Memory and justice

Rwanda year zero

A living past, the "traumatic crises". A woman collapses during a ceremony to commemorate the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Eighteen years later, these commemorations still awaken the traumas of the past in many people who must be taken care of by psychological support teams on 12 April 2012 in BUTAMWA, Rwanda.

Ten years after the end of the genocide, "traumatic crises" appear among survivors during the commemorations of the genocide. Naasson Munyandamutsa, a Rwandan psychiatrist who helped rebuild mental health institutions in Rwanda, explains this particular phenomenon: "People fall into syncope and lose consciousness for a long time, some scream, others reproach, others remain silent. When you are in a society that has imposed silence through death and terror, people are not ready to speak. There is no audience. We are afraid of contaminating each other. The time of commemorations is when the whole society, officially and politically, gives a platform to memory. People then speak through suffering. Hence these traumatic crises, which are calls for help.”

Interview given as part of the documentary by Anne Lainé, Un cri d'un silence inouï broadcast on RFI.