Rwanda Hails Recognition of Genocide Memorial Sites on World Heritage List

By Xinhua 

September 22, 2023

Rwanda has hailed Wednesday’s recognition of the country’s four genocide memorial sites on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a historic move that will strengthen the fight against genocide denial.

The decision to inscribe the Murambi Genocide Memorial in southern Rwanda, Nyamata Genocide Memorial in eastern Rwanda, Kigali Genocide Memorial in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, and Bisesero Genocide Memorial in western Rwanda on the World Heritage List was announced Wednesday at a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

“The historic inscription of the Bisesero, Gisozi, Murambi and Nyamata sites on the World Heritage List increases international visibility, and also honors the memory of the victims they represent throughout the world. This recognition strengthens the fight against genocide denial and will serve to educate present and future generations,” said Jean Damascene Bizimana, the Rwandan minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, in a statement.

Bizimana, who is representing the government at the meeting, said since 2012, local communities, national and international experts, and relevant advisory groups have collaborated closely in a meticulous process that resulted in Wednesday’s decision.

In 2014, the UN Security Council confirmed that the genocide committed against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994 was a matter of public knowledge that should not be contested. In 2018, the UN General Assembly designated April 7 as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in which about 1 million people were killed.