Rwandans Commemorate 25 Years Since Genocide

On April 7, 1994, long-standing tensions between Rwanda’s majority Hutu population and Tutsi minority erupted into mass slaughter, following the killing of Rwanda’s President Juvénal Habyarimana. Over the next 100 days, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by members of the Hutu majority, in massacres carried out across the country by members of the army, militias, and civilians. Yesterday, a quarter of a century later, Rwandans held memorials in the capital of Kigali and began a 100-day-long period of mourning. As the country continues to find ways to deal with the consequences of the mass violence, one path has led to the creation of six “reconciliation villages” in Rwanda, populated by genocide survivors who live side by side with—and offer forgiveness to—perpetrators who have recently been released from prison, who seek to apologize and atone.

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