In Rwanda, A Country Goes Dark To Commemorate 1994 Genocide, Reports KT Press

    KIGALI, RWANDA, April 08, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Rwanda's National flags will be flying at half-mast on Tuesday, 7 April, as Rwandans gather to commemorate the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, for the 21st time.

Rwandans from all corners of the World will honour the event-remembering the horrific genocide of mankind that claimed over 1million Tutsi lives in 1994.

Nation-wide events will be organized. At 12pm (10am GMT), a minute of silence will be held, in remembrance of those who were brutally massacred during the Genocide.

This year's event is organized under the theme; "Fight against Genocide denial and Revisionism."

Unlike the previous commemoration events, Rwandans will honour their departed ones at village levels.

President Paul Kagame, speaking to journalists during a monthly press conference in Kigali last week, said the logic behind this year's celebration is 'to honour it with much value."

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide, (CNLG) Jean Damascene Bizimana, sais this year's focus will be on educating Rwanda and the world against genocide denial and revisionism.

Rwanda is still gripped by elements of Genocide denial both in the country and around the world. It was until January last year, when the United Nations adopted a new global reference to the 1994 mass slaughter in Rwanda as "Genocide against the Tutsi", after years of confrontational campaigning by the Rwanda government and survivors' groups.

Disagreements had long increased between diplomats at the Security Council over the exact wording for the 1994 Genocide.

Institutions, countries and individuals both within and outside Rwanda have denied the genocide, portraying double standards and calling it a civil war. The most recent in the news was BBC's documentary, The Untold Story blaming the Tutsi for orchestrating the massacres.

Meanwhile, President Kagame said genocide denial might never go away.

"The fact that we have achieved a lot doesn't mean that we have reached our vision. Rwandans need economic and social development and we as leaders have the role to help them achieve that."

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