There are geographical names-symbols. Often they are symbols of tragic pages in the history of both individual nations and the whole of humanity. Leningrad - where hundreds of thousands of civilians died of starvation and disease during the siege; Hiroshima-the city that was the victim of the first atomic bombing; Majdanek-the extermination camp for millions of innocent people, mostly women and children; Cambodia - a third of the country's population was slaughtered in a bloody frenzy.

The tragic list is not limited to these four points on the world map.

Not the largest African country, Rwanda could become a state symbol of the amazing beauty of nature, the richness of flora and fauna, the mecca of world tourism. But for the past 20 years, the word" Rwanda "immediately evokes the tragic word "genocide".

In this country, inter-ethnic conflict, friction and clashes between Hutus (more than 80% of the population) and Tutsis (an ethnic minority, 15%) smouldered for a long time [1]. The conflict peaked in 1994.

On the evening of April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habiarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down by MANPADS while approaching Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. They were returning from an international conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Both presidents were killed.

A day later, a massacre began in the country.

The Hutus subjected the Tutsi civilian population to a brutal genocide. In a few months, about a million people were killed, most often in the most brutal and horrific ways, and another two million became refugees. The victims were mostly members of one of the country's two main ethnic groups, the Tutsi, and the executioners were members of the other, the Hutu. However, there were enough innocent victims on both sides...

The General Meeting of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, held on February 12 this year, was dedicated to the twentieth anniversary that separates us from the weeks and months of those terrible events that shocked the world community, as well as to the official start of the KWIBUKA-20 series of events.

The conference hall brought together prominent Russian African scientists, our specialists who have worked in Africa for many years, public and state figures, ambassadors of Mauritania, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, diplomats from the embassies of Angola, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Zambia,Zimbabwe, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, France, South Africa.

The event was organized by IAfr RAS and the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in the Russian Federation.

The meeting was opened by the Deputy Director of the IAfr RAS, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor D. M. Bondarenko.

The director of the Institute, Academician A.M. Vasiliev, addressed the participants of the meeting with a welcoming speech. He said that after the horrors of the Second World War, when entire nations were subjected to genocide, it seemed to humanity that nothing like this would ever happen in the world again. However, genocide was committed in Cambodia, several African countries, and in the most brutal form in Rwanda. It is important to learn from these events and make sure that they never happen again.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Rwanda to Russia Dr. Jean d'Ark Mujawamariya**. In particular, she elaborated on the causes and background of the genocide, which was unleashed by the government of representatives of the country's ethnic majority, the Hutu people, who came to power as a result of a military coup on April 6-7, 1994.

The genocide was directed against the ethnic minority-Tutsi and part of the Hutu, who held moderate political views. From the very beginning, the task was to completely destroy both of them.

The Ambassador noted that the massacres in Rwanda were carried out with exceptional brutality, and that the army and militia units controlled by the Interim Government dealt with the unfortunate people without sparing either women or children. State media fueled the situation by calling for the murder of Tutsis and published lists of those who were doomed. The scale of the general blood intoxication is indicated by the fact that Hutu residents of urban areas often killed their Tutsi neighbors. Extremely violent scenes were played out in places of temporary concentration of refugees who were forced to leave their homes-in schools and churches.

It was only in mid-May 1994 that the UN raised the question of resuming the work of the UN assistance mission to Rwanda. This mission was eventually created, but, for various reasons, it only took effect in July. At about the same time, the Rwandan Patriotic Front pushed out Hutu fighters from most of the country.

* Kwibuka (kinyarwanda) - "remember" (editor's note).

** J. d'Arc Mujavamaria received her higher education from the Peoples ' Friendship University in Moscow, and her doctorate in physical chemistry from the Institute of Technology (Rourke, India). He speaks five languages: Kinyarwanda, French, English, Russian and Swahili.

About two million Hutus, fearing responsibility for the genocide, left the country.

Lecture by the Ambassador of Rwanda, J. D'arc Mujawamariya was accompanied by a demonstration of a large number of documentary and photographic materials showing the consequences of the genocide and illustrating the efforts of the healthy forces of the country to restore peace and order. (The lecture theses are published below.)

The report" Rwanda: 20 years after the genocide " was delivered by Senior Researcher of the IAfr RAS S. M. Shlenskaya. She noted that, largely as a result of the intervention of the world community and a number of African States, the genocide in Rwanda was ended by the end of 1994, and the country returned to peaceful construction and normal life. It took it 5 years to restore its previous population size, and 8 years to reach its previous GDP level. The Government's three - year (1996-1998) recovery and consolidation program played an important role. Another program - "Vision 2020", which appeared in the early 2000s, defined the goal of the republic's leadership-to make Rwanda a modern, united, strong nation. This program is being implemented successfully. So, now the construction industry is experiencing a real boom: 25 thousand new houses are built annually in the country. GDP growth in 2012 is higher than in other countries of the Community of East African Countries (EAC), which Rwanda joined in 2007 (The report of S. M. Shlenskaya is published below).

Other speakers at the meeting were: Kenyan Ambassador to Russia Paul K. Kurgat, Ambassador of Sudan to Russia Omer Mohamed, First Deputy Editor-in-chief of the magazine "Asia and Africa Today" O. I. Teterin, Candidate of Historical Sciences, First Secretary of the Embassy of Rwanda Francis Caragueira, etc. All speakers, in particular, noted that the causes of the genocide in Rwanda, as well as the ways out of the crisis in this country, need a deep and thorough study and analysis (including by scientists of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences). This is important to prevent a repeat of the "Rwandan nightmare" in other States in the region. They also said that, despite the fact that 20 years have passed since the genocide in Rwanda, not all its "instigators" and participants were found and punished as they deserved.

The participants of the meeting were shown a documentary about the genocide and the revival of the country.

In his closing speech, the Director of the IAfr RAS, Academician A.M. Vasiliev, in particular, noted that 20 years ago the tragic events in Rwanda actually passed by the attention of the world community. Coincidentally, the notorious British Princess Diana died in the same days, and the world's media focused on this event, virtually ignoring the news of the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda. Alexander Vasiliev expressed hope that the meeting will be another modest but significant contribution to strengthening peace and harmony on the African continent.

After the meeting, a Memorial Flame lighting ceremony was held to mark the official start of KWIBUKA-20.

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