Available archives on the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda: cartography and typology As part of the 22nd commemoration of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda

Photos of the victims of the Tutsi genocide exhibited at the Gisozi Memorial (Kigali) © DR

The construction of memory requires proof of the facts. However, the authorizing officer for murders rarely writes and signs the plan and orders. Everything is watermarked by oral interviews and written allusions. With regard to the genocide of the Tutsi, this challenge is accentuated by the oral marker of the culture. 22 years after the events, the creation of a fund gathering all the information related to this story is essential.

This dedicated day allows for an update on the possibilities of access to public and private archives, a review of available sources (sounds, images, press articles, diplomatic telegrams, but also testimonies of survivors, religious, journalists, diplomats, humanitarian...) and is trying to define the criteria that will make it possible to build this documentary fund.

I – Testimony as evidence

9:30
Opening by Jacques Fredj, director of the Shoah Memorial

10 o'clock
The role of the archive in the militant and historical struggle: nature, status and contributions
Presidency: Marcel Kabanda, historian, president Ibuka France
Jean-Pierre Chrétien, historian, CNRS research director
Serge Klarsfeld, historian, FFDJF
Yves Ternon, historian, Paris 4 University

12 o'clock
Collection and use of oral testimony. Media, therapies, filming
Presidency: Jeanne Allaire-Kayigirwa, lawyer, president Ibuka Rhône-Alpes.
Hélène Dumas, historian, CNRS, LAM
Emilienne Mukansoro, psychotherapist in Muhanga (Rwanda)
Freddy Mutanguha, director of the Kigali Memorial Center (KMC) in Gisozi (Rwanda)

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II – International dimensions of archives

2:30 PM
What posterity for judicial archives?
Presidency: Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, historian, director of studies, EHESS
Jean-Damascène Bizimana, executive secretary of the CNLG (National Commission for the Fight against Genocide)
François-Xavier Nsanzuwera, lawyer with the Appeals Chamber, ICTR Prosecutor’s Office
Ornella Rovetta, MMC postdoctoral fellow, Université libre de Bruxelles

4:30
Access to and use of public and private archives
Presidency: Jean-François Dupaquier, journalist, writer
Pierre Brana, co-rapporteur for the parliamentary information mission on Rwanda in 1998
Florent Geel, head of the Africa office of FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), an international human rights NGO
Jean-Christophe Klotz, journalist, director

6 p.m.
Conclusion
Review of sources and definition of appropriate criteria for the creation of a documentary fund on the genocide of the Tutsi
Rémi Korman, doctoral student, historical research center (CRH)
Florent Piton, PhD student, CESSMA, Paris 7 University – Diderot

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