25th Commemoration Of The Genocide Against Tutsi | Remarks By President Kagame - video Dailymotion

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00:00 Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Heads of Delegations, Distinguished Ladies

00:21 and Gentlemen, I want to thank you in person, each one of you, for being here with us on

00:45 an occasion like this.

00:54 (Speaks in foreign language)

01:02 (Speaks in foreign language)

01:30 (Speaks in foreign language)

01:38 On a day like this, when language fails, the first words that come are words of gratitude.

01:56 To you, the friends by our side on this heavy day, including the different leaders present,

02:11 I once again say thank you very much.

02:17 Many of you have been with us all along, and we cherish you for contributing to the healing

02:33 and rebuilding of Rwanda.

02:40 I also thank my fellow Rwandans who joined hands to recreate this country.

02:57 In 1994, there was no hope, only darkness.

03:10 Today, light radiates from this place.

03:20 How did it happen?

03:25 Rwanda became a family once again.

03:32 The arms of our people intertwined constitute the pillars of our nation.

03:44 We hold each other up.

03:51 Our bodies and minds bear amputations and scars, but none of us is alone.

04:06 Together, we have woven the tattered threads of our unity into a new tapestry.

04:22 Sisters became mothers. Neighbors became uncles. Strangers became friends.

04:38 Our culture naturally creates new bonds of solidarity which both console and renew.

04:52 Rwanda is a family.

04:58 That is why we still exist, despite all we have gone through.

05:08 There is no way to fully comprehend the holiness, loneliness, and anger of survivors.

05:23 And yet, over and over again, we have asked them to make the sacrifices necessary

05:35 to give our nation new life.

05:42 Emotions had to be put in a box.

05:51 Someone once asked me why we keep burdening survivors with the responsibility for our healing.

06:06 It was a painful question, but I realized the answer was obvious.

06:20 Survivors are the only ones with something left to give.

06:30 Their forgiveness.

06:35 And that is their forgiveness.

06:40 Our people have carried an immense weight with little or no complaint.

06:52 This has made us better and more united than ever before.

07:04 At a memorial event some years ago, a girl, young girl, brought us to tears with a poem.

07:20 She said, "There is a saying in Kinyarwanda that God spends the day elsewhere but returns to sleep in Rwanda."

07:40 And then she asked, in a course, "Where was God on those dark nights of genocide?"

07:56 Looking at Rwanda today, it is clear that God has come back home to stay, as we heard earlier.

08:16 To survivors, we can only say thank you.

08:23 Your resilience and bravery represent the triumph of the Rwandan character in its purest form.

08:39 Joining us today are families from other countries whose husbands, fathers, sisters, and aunts were claimed by the same deadly ideology.

09:00 The Belgian peacekeepers murdered 25 years ago this morning.

09:10 Captain Mbae Dianye from Senegal, who saved so many lives.

09:21 Tonia Lokatevi, killed in 1992 for telling the truth of what was to come, among others.

09:37 The only comfort we can offer is the commonality of sorrow and the respect owed to those who had the courage to do the right thing.

09:58 Our people, other people, many other people around the world also stood up and made a difference.

10:15 Ambassador Karel Kovanda from the Czech Republic joined colleagues from New Zealand and Nigeria to call for action to stop the genocide,

10:36 despite the indifference of more powerful states.

10:48 And my brother, as you heard, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, knows where Rwanda is coming from.

11:00 Having served in an Ethiopian peacekeeping contingent after the genocide, together with troops from elsewhere in Africa and beyond.

11:19 Thank you all for your presence.

11:26 Those among us who perpetrated the genocide or stood by passively are also part of our nation.

11:42 The willingness in a number of cases to tell the truth, pay the price and rejoin the community is an important contribution.

11:59 The witness of perpetrators is irrefutable proof, if any, was still needed that genocide happened.

12:17 Genocide hibernates as denial.

12:24 Both before the killing and after, there is a long chain of events which are interconnected.

12:40 Revisionism is not merely demeaning but profoundly dangerous.

12:53 The genocide did not begin on one specific day for decades.

13:09 It was a history.

13:15 Why were the refugees Rwanda's biggest export for decades?

13:29 Why were the same people repeatedly targeted for persecution and massacre from the late 50s to the 1990s?

13:48 Why were bodies dumped into rivers to send them back up the Nile where they supposedly came from?

14:06 Why did some parents even kill their own children who looked a certain way?

14:19 None of that started with a plane crash.

14:27 So where did it come from?

14:33 Through it all, we had guardians of virtue.

14:43 Aba Dindze, Vijayango and other righteous citizens, our rebirth was seeded by their actions.

15:00 The young girl portrayed in the play we just saw, who took it upon herself to care for a baby survivor despite the objections of her family.

15:20 That is a true story. And today, both men, both women, as we heard from the play, are home and fine.

15:39 The Nyanja students who refused to be separated into Hutu on one side, Tutsi on the other, is clear.

15:59 They never betrayed each other.

16:06 Six were killed, 40 were wounded. All are heroes.

16:18 These are examples of the Rwandans who kept us from losing everything.

16:28 But most of us are neither survivors nor perpetrators.

16:39 Three quarters of Rwandans are under the age of 30.

16:52 Almost 60% were born after the genocide.

17:01 Our children enjoy the innocence of peace.

17:07 They know trauma and violence only from stories.

17:17 Our aspirations rest in this new generation.

17:24 Mature trees can no longer be molded, but seeds contain endless possibilities.

17:39 Rwanda's young people have everything needed to transform our country.

17:48 They have the responsibility to take charge more and more and participate fully in securing the Rwanda we want and deserve.

18:05 We are far better Rwandans than we were, but we can be even better still.

18:18 We are the last people in the world who should succumb to complacency.

18:26 The suffering we have endured should be enough to keep our fighting spirit alive.

18:42 And here let me say one thing that I hate to say.

18:58 And we shall as much as we can avoid.

19:11 For those who think our country has not seen enough of a mess,

19:23 and in the defense of those children you saw and others in this country and our nation.

19:34 And by the way, we claim no special place, but we have a place to claim.

19:52 And I'm saying those who think we have not seen enough of a mess

20:04 and want to mess with us, whether they are from here or from outside.

20:12 I want to say we will mess up with them big time. Big time.

20:35 So that's about the fighting spirit that is alive in us.

20:44 What happened here will never happen again.

20:53 Our country cannot afford to live by twists of fate.

21:05 We must be deliberate and decisive, guided by humility and the content of our hearts.

21:18 Rwanda has to stay one step ahead.

21:26 Otherwise we are insignificant.

21:33 The facts are stubborn, but so are we.

21:46 We really have to be.

21:50 Our nation has turned a corner.

21:56 Fear and anger have been replaced by the energy and purpose that drives us forward, young and old.

22:11 Rwanda is a very good friend to its friends.

22:19 We seek peace. We turn the page.

22:28 But no adversary should underestimate what a formidable force

22:38 Rwandans have become as a result of our circumstances.

22:49 Nothing has the power to turn Rwandans against each other ever again.

23:01 This history will not repeat. That is our firm commitment.

23:11 Nothing is required from those who wronged us except an open mind.

23:21 Every day we learn to forgive, but we do not want to forget.

23:31 After all, before asking others to repent, we first have to forgive ourselves.

23:44 As for the dishonourable who remain impervious to regret, it is not our problem.

23:58 It does not stop Rwanda from making progress.

24:03 Even for one moment, it becomes their problem.

24:12 The destruction of Rwanda was more absolute than any known weapon of mass destruction.

24:27 Not only bodies were destroyed, but the very idea of Rwanda itself.

24:37 That shows the ferocious power of human sentiments and designs.

24:46 Our prayer is for no other people to ever endure the same tribulations,

24:57 especially our brothers and sisters in Africa.

25:08 Never accept it.

25:12 Confront the apostles of division and hatred, who masquerade as saviours and democrats.

25:25 Our commonalities are always infinitely greater than our differences.

25:35 No society is above any other, much less immune to fragility.

25:45 In the end, the only conclusion to draw from Rwanda's story is profound hope for our world.

25:59 No community is beyond repair, and the dignity of the people is never fully extinguished.

26:12 Twenty-five years later, here we are, all of us.

26:21 Wounded and heartbroken, yes, but unvanquished.

26:29 [Applause]

26:36 Rwandans have granted ourselves a new beginning.

26:44 We exist in a state of permanent commemoration every day in all that we do,

26:55 in order to remain faithful to that choice.

27:03 I thank you and wish you strength and peace, all of you.

27:11 [Applause]

27:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

25th Commemoration Of The Genocide Against Tutsi | Remarks By President Kagame

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