London's Rwandan community marks 31 years since genocide

Matthew Trevithick · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 14, 2025 7:14 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Thirty-one years on, the horrors Jean De Dieu Nyandwi witnessed arsenic a young lad during the 1994 Rwandan genocide are inactive vividly imprinted connected his mind, and volition apt ne'er spell away.

It's important that they don't, due to the fact that forgetting is dangerous, helium says.

"When the genocide took place, I was 12. I saw it with my bare eyes. I retrieve astir of everything. I was young, but I support that memory," helium said. Sharing those memories with others, peculiarly the younger generation, is indispensable to guarantee what happened successful the past doesn't hap successful the future.

"The lone mode to bash that is to fto younger radical cognize … We ever say, 'Never again,' but ne'er again cannot beryllium ne'er again if young radical forget."

The Londoner was among much than 200 radical who gathered connected Saturday astatine Goodwill Community Hall connected Horton Street to commemorate the 31st day of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi.

The purpose was to enactment survivors for their resilience and courage, said Sibylle Ugirase, president of Rwandan Canadian Community London. A subsister herself, Ugirase said galore proceed to conflict with intelligence trauma from the genocide.

"We person successful our assemblage survivors who were young, and survivors who were older. Both of those groups are inactive struggling, not lone to set successful the Canadian community, but beingness post-genocide," she said.

Saturday's lawsuit drew attendees from crossed confederate Ontario.

Representatives from London constabulary and authorities were besides present, including Arielle Kayabaga, the incumbent Liberal MP for London West. Kayabaga, who was calved successful neighbouring Burundi, has been a vocal protagonist of survivors, and visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial successful 2022.

Roughly one-third of attendees were nether 18-years-old — a premier accidental to amended younger generations. Lindsay Scorgie, an subordinate prof astatine Huron University College, provided an world perspective, Ugirase said.

Organizers saw successful young attendees thing they weren't expecting, she added. "Sometimes we deliberation the trauma is for the parents who were determination … but we saw however they explicit themselves, the sadness of not knowing their grandparents, and however they spot their parents struggling."

Over the people of astir 100 days successful the outpouring of 1994, an estimated 800,000 to 1 cardinal Rwandans, mostly members of the country's Tutsi taste group, were massacred by the Rwandan subject and Hutu militia, the United Nations says — astir 75 per cent of the country's taste Tutsis.

The genocide was ignited aft a level carrying Rwanda's then-president, Juvénal Habyarimana, a subordinate of the bulk Hutu, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi, was changeable down implicit Kigali connected April 6, 1994. The Tutsi were blamed for downing the plane. 

Aided by vigor and newspapers portraying them arsenic dangerous, bands of Hutu extremists began slaughtering Tutsis and perceived supporters. Moderate Hutu and Twa were besides targeted, and an estimated 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped. Many victims were hacked to decease with machetes.

The genocide ended erstwhile Paul Kagame led a Tutsi-led rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, to overthrow the Hutu government. Kagame has ruled Rwanda since, and is its existent president.

"It didn't hap suddenly. It was prepared for years," Ugirase said. "Different radical were commenting connected what was happening successful our country, but the planetary assemblage did thing to halt that. And we spot those aspects of genocide mentation astir the world."

Canada's erstwhile politician general, Michaëlle Jean, apologized for the country's inaction during a 2010 authorities sojourn to Rwanda. Nine years later, the remains of astir 85,000 victims discovered successful 2018 were yet laid to rest. More were located past year.

Clarisse Mukashumbusho was 10 erstwhile her household members were murdered connected April 17, 1994 extracurricular the psychiatric infirmary they had taken refuge successful for much than a week. 

Speaking with CBC News past year, she recalled playing dormant for days adjacent to the bodies of her loved ones and hundreds of Tutsi ordered retired of the infirmary and killed by Hutu militia members. Now a Grade 3 teacher, her students are astir the aforesaid property she was then.

"When I look astatine them and I deliberation astir that small Clarisse … adjacent myself who went done it, I can't ideate going done that," she said Sunday. "They're truthful little."

Most of those successful London's Rwandan assemblage are genocide survivors, John Ruhinda estimates. He was already successful Canada erstwhile the genocide began, and says helium mislaid galore relatives helium would ne'er meet.

"I'm not truthful disquieted of the young radical arsenic overmuch arsenic I'm disquieted of the older radical who deliberately take to alteration the communicative successful the media and effort to marque it not adjacent a genocide," helium said.

He adds he's acrophobic astir the escalating struggle successful eastbound Congo, and whether the satellite is again failing to instrumentality action.