Guarini Institute Presents: Rwanda Twenty Years On

On the 7th of April, 2014, Bene Rwanda Onlus, in collaboration with the Guarini Institute for Public Affairs and the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities organized and hosted a conference on the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, in order to keep the memory of the tragedy alive and educate new generations on its outcomes.

The conference featured speeches by Gianluca Peciola, vice President of the Cultural Commission to Rome, who highlighted the importance of fighting against historical negationism; by Francesco Alicicco, Honorary Consul to Rwanda in Rome, who spoke about the importance of solidarty towards the survivors, a principle that has been the cornerstone of modern Rwanda; and by Fabio Graziosi, UNRIC delegate to Italy, who read an heart-felt statement by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on ONU’s non-intervention in the massacre.

Other speakers focused on the role of the Western world: in particular, Karel Kovanda, permanent representative of the Czech Republic to the UN in 1994, who had previously defined the Rwandan genocide “a holocaust”, has stated that the Western world has a moral duty to be upfront about the massacre; otherwise, silence and denial will not allow a healthy healing process.
The conference closed with the presentation of “The Rwandan Night” by Gilbert Ndahayo, a genocide survivor. The documentary, which had already won the prize for Best Documentary at the SVAFF, was presented for the first time in Italy.