This message was conveyed in a speech on Rwanda’s journey of reconstruction, delivered at an international conference held in Kigali City on June 17, 2024.

This conference focused on the role of international and Rwandan courts in prosecuting the crimes of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and discussing measures to prevent a recurrence of such events.

Minister Ugirashebuja began by noting that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in which over one million people were brutally killed, was an act of extreme cruelty comparable to exterminating a nation. He compared it to the eradication of about 40 countries, each with a population of one million, and seven other countries, each with a population of over 10,000, similar to the number of Tutsi killed in a single day.

Minister Ugirashebuja also touched upon the scars left by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, noting that it was extremely difficult to bring together in Village Urugwiro the leaders who had become refugees and those from the previous governments.

He said, “There were meetings held in Urugwiro, and the first challenge of these meetings was to bring together some who had become refugees and victims of persecution, with those who were leaders in the two governments that followed Rwanda’s independence. Bringing them to the same table to discuss the country’s future was not an easy task.”

However, Minister Dr. Ugirashebuja Emmanuel explained that thanks to the good leadership established after the Genocide, which promoted unity, reconciliation, and proper justice, this challenge was overcome.

He also mentioned that significant efforts were made in Rwanda’s justice system to bring to justice those who committed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, highlighting that Rwanda continues to request countries where suspects have fled to either extradite them to Rwanda for trial or prosecute them within their own legal systems.