The Kwibuka Flame of Remembrance on Sudnay arrived in Nyamasheke District, the eleventh stop on its nationwide tour.
The flame will return to Kigali on 7 April 2014, the start of the national mourning period and twenty years since the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
You can view an interactive map of the tour here.
Today’s community event is hosted by district Mayor Jean Baptiste Habyarimana and will reflect on the events of 1994 as well as the journey of Nyamasheke and Rwanda since.
The special guest is the Minister of State in Charge of Primary and Secondary Education Hon. Dr Mathias Harebamungu.
The Flame of Remembrance will be received from Rusizi District by two 20-year-old Nyamasheke students, Alphonsine Uwintije and Antoine Niringiyimana, who attend APEKA secondary school.
A choir from St Joseph’s School will sing ‘Urumuri Rutazima’ to welcome the flame. The Master of Ceremony for today’s event is Maurice Bayingana.
Testimony will be given by Jean-Marie Vianney Bagirishya (41), a survivor of the genocide and now the President of IBUKA in Nyamasheke.
A poem will be read by Angélique Uwamahoro (16), a student at St Joseph’s School, and a member of the choir there.
Testimony will also be given by Théophile Turikumwe, a local leader in his village of Kavune in Kagano Sector.
During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Theophile was not targeted for killing.
His family hid Tutsi at their home, including the mother and sisters of Jean-Marie Vianney Bagirishya who is also giving testimony at today’s event.
As a young man, Théophile saw the extent of discrimination against Tutsi, especially in schools, and will speak about this today.
A series of horrific massacres took place in Nyamasheke district during the genocide.
At the Nyamasheke Parish Catholic church over 45,000 people were murdered and around Hanika Catholic Church approximately 11,000 people were killed.
Many of the massacres occurred under the leadership of a wealthy local rice farmer named Yussuf Munyakazi who led the Bugarama Interahamwe militia.
On 30 June 2010, the ICTR found him guilty of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
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