The commitment was reiterated on May 13, 2025, as the RUGC staff visited the Bisesero Genocide Memorial, one of four memorial sites recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to the extraordinary resistance shown by the Tutsi community there during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
During the visit, they were taken through the divisive policies introduced by Belgian colonialists, which led to the persecution and displacement of Tutsis across Rwanda beginning in 1959.
Aaron Gakoko, a genocide survivor from Bisesero, recounted his experience, revealing that the Tutsi in the region began resisting as early as 1959.
He shared how, in 1994, he personally disarmed three gendarmes and a military officer holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Despite the trauma they endured, Gakoko emphasized that survivors now live peacefully alongside those who once targeted them and even cooperate in daily activities.
He said, 'It pains us that those who were killed are not here to witness how we, the survivors of Bisesero, have rebuilt our lives.'
By the end of April 1994, the Tutsi in Bisesero had withstood waves of attacks by Interahamwe militias.
As a result, on May 3, 1994, a so-called 'security meeting' was held where a decision was made to deploy more soldiers and Interahamwemilitia to eliminate the Tutsi in Bisesero.
This led to massive, organized assaults, including the particularly deadly attack on May 13, 1994, in which over 30,000 Tutsis were massacred in a single day.
Vedaste Ngarambe, President of the Karongi District Council and head of IBUKA (the umbrella association of Genocide survivor organizations) in the district, commended the RUGC staff for visiting the memorial, noting the importance of youth involvement.
He said, 'We urge you to help us fight against genocide ideology and denial. Bisesero is unique because the Tutsi here chose to resist the Interahamwe militias together. Their guiding principle was, 'It is better to die fighting than to die fleeing.''
The CEO of RUGC Gaston Gasore highlighted how those who wanted Rwanda to vanish from the world map sowed hatred among Rwandansâ€"people who once shared food, intermarried, and lived as one. He stressed that the country is now striving to reverse that painful history.
'Our tragic past is teaching us the value of unity,' Gasore said. 'We believe that the values we've learned here will help us, as we still face a long journey. Genocide ideology remains present among both older generations and the youth. That's why we, as young people, must rise up and use social media platforms to fight it.'
Out of over 60,000 Tutsis who lived in Bisesero before the genocide, only 1,300 survived. These survivors later rebuilt their lives, and repopulated the area. Today, the Bisesero Genocide Memorial is the final resting place of more than 50,000 genocide victims.
IGIHE
