Rwandans remember 1994 genocide with somber events

Apr 6, 2022, 9:04 PM | Updated: Apr 7, 2022, 9:09 am

FILE - The skulls and bones of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge inside the church are laid out as a memorial to the thousands who were killed in and around the Catholic church during the 1994 genocide in Ntarama, Rwanda, on April 4, 2014. Rwanda on Thursday, April 7, 2022 commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Dignitaries listen as Rwanda's president Paul Kagame, at podium, speaks at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda Thursday, April 7, 2022. Rwanda on Thursday commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)

Rwanda's president Paul Kagame speaks to survivors and dignitaries at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda Thursday, April 7, 2022. Rwanda on Thursday commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)

Rwanda's president Paul Kagame, left, and his wife Jeannette Kagame lay flowers at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda Thursday, April 7, 2022. Rwanda on Thursday commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)

Rwanda's president Paul Kagame, left, and his wife Jeannette Kagame, center, light the flame of remembrance at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda Thursday, April 7, 2022. Rwanda on Thursday commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)

FILE - Flowers are laid on top of a glass case containing the skulls of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge in the church, kept as a memorial to the thousands who were killed in and around the Catholic church during the 1994 genocide, inside the church in Ntarama, Rwanda, on April 5, 2019. Rwanda on Thursday, April 7, 2022 commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - Family photographs of some of those who died hang on display in an exhibition at the Kigali Genocide Memorial centre in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on April 5, 2019. Rwanda on Thursday, April 7, 2022 commemorated the 28th anniversary of the country's descent into an orgy of violence in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandans have begun a solemn commemoration of the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu who tried to protect them were killed.

President Paul Kagame on Thursday laid a wreath at a memorial site where more than 250,000 people are buried in the capital, Kigali. The ceremony marked the beginning of a week of somber events.

Kagame said he opposes any attempts to rewrite the history of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The killings were perpetrated by extremist Hutu over a period of 100 days.

Some rights groups have accused Kagame’s soldiers of carrying out some killings during and after the genocide in apparent revenge, but Rwandan authorities strongly deny this allegation.

Kagame said that his group had shown restraint in the face of genocide.

“Imagine people being hunted down day and night for who they are. Also imagine if those of us who were carrying arms, if we had allowed ourselves to pursue those who were killing our people indiscriminately,” he said. “First of all, we would be right to do so. But we didn’t. We spared them. Some of them are still living today, in their homes, villages. Others are in government and business.”

Kagame, who is widely credited with stopping the genocide, has become a polarizing figure over the years as his critics accuse him of leading an authoritarian government that crushes all dissent. But he is also praised by many for presiding over the relative political stability allowing Rwanda’s economy to grow.

The mass killing of the Tutsi was ignited on April 6 when a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down and crashed in Kigali, killing the leader who, like most Rwandans, was an ethnic Hutu.

The Tutsi were blamed for downing the plane, and although they denied it, bands of Hutu extremists began killing them, including children, with support from the army, police and militias.