

We stand in awe of their families, who have summoned the courage to carry on, and the survivors, who have worked through their wounds to rebuild their lives.

And we salute the determination of the Rwandans who have made important progress toward healing old wounds, unleashing the economic growth that lifts people from poverty, and contributing to peacekeeping missions around the world to spare others the pain they have known.

At this moment of reflection, we also remember that the Rwandan genocide was neither an accident nor unavoidable. It was a deliberate and systematic effort by human beings to destroy other human beings.

The horrific events of those 100 days—when friend turned against friend, and neighbor against neighbor—compel us to resist our worst instincts, just as the courage of those who risked their lives to save others reminds us of our obligations to our fellow man.

The genocide we remember today—and the world’s failure to respond more quickly—reminds us that we always have a choice. In the face of hatred, we must remember the humanity we share.

In the face of cruelty, we must choose compassion. In the face of intolerance and suffering, we must never be indifferent.

Embracing this spirit, as nations and as individuals, is how we can honor all those who were lost two decades ago and build a future worthy of their lives.

{{Twenty Years later after surviving the genocide, Nshimiyimana Erneste was murdered by unknown people in the same manner Interahamwe killed their victims.}}

Nshimiyimana was on April 5 attacked and his head and legs were cut using a machete and left dead at about 10PM. He was resident at Kanoga, Shagasha cell in Gihundwe Sector in Rusizi district.

Speaking to IGIHE, the Sector Executive Secretary Ingabire Nadine Michelle said Nshimiyimana was milking his cows when he was attacked and cut several times on his head and limbs.

The attackers left Nshimiyimana’s lifeless body with deep cuts laying in the kraal.

However, Police has detained the wife of the deceased to help in the investigations after it emerged that the couple had previously been involved in land wrangles.

Early in March, in Rusizi district a group of people attacked a community of genocide orphans where they kidnapped a young girl raped and beat her and later threw her in a nearby forest.

On 7th April, Rwandans officially started 20th commemoration of the genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s that claimed a million lives.