Forgiveness needed in wake of genocide, Rwandan says

Joseph Sebarenzi points to himself in a family photograph taken before the civil war. Now, "when I go back to Rwanda, I can't find a single former colleague from high school," he said.
Joseph Sebarenzi points to himself in a family photograph taken before the civil war. Now, "when I go back to Rwanda, I can't find a single former colleague from high school," he said.

— Joseph Sebarenzi, former head of the Rwanda parliament, preached Tuesday at Hendrix College about the value of forgiveness.

Sebarenzi - a Tutsi Rwandan - shared his experiences during the civil war of the 1990s when hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and Hutu political moderates were killed.

"This was a catastrophe," he said. "They didn't see fellow Rwandans as brothers."

After multiple death threats, he was forced to flee the country, Sebarenzi said.

Sebarenzi projected a black and white photo of his extended family for the crowd to see. The photo, which showed his family members posing in front of their house in Rwanda, was taken just before the crisis reached its peak.Most of Sebarenzi's family died before relief came to the country, he said. Only two of his siblings survived.

"At least I have two brothers that survived," he said. "We need to focus not on the dead, because they're gone obviously, but on the ones still alive."

In 1994, Hutu extremists in Rwanda slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis in 90 days, he said.

"This number doesn't even mean much because one lost life is a catastrophe," Sebarenzi said. "But when it is almost one million, it is a catastrophe beyond understanding."

Despite the danger, Sebarenzi returned to Rwanda in 1995 after a few months in Canada. He then became speaker of the Rwandan parliament from 1997 to 2000 to oppose the military and to spread the message of peace, which he continues to do today.

"People did not pay much attention," he said. "Leaders did not pay much attention."

For Rwanda, help came too late, Sebarenzi said. Africa and Asia are often overlooked by others, he said. Dangerous situations escalate quickly in these regions, but this can be avoided in the future, he said.

Today, you can go anywhere in Rwanda and be safe, Sebarenzi said, but the impact of the genocide is still there.

"When I go back to Rwanda, I can't find a single former colleague from high school."

Sebarenzi, who recently finished a memoir, God Sleeps in Rwanda, now lives in Virginia and lectures about reconciliation and conflict management at venues such as Hendrix, where he has been asked to speak three times.

"Unfortunately, we are not doing enough to stop the cycle of violence," he said.

Sebarenzi's memoir will be published Sept. 8 and calls for action wherever human rights are in jeopardy.

Though he said he did his best to balance political views, he knows there will be people who don't like it. Even Sebarenzi's family is concerned about the book being published.

"I try to tell the truth," Sebarenzi said. "Today I feel I am a better human being than I was before the genocide."

Arkansas, Pages 10 on 07/22/2009

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