Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Trocaire / Vimeo
IN THIS VILLAGE, there are only two types of people. The people whose families were killed…and the people who killed them.
‘Let the Devil Sleep: Rwanda 20 Years After Genocide’, a video created by Trócaire, tells stories of guilt, confession and forgiveness in a country trying to recover from one of the worst atrocities carried out by man.
“I was like an animal,” says one of those men who killed, standing next to a woman whose family perished in the 1994 Rwandan massacre.
“I knew most of the people that were killed that day, if not all of them. Because we were neighbours…The objective was to exterminate them.”
“If it happened again, I would die with them, trying to protect them,” another says to the camera.
The video was made to mark the 20th anniversary of the country’s descent into genocide and examines how survivors are now leading a national reconciliation programme.
Tutsis and Hutus are reunited in the same villages once more and have to learn how to live side by side – how to co-exist – despite the murder, violence and evil. People are learning to be Rwandan together.
The organised massacres of the Tutsi people began in April 1994. An estimated 800,000 people – mostly Tutsis, but also some moderate Hutus – were killed in the coming months.
The executions were well-planned and viciously executed. They started on 6 April, shortly after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana died when he plane was shot down over the capital, Kigali.
Roadblocks were set up, with Tutsi men, women and children of all ages butchered with machetes, guns and grenades.
Over the past three months, a period of official mourning for those victims has been marked.
Today, a flame was lit that will burn for 100 days, the length of time it took government soldiers and ‘Hutu power’ militiamen to carry out their plan to wipe out the Inyenzi (a term meaning cockroaches that was used by Hutu extremists to designate minority Tutsis).
During today’s ceremony at the national stadium, survivors of the genocide recounted their memories of the killings and of survival. Several people were overcome with trauma, screaming and crying uncontrollably with medical staff helping to carry them out and to provide counselling.
“It is the day when the faces of all those I loved and died come back,” said Marie Muresyankwano, a mother in her thirties, adding she would watch events on television, but would otherwise spend time “with my own thoughts”.
In his speech at the stadium, President Kagame said Rwandans should also celebrate the remarkable progress made in the past 20 years.
“Today we have a reason to celebrate the normal moments of life, that are easy for others to take for granted. If the genocide reveals humanity’s shocking capacity for human cruelty, Rwanda’s choices show its capacity for renewal.”
The UN chief has said the commemorations were a chance to remind the world to do all it can to ensure such crimes never happen again.
“Today, Syria is in flames and the Central African Republic is in chaos. The world has yet to fully overcome its divisions, its indifference, its moral blind spots,” he said.
But he asserted there was progress, and that “leaders and warlords alike face the growing likelihood of prosecution for their crimes”.
The UN was widely criticised in 1994 for only belatedly recognising that a genocide was in progress and therefore shirking its responsibility to intervene, but Ban said the UN had changed its way of operating as a result.
“I have sent my own signal to UN representatives around the world, My message to them is simply this: When you see people at risk of atrocity crimes, do not wait for instructions from afar. Speak up, even if it may offend. Act,” he said.
The official “Kwibuka” mourning — meaning “remember” in Kinyarwanda — ends on 4 July, Rwanda’s liberation day.
Additional Reporting by AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Incoming comments about how they could afford rent if they didn’t have a few drinks on the weekend.
@D: but back in my day ……. * angrily shakes fist*
@Keelan O’neill: back in my day rent for the year was easily covered by summer work.
It’s a nice idea but it’ll do no good, the rents will increase and the students will still pay it.
They have to be more radical (not talking about violence) but they need to make a bigger stand. For example, they could protest outside the new accomodation being built and stop work going on there, obviously this isn’t a good thing but it’s just an idea if they want to really put their foot down.
@John Black: Rents will NOT increase if people all stand together and say enough is enough! Rents are extortionate and FFG are happy for this to stay so they keep the REITS happy. FFG don’t care about the electorate. People need to stand together
This is all based on Supply and Demand, Ireland is currently one of the most attractive places in the world for international students to come and study. People who can afford to send their children to study abroad can also well afford these new increases.
@Cynical: so true, and that’s why the new accomodation currently under construction is more like a set of penthouses rather than basic student accommodation
@John Black: Irish Universities are not even in the Top 100 of the world. It has nothing to do with student accommodation! There only building student accommodation for the tax breaks
Jesus I wish I thought of that when i was in college, and they had much more land back then too!!!!
Referendum needed to fix the defective Irish Constitution to permanently solve the housing / Rent / Accommodation crisis … else, your great grand kids will face the same … important to bring your ‘young’ brains to the Polling booths …
https://www.change.org/p/irish-housing-crisis-referendum-on-family-homes
They have a case.
So at it’s lowest end (€749) it will increase by €30 per annum, few less shots one weekend and it’s sorted. This is a nothing article. We see article after article about how the cost of living is increasing on a monthly if not weekly basis. Even over a 8 or 9 month academic year equates to about 3.50 a month, for accommodation where transport and utilities are a non factor this is a bargain. Wait til these students decide to live and work in the real world and they will see what hardship is really like or will the carrot of taking their degrees overseas be dangled in from of the next government?
@Ian Breathnach: so based on what it’s like when they finish college and get to experience hardship by having a job (whatever that means) this is isn’t an issue?
10k a year to just have somewhere to live while going to college (and don’t forget fees/“registration costs” on top of this) seems like an issue to me…
Also, how is this an equal start for kids? Someone living in an urban area, close to a university can stay at home with their parents but if you live outside a commutable distance you could be hit with these substantial costs just to be able to attend university.
I know my kid’s college choices will be influenced by what and where we can afford to send them.
@Pilib: are you suggesting free accommodation to all students? Is an additional 3.50 a month extortionate? No. In the grander scheme of things does living on campus save money as I stated? Yes. Do you not expect your children to work while in college/university? Are you going to give them a few euro for pints during the week too? The point I’m making is it’s a small increase, regardless of what you think, it is not a huge amount ie one less coffee a month. Minimum wages have increased, obviously these students firmly believe that these properties and the college for that matter run on fresh air. Typically people don’t care how much it costs to run things, the behind the scenes maintenance and upkeep. People are outraged when it is suggested they pay for the services they receive.
@Ian Breathnach: I think you’re missing the point, the issue is that the price is already extortionate and the increase is rubbing salt in the wounds. 4% increase isn’t much if the original rent was reasonable but it is extortionate already.
As much as you like to think it, these students aren’t scroungers, they have no problem paying for accommodation if it’s a fair price but colleges are using it to squeeze every cent out of students, they’re taking advantage of them.
@John Black: explain to me how it is extortionate?
@Ian Breathnach: you pay 8000 for an 8 month lease , so 1000 per person per month, to share an apartment with 5 other people, thats 6000 per month for a basic apartment, now it’s your turn to explain to me how that’s not extortionate.
How can a college charge 48k for an apartment for only 8 months when “greedy landlords” get slammed for charging 24k for a 12 month lease?
@John Black: well, you don’t have to commute so no transport fees, all utilities are included and on site security 24/7 and depending on what halls you are living in there are other “luxuries”. Now I’m open to correction but you say apartment, but aren’t these ensuite rooms with communal living spaces?
Students will have Less money for drink and drug consumption
No one cares it’s the new progressive Ireland, so suck it up snowflakes
have your say