Human rights watch in article 4 of February 2004, defined Genocide as a crime committed with
the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part. Ideology is
a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory
and policy.
An ideology can be also referred to as the set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a
person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in
which “practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones.
During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, the perpetrators created a system of
ideas that they planted in people convincing them that they were right to put genocide into action,
hence making it less a crime and more of a defense mechanism and patriotism.
Social media has become a playing ground for genocide ideologists. They keep spreading words
showing that what happened in Rwanda was war, but how is it a war when victims weren’t
fighting back? The Tutsis were helpless and unarmed, whereas the extremist Hutus had been
prepared, and trained with weapons to do genocide for a period of time.
From time-to-time ideologists ease genocide trying to defend their lack of humanity. For instance,
you will not be surprised when a stranger tells you that the Tutsis got what they deserved
because they mistreated the Hutus and that they aren’t done, not until the Tutsis no longer exist!
This is one of the phases of Genocide, where the targeted group is always associated with old
biased stories to dis-humanize them and prove why they have to be eliminated.
In families of today, you will find parents telling their children to choose their friends wisely—
not implying the kind of friends who support their growth but instead; defining their ethnicity.
How shameful?!
We as the youth are the cornerstone for future generations. It’s our responsibility to pave a way
for them not to find themselves manipulated to the extent this history could take place once more.
For example, I once was interacting on Facebook and someone asked me “why do you have a
candle on your profile?”
I responded “We are remembering the Tutsis who were killed in the 1994 Genocide”
And then they said “Rwanda tells that to the world so that it earns money from funds and grants
given to countries that encountered Genocide”
The only response I gave them was “Visit Rwanda and the genocide memorial sites”.
This is one of the weapons we can use to fight back. With this example, it is clear that there are
still lots of people who feed genocide ideology to the younger generation, therefore it’s up to us
to open up and speak the truth.
Some of our parents are still suffering from post genocide effects. It’s comprehensible that some
of them have the old mindset that certifies the idea of a person not to interact with anyone,
especially during days we commemorate our beloved ones’ loss. Mentally, it makes sense
because they suffer from post-trauma but it doesn’t have to be the driving force that leads us. It is
our role as the youth to remind them of the unity we have. Our role is to serve with positive
attitudes while listening to their cries. It doesn’t mean they are always right because they are
parents. You have to listen to them but also challenge them with positive thoughts in case what
they are spreading is negativity.
Our fathers fought wars with guns and they brought victory. It is in our hands to sustain their
victory by building a generation free of genocide ideology. We don’t have to hide the truth from
our children or grandchildren to not give room to the ideologists to get into their minds.
Thanks to the initiation, we have over a thousand clubs in schools that educate young pupils
about Rwanda’s history. Even though we have them, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have other
students whose parents feed ideology at the table back home. We carry the responsibility of
educating the youth, especially those who still have that mindset, and provide an access to places
that can help them learn our history.
This is not only history, but we can see that Genocide still has some roots and it may resurface at
any time we can let our guard down. We have recently witnessed some attacks and massacres in
a neighboring country, where mercilessly-killed victims because they speak Kinyarwanda.
According to our definition of genocide, this is a step forward to it. And this is just one example.
Do we have to wait for a million people to die like what happened in Rwanda in 1994, or in
Europe in the Second World War? We have seen what it takes to stop them, but it is easier to
fight a bad ideology with a good one than to fight hatred with love.
All in all, we have to fight genocide ideology. It might sound simple but it is not. We are fighting
with intellectuals who planned this a long time ago. Even if they would have mastered their plans
of denying genocide, we have proof, books, sites, and testimonies. Let us not let their noise stop
us from fighting to keep unity in our country.
We have a big future ahead of us and if we, as the
youth, as Nyomora don’t have the courage to speak up and raise our voices to silence the
ideologists, this history might repeat itself. Let us stay together in this fight, let the clubs and
organizations work together and if we are one as a team, we will win this fight. Let us always
remember that this fight is ours to fight for our parents have already won theirs. Let us walk in
their footsteps, and we shall come back home with the victory. Remember, unite, and renew!
Editor: Annah Gaella