Rwanda ‘ s Liberation
Understanding the Importance of Language , Repetition and Precedence in Humanising the Rwandan People Post-Tutsi Genocide
Veronique Nyiramongi Mbaye
French President Emmanuel Macron ’ s recent visit to Rwanda was a crucial symbolic step towards the improvement of the wounded Franco-Rwandan relationship . The two-day visit educed credibly good intentions , from Macron ’ s poignant tribute to the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi to his relatively brave willingness to admit France ’ s culpability in the massacres . However , it is important to critically examine the wording used in those admissions in order to establish the current challenges Rwanda is still facing in defending our reconciliation , stability efforts and the realities of our history .
Firstly , we must consider the current western political landscape and the narrow leeway it provides for western nations ’ politicians and diplomats to speak plainly of the horrors Rwanda endured , and the true extent of the culpability of the allies involved in the Genocide . To this day , both US Great Lakes special envoys and the current American ambassador to Rwanda have intentionally avoided calling the Tutsi Genocide anything other than “ The Rwandan Genocide ” or the “ 1994 Genocide .” This is because western nations have chosen to prioritise the political stakes of such an admission – it would undermine their “ disapproving ” stance towards the Rwandan Patriotic Front and potentially open the floodgates for investigations into US ’ s involvement in the latest and fastest Genocide to date – over consideration of a healing victim ’ s need for honesty .
For the most part , when it comes to the Genocide against the Tutsi western nations stubbornly maintain a questionable incapacitation to help protect the victims of decades of overt oppression , despite the world witnessing the unrolling of a plan to exterminate them through months of gruesome killings .
It is our task to decipher the unspoken concessions in France ’ s , or Macron ’ s , efforts to build a mutually beneficial relationship with Rwanda and how these concessions can , as stated by President Paul Kagame in his press conference with the French President , benefit Rwandans , genocide survivors and their families more than an apology . Thus , we can draw solace from the fact that , though such an apology will likely never come , the Rwandan leadership ’ s fervency to defend the humanity of a victimised group once blamed for their own torture and mass
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