{"id":53856,"date":"2025-04-14T07:57:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T07:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/genocide-survivors-slam-liege-s-commemoration-withdrawal-urge-moral-courage\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:22:06","slug":"genocide-survivors-slam-liege-s-commemoration-withdrawal-urge-moral-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/genocide-survivors-slam-liege-s-commemoration-withdrawal-urge-moral-courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Genocide survivors slam Li\u00e8ge’s commemoration withdrawal, urge \u2018moral courage\u2019 over \u2018political excuses\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her address, delivered during the official Kwibuka31 event for the Rwandan community in Li\u00e8ge on April 12, Ikirizaboro asserted that remembrance should never be contingent on international tensions or fluctuating political interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe duty of remembrance must never depend on geopolitical considerations… The memory of the victims cannot be adjusted for political convenience. It demands consistency, truth, and courage,\u201d Ikirizaboro declared, speaking to mourners and survivors who assembled despite the city\u2019s leaders absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan inaction or silence be justified, even under so-called \u2018geopolitical\u2019 pretexts? No. Inaction, even from afar, normalizes evil. And forgetting kills a second time,\u201d she added with conviction.<\/p>\n

Ikirizaboro described the withdrawal as more than just a refusal, labeling it an act that \u201creopens our wounds and awakens our old demons.\u201d Nevertheless, she affirmed the unwavering resolve of the Rwandan community in Li\u00e8ge to honor the memory of the over one million lives lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is together, and only together, that we will continue to honor the memory of the victims and uphold the values of peace, justice, and human rights,\u201d she concluded with determination.<\/p>\n

Michael Bisschops, president of Les Territoires de la M\u00e9moire, an organization which works with URGT to organize commemoration events, also challenged the consequences of silence and political disengagement in the face of historical responsibility.<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of the organization, Bisschops reflected on the decision by city officials in Li\u00e8ge to abstain from the commemoration, characterizing it not as a logistical matter but as a profound moral failing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot commemorating is to abandon\u2014again\u2014those who were massacred in silence. It is to let their cries fade, as if their lives never mattered,\u201d he declared somberly.<\/p>\n

Referencing Primo Levi\u2019s stark warning\u2014\u201cwhat happened could happen again\u201d\u2014Bisschops urged participants to reject indifference cloaked in neutrality.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour silence\u2014your absence here today\u2014is also a political message. A message we hear. A message we reject,\u201d Bisschops continued, directly addressing the city\u2019s withdrawal, which was attributed to \u201cgeopolitical issues\u201d in the Great Lakes region.<\/p>\n

\u201cLi\u00e8ge should not have stepped away. Li\u00e8ge should have remained faithful to its history and to the values it stands for. To forget, to retreat, is a grave mistake at a time when politics of hatred and division are intensifying across the world,\u201d he added with concern.<\/p>\n

The commemoration week concluded on Sunday, April 13, coinciding with the remembrance of politicians assassinated for their opposition to the genocide plans and their execution. <\/p>\n

However, the spirit of remembrance and commemorative activities will continue for 100 days, marking each day of the horrific period during which over one million Tutsi were brutally murdered.<\/p>\n

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{{Photos from the commemoration event held at the Memorial in Li\u00e8ge. }}<\/p>\n

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karirima@igihe.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The President of the Association of Genocide Survivors in Belgium (URGT ASBL), Anne-Marie Ikirizaboro has criticized the city of Li\u00e8ge\u2019s decision to withdraw from the 31st commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, emphasizing the fundamental moral obligation to remember. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000085679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[269],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-karirima-aimable-ngarambe"],"bylines":[{"id":269,"name":"Karirima Aimable Ngarambe","slug":"karirima-aimable-ngarambe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":269,"name":"Karirima Aimable Ngarambe","slug":"karirima-aimable-ngarambe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000085679,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/as-8.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000085679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53856"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53856"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}