We Remember: The 20th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide and the Power of Forgiveness
Two weeks ago the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
heralded the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began in
April of 1994 and lasted for 100 days until June of that same day. It became
know as the quickest mass execution and killing spree since the Holocaust.
In 1994, the Hutu president of Rwanda’s plane was shot down,
and the blame was put on the Tutsis, who had historically been in power, but
there wasn’t any hard evidence to who shot down the plane. This incident
followed the peace process between ethnic Tutsis and Hutus, which only erupted
into a civil war turned genocide when Hutu radical militias known as the interhamwe went from village to village,
encouraging Hutus to murder their Tutsi neighbors and any Tutsi sympathizers.
Graves still remain in Rwanda, and bones and sinew still
arise out of the churches where Tutsis and Tutsi sympathizers went for safety
but were instead trapped to be hacked to death. Hutus and Tutsis now live in
peace in Rwanda, and there have been several forgiveness tribunals as well as
some criminal prosecution against perpetrators of genocide. But how to convict
every perpetrator of a crime against Tutsis when some of those perpetrators
were neighbors of their victims?
Munyurangabo
Munyurangabo chronicles
the story of the young Rwandan boy Munyurangabo traveling with his friend
Sangwe in search of his parents’ killers approximately thirteen years after the
genocide occurred. Munyurangabo’s journey takes unexpected detours, especially
with the extended time that he stays with his friend’s family, which was
supposed to be only hours but turned into days. The tension between Sangwe’s
Hutu family and Munyurangabo’s mysterious Tutsi background only escalates to a
breaking of friendship between the two, forcing both Munyurangabo and his Tutsi
friend to leave the village and part ways.
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| Image from Google Images |
Munyurangabo is on his way to find his killer and via word
of mouth approaches the killer’s house. Munyurangabo spends the night in the
town, conjuring a dream where he instead forgives his killer and realizes that
death is not the answer to resolve his parents’ murder. The next day, instead
of taking his machete to murder the murderer, Munyurangabo leaves his machete and
leaves the town.
The power of Munyurangabo to walk away from that village
with forgiveness in his heart broke the spirit of bitterness that had plagued
him since 1994. The film’s realistic set and cinematography also promoted a
sense of resolution that Munyurangabo would not go through with the
assassination but rather lead a different life. He was at a crossroads with two
different paths, and he chose the path of light and life.
Testimony
Jean Paul Samptu, a famous Rwandan singer, spoke with the BBC
World Service on April 4th, recalling how after several years of
bitterness and self-inflicted harm, he could face his family’s killer in
forgiveness. The fact that he had escaped the genocide on tour away from the
country while his family perished was very unsettling to Samptu but also was
his family’s killer: his friend and neighbor. He thought about how someone he
had previously trusted and befriended could then turn against you and your
family in murder.
Samptu wandered through the following years battling alcohol
and drug addiction, holding onto bitterness against his family’s killer. It
took faith in God and community empowerment to help pull Samptu out of his
addiction and recall him back to life to forgive his family’s killer. The power
of forgiveness broke down Samptu’s brick walls of bitterness just like it did
for Munyurangabo.
The Power of
Forgiveness
During the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, the
twentieth anniversary of the Bosnian war and the fifteenth anniversary of the
Columbine shooting, wounds still remain fresh for many. But the words of
forgiveness can free many from the pain and bitterness of those days.
On this Easter Sunday, one man gave forgiveness to all
mankind: Jesus. He laid down His life for us and rose on Easter so that we could
be forgiven and receive a crown in heaven, reunited with Father God.
Forgiveness is powerful, and it can set any man free. Are you ready to forgive
or be forgiven?
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