This year’s commemoration of the 1994 genocide will be held from April 7 to April 13, with the commemoration week more “people-centered” and held at the village level. The theme of the commemoration is ‘Let’s remember the Genocide against Tutsis striving for self-reliance.’
2012 was a year of many positive developments in raising awareness about the plight of Rwandan survivors of sexual violence. We review these developments, as well as ongoing challenges for survivors in Rwanda.
Gacaca courts in Rwanda: 18 years after the genocide, is there justice and reconciliation for survivors of sexual violence? In January 2012, several years after we first met the courageous women and man featured in “The Men Who Killed Me”, we re-interviewed fifteen of those survivors of sexual violence to learn how their lives had unfolded since the book’s publication.
18 years after the Rwandan genocide, we wish to commemorate all victims of the genocide and call for more support for survivors of sexual violence. In support of our call, we have written a 3-part series on the blog IntLawGrrls “Gacaca courts in Rwanda: 18 years after the genocide, is there justice and reconciliation for survivors of sexual violence?”.
As part of the 18th genocide commemoration, Rwanda has organized an international conference in Kigali on April 5-6, 2012, with the theme: “18 years after the Genocide Perpetrated against Tutsi: Testimonies and Reflections”.
From March 12 -14, 2012, “The Men Who Killed Me” will be staged at Bus Stop Theatre in Halifax, Canada. The play is produced by Alayna Kolodziechuk and others. A significant part of the play is based on the interviews featured in our book.
On Sunday 6 February 2011, “De mannen die mij hebben vermoord” (Dutch edition of “The Men Who Killed Me”) was launched at Nationaal Monument Kamp Vught, one of three former World War II-era concentration camps in the Netherlands.
After a visit to the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre, a mass grave in the city of Kigali, Rwanda, Governor General Michaëlle Jean apologized to Rwandan leaders for Canada’s “inaction” during the 1994 genocide in the African country.
On November 5th, Tilburg University will host a meeting in remembrance of the Rwandan genocide. Co-writer and professor Anne-Marie de Brouwer and professor Rianne Letschert will share their recent experiences in Rwanda where they met with survivors featured in “The Men Who Killed Me”.
YouTube’s Rafiki 5000 recently posted a moving, short film about the work of Solace Ministries for survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The film features an interview with Jean Gakwandi, founder and director of Solace.
