The UN renewed its commitment to never forget the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda during a candle lighting ceremony on Friday to mark 30 years since the horrific events there unfolded.
When the Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda began in April 1994 Eric Eugene Murangwa was a footballer at one of the country’s top clubs. Although he is a Tutsi, he was protected by a member of the notorious Interahamwe, responsible for killing hundreds of thousands. Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the genocide, marked on 7 April, Mr. Murangwa shared his extraordinary story with UN News.
April 7 marks three decades since the beginning of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. An almost unimaginable slaughter, which saw an estimated 800,000 people killed in just 100 days, and shocked the world.
Eric Eugene Murangwa was a footballer at the time, playing for Rayon Sports, one of the top teams in the country, based in the capital Kigali.
As a Tutsi, he was in extreme danger when the genocide began. But, despite being well know, he managed to survive, despite the attempts to kill as many Tutsis as possible. He says that football saved his life.
One of the world’s most wanted genocide fugitives has been arrested after being on the run for more than two decades, the UN tribunal prosecuting war crimes committed in Rwanda announced on Thursday.
In April 1994, a sinister call was broadcast over radio stations across Rwanda, triggering the start of 100 days of genocide that left more than one million people dead. Henriette Mutegwaraba heard that call.
Immaculée Songa survived the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, but her husband and two daughters, as well as many relatives and friends, were killed. At the launch of a UN exhibition commemorating the horrific event and other notorious mass killings, she shared her story with UN News.
As the world marks the grim anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which Hutu and others who opposed the massacre were also killed, the UN Secretary-General has said that a generation since those horrific events, “we must never forget what happened – and ensure future generations always remember.”
