NEVER AGAIN

'Never Again' - An international commitment or a rhetorical sound bite?  Why doesn't the international community act to prevent genocide? It is universally recognized that genocide is a crime against humanity.  However, in 1994 while the world was still issuing assurances of 'never again' over 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda as a result of genocide.

The consequences of genocide in Rwanda are immeasurable.   Legacies of the 1994 genocide include: the problems of orphans, widows, street children, destruction of social and economic infrastructures, AIDS, fear, frustration and mistrust among people.

The Government of Rwanda, NGOs and donors have contributed both their efforts and finances in order to rebuild the country from the ashes of despair.  However, the root causes of the genocide remain latent and the protracted social conflict is unresolved.  The genocide of 1994 has reframed the lives of all Rwandans.  Time in contemporary Rwanda is considered in terms of its status as before, during or after the genocide of 1994. 

There remains a lack of understanding in the world about what happened in Rwanda or how it could have been prevented.  The United Nations was aware of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994; Lt. Gen. Dallaire (head of UN's peacekeeping force in Rwanda UNAMIR) warned the Security Council of preparations for genocide.  Another UN member, Gerry Kaplin, has written a report of the genocide for the Organisation for African Unity (AU) which he titles: The Preventable Genocide.  The implication of members of the international community in the genocide; the lack of international will to try to prevent the genocide or stop it immediately; and Europe's colonial links with Rwanda illustrate why the genocide in Rwanda is not simply a problem for Rwanda, but for the world.

As students working across boarders we learn from each other and hope that together we can help to emphasize the need for a more responsible and intelligently responsive international community.

Participants


Poppy Sebag-Montefiore
Department of History, UCL
Co-founder of Never Again. Chair, Never Again London. Conceived and organized the Rwanda Project. International Team Co-ordinator  and recorded sound.

Marian Hodgkin
Department of History, UCL
Joined Never Again in 2001. Treasurer of Never Again. Organiser of Rwanda Project.  International Team Co-ordinator, managed the finances of the trip and took minutes.

Regina Ingabire
Faculty of Economics and Management, National University of Rwanda
Co-founder of Never Again. Chair, Never Again Rwanda. Invited Never Again to Rwanda. Created the itinerary and Group Co-ordinator.

Zack Schram
Nothwestern University Law School, USA
Co-founder of Never Again. Cameraman.
Joseph Nkurunziza
Faculty of Medicine, National University of Rwanda
Organised the itinerary. Interpreter.

Emmanuel Ruhara
Department of English, National University of Rwanda
Interpreter.

Tamaki Yoshida
Faculty of Humanities, School of Oriental and African Studies
Member of Never Again. Photographer.

Tashi Radha
MA Human Rights, Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Member of Never Again. Recorded sound.

Charles Rutikanga
Department of Politics National University of Rwanda
Member of Never Again.

Rose Mutesi
Department of Psychology, National University of Rwanda
Member of Never Again.


Introduction

Never Again

Never Again, an international student network, was founded at the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution's 2001 Symposium at The Hague. Never Again, a group of students from around the world, created a collaborative international partnership.  Never Again aims to alert the international community to both the causes and effects of genocide and facilitate the exchange of ideas between young people - those who have lived through genocide and those who wish to learn from them.  We are students from institutions including: University College London, National University of Rwanda (Butare), Harvard, London School of Economics and Political Science, School of Oriental and African Studies, McGill University, Northwestern University, and New York University.  Poppy and  Marian travelled to Rwanda as participants and organizers of Never Again's Rwanda Project.


The Rwanda Project

The Never Again 'Rwanda Project' is a collaborative effort that brought together students from Rwanda, Europe, North America and Asia.  The team met in Rwanda for the first two weeks of August as part of a project to learn about, remember and draw international attention to the 1994 genocide.  We had discussions with organisations, groups and individuals: witnesses to the genocide, perpetrators and those involved in the reconciliation process. We built strong partnerships between the visiting and host participants.

The visiting participants - members of Never Again, UK and Never Again, North America were paired up with members of Never Again Rwanda - host students from the National University of Rwanda, Butare. Each pair shared a specific research area.  They introduced themselves to one another via email before the trip and began email correspondences in pairs as preparation to research together in Rwanda.

The Rwandan hosts shared between them the responsibilities of interpreting from Kinyirwanda and French into English, and back, at our meetings and coordinating the itinerary.  Each one of the visiting students had their own recording responsibility.   Marian wrote the minutes. Zack manned the video camera. Tamaki took photographs.  Poppy recorded audio on to mini disk. Tashi made audio back up recordings on cassette.  For the visiting students the recording devises had a dual function.  As well as carrying out a key objective of the trip - to make tangible records of the genocide and reconciliation process - the recording equipment also provided a buffer between the participants and some of the horror of the stories we heard.  Furthermore the recording devises became consistent, explicit reminders of our aims and directed the participants to the task of recording, reinforcing our sense of our purpose in the project.  


Our Objectives
a. Draw international attention to the Rwandan genocide and express remembrance.

b. Encourage youth co-operation through collaborative research.

c. Work to support the aims and objectives of existing organisations in Rwanda.

d. Conduct research into the genocide from a wide range of academic disciplines and use a compilation of our findings to enhance understanding in our home countries.


Preparation
Planning Meetings and Events Attended:

2001 - ongoing A series of meetings with Her Excellency Rosemary Museminali the Rwandan Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

July-August 2001 Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution 2001 Symposium.

November 2001 The Shallow Graves of Rwanda, (St. Martins Press, 2001) Shaharayar M. Khan, book launch, School of Oriental and African Studies.

6 April 2002 Rwandan Genocide Memorial Seminar at School of Oriental and African Studies, Remembering Genocide in Rwanda: Building a Firm Foundation for the Future

9 April 2002 8th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide Memorial Service in St Margaret's Chapel, London.

17 May 2002 Advisory meeting with Linda Melvern, author of A People Betrayed (Zed Books, 2000)

31 May 2002 Advisory meeting with Caroline Phillips, Deputy Programme manager, Rwanda, Africa Great Lakes &Horn Department, UK government Department for International Development.

2 June 2002 Advisory meeting with Lord Janner of Braunstone QC, Chair of Holocaust Educational Trust.

1 July 2002 Seminar Organised by Never Again, SOAS. Participants included members of Never Again, genocide survivors and members of the Rwandan community in London. 

12 July 2002 Meeting with Suzanne Bargett, Curator of the Imperial War Museum's Holocaust Exhibition and Exhibit on Crimes Against Humanity: Conflict in our Time

17 July 2002 Organised and hosted book launch for Michael Barnett's Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda by Michael N. Barnett (Cornell University Press, 2002)

Itinerary in Rwanda
Date                                     Activities
27/07/2002 Saturday " host students meet international students at Kigali Airport and take them to their hotel
28/07/2002 " visit genocide site in Kigali
29/07/2002 " Visit the National University of Rwanda
" Meeting with the University's Vice Rector
" Visit Murambi Genocide Site
" Meeting with the Centre for Conflict Management
30/07/2002 " Visit AVEGA the association for genocide survivors (widows, orphans)
" Visit the AVEGA Aids Centre
" Dinner at the home of Regina's Uncle Bosco
31/07/2002 " Visit Nyrmbuye Prefecture Gacaca Administration
1/08/2002 " Discussions with Ibuka, the umbrella survivors organization
02/08/2002 " Meeting with the Minister of Justice and Institutional relations
03/08/2002 Saturday " Day trip to Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
" Visit to a Solidarity Camp - Q&A, singing and dancing
04/08/2002 " Visit the shelter for street kids and children of infiltrators
05/08/2002 " Discussion with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture
" Visit Tumehere - Hope for Rwanda's Children
" Meeting with HE Sue Hogwood, British Ambassador to Rwanda and Burundi
06/08/2002 " Spent the day with widows from AVEGA
" Meeting with a  child-headed family in a village of orphans and widows.
" Visit to Gikondo Prison
07/08/2002 " Meeting with the Director of Tertiary Education, Ministry of Education.
08/08/2002 " Discussion with the Director of Military operations, Rwandan Army
09/08/2002 " Visited the ICTR headquaters in Kigali
" Meeting with the Burundian Ambassador to Kigali
10/08/2002 Saturday " Discussion with the Director of Foreign Affairs, Minsitry for Foreign Affairs.  Topic : 'The Challenges of Building Democracy within Post Genocide Times'
11/08/2002 " General evaluation and issuing of press release.
" Thanks giving reception

Outcomes
Never Again has held a photographic exhibition of the Rwanda Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies' Student Union, opened by HE Rosemary Museminali on November 11th 2002.

The exhibition will move to Hendon Secondary School for Holocaust Memorial Day 2003.

We have given a slide show presentation of our trip at University College London.

We are now concentrating on finishing the writing up of our report and working towards a commemoration in London of the 10th Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda when the Rwandan members will travel to London to participate.


Associates

Remembering Rwanda
National University of Rwanda
University Women Students Association, Rwanda


Advisors

Dr. Gerald Caplan, Founder of Remembering Rwanda and author of the OAU report, Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide.
Lord Janner of Braunstone QC, Chair, Holocaust Educational Trust
Linda Melvern, investigative journalist and author, A People Betrayed
Scott Roehm, International Projects Director, Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution
Rwanda United Kingdom Goodwill Organisation (RUGO)


Sponsors

National University of Rwanda - Use of their mini bus for two days.
National Unity and Reconciliation Commission - All meals at our guesthouse.
Amahoro - Donation for host students communications and administration costs.
University College London - £600 travel grant.
Bishop of Oxford - £300.
Michael Conschafter - use of video recording equipment.
Teppei Tsuchikura - use of audio recording equipment.