As Rwanda commemorates the 18th anniversary of the Genocide against Tutsi, the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide is organizing an International Conference to be held on 5th and 6th April, 2012 whose theme is “18 years after the Genocide against Tutsi: Testimonies and Reflections”

Since 1994, the genocide against the Tutsi has been the subject of academic and research publications. The social impact at the individual and family level have however not been analyzed sufficiently. With limited knowledge on the antecedents of atrocities endured, there are limits to understanding Rwanda’s current society.

Additionally, there has been limited assessment of judicial processes at a national and international level aimed at prosecuting and punishing genocidaires. This has further been compounded by the continued denial of the genocide against the Tutsi. Addressing this will require according more prominence to the voice of genocide survivors and victims’ in all writings if an accurate memory of the genocide is to be preserved.

It then follows that the objective of the 2012 colloquium in seeking to restore the victims, will delve into existing literature, legal sources and connect threads between structural violence against the Tusti in the pre-genocide era to the genocide committed in 1994 all aimed at aimed at strengthening the literature and seeking ways to handle and utilize existing legal sources.

Opening this conference, the Prime Minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi stated that the Government of Rwanda will always maintain strength for the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide.
“The government will always support the commission to fight against genocide and its prevention. This will be done in taking care of the genocide survivors in order to rebuild the country,” Dr. Habumuremyi stated.

The President of the commission, John Rutayisire said the main purpose of this conference is to reflect the past and prepare for a bright future mainly for the new generation not to get misled by the wrong history of their country.

This conference joins different boards including Ministers, Local government and church leaders with other international organizations together with analysts who will provide different presentations of the history of Genocide like:
– Dehumanization process and the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi
– Victims in the aftermath of Genocide
– Assessing the legacy of national and international judicial processes
– Preserving memory of the Genocide in the face of negationism.