When we lose our humanity

This weekend, I went to the Gisozi memorial. It's one of the 1994 genocide memorials, it is supposed to be one of the "softest"... And after visiting it I'm not sure I want to visit the others...

The visit starts with an explanation of what Rwanda was before colonization and how it disorganized the society by creating racial profiles through "scientific" measures, implementing the seed of dis-unity and what would happen many years later.

Slowly, the history of Rwanda is developed and the pieces of what's going to be the 1994 genocide are put together. Videos taped testimonies, pictures, objects are displayed to show the horror of those 4 months (April to July 1994) and even a few years later the sporadic attempts of what was left of the Interahamwe (sorry for the spelling).

Gisozi is not only a memorial but also a cemetery where thousands of people are buried anonymously or not (and still nowadays bodies are still discovered) in mass graves. Through the visit the tension was building up, and reaching the last 2 rooms where some skulls, bones, and clothes covered by blood and dirt are exposed, I am not sure anyone could have been insensitive and not cried.

The other parts of the memorial are the rooms dedicated to children victims of the genocide and another room where some of the 20e century genocides are explained (Armenians, Muslim Bosnian, Herero...).

Finally, when you leave the buildings, there is the garden with those huge cemented blocks, tombs of thousands of victims...

When we lose our humanity...