25th Anniversary of the Genocide Against the Tutsi
To raise awareness of the Genocide against the Tutsi that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 we have put together some resources that we hope will be useful to teachers and pupils.
We were privileged to invite Sophie Masereka, a survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi, to our School to share her story with us. Sophie’s story was hugely powerful and we think that every young person in our country should learn about it.
Rwanda before the Genocide
The Genocide Against the Tutsi which took place in Rwanda was not inevitable. Rwanda, just like any other country, had a complex history. Nevertheless, if we are to understand how the Genocide against the Tutsi happened we think it is important to understand something of the country to see if there were signs that something dreadful would happen.
What was Sophie’s life like before the Genocide?
The people who were to be murdered had lives, hopes and fears just like the rest of us and we think that it is important to learn about their lives just as much as it is important to mark their deaths. In this clip from our interview Sophie gives us an insight into her family life before the Genocide began.
Was there discrimination and persecution before the Genocide?
Sophie tells us how Tutsi were discriminated against by the government and were denied their rights simply because they belonged to the ‘wrong’ group. She also explains that the persecution of the Tutsi escalated after 1990 when a civil war broke out between the rebel RPF army and the government. Tutsis inside Rwanda were labelled traitors and allies of the rebels and were attacked. There was nowhere for the victims to turn to or report the violence as the government gave the green light to trained perpetrators.
During the Genocide
The Genocide against the Tutsi lasted just one hundred days. During that time a million people were murdered. The podcast we’ve recorded explains what happened during those terrible days and how the world reacted to the Genocide.
How did Sophie survive?
In this clip Sophie details her remarkable story of survival against the odds as the Genocide unfolded.
What was your life like after the Genocide?
Sophie describes what her life has been like since the end of the Genocide.
These activities ask whether there has been justice for the victims of the Genocide and how young people in this country should remember what happened.
Genocide Know More
In 2018 pupils from the Genocide 80/20 campaign group, along with students from Newport Girls’ High School, launched a resource book for schools and colleges. The book looks at the history of recent genocides, talks to survivors and tries to identify common patterns behind the causes of genocides to try and help prevent future tragedies. The book can be accessed here:
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Convention, Hamptonians from across the year groups wrote and published a newspaper entitled Genocide Know More, in collaboration with partnership schools: Turing House School, Hampton High, Orleans Park School, Reach Academy, Tolworth Girls School, Pimlico Academy and Newport Girls’ School.
United Nations International Day of Commemoration and Prevention of Genocide
In the lead up to the United Nations International Day of commemoration and prevention of genocide Hampton School’s Genocide80Twenty group will be publishing a series of interviews with prominent survivors, activists or journalists in the field. The students have been working on their awareness raising project for several years and would like more young people to know about these terrible crimes so that they can be prevented.
Learn about the importance of studying Genocides by clicking on the links below:
Nadia Murad Nadia Murad: Yazidi Genocide survivor.
David RohdeDavid Rohde: Pulitzer Prize winner and National Security Investigations Editor for Thomson Reuters
Dr Azeem IbrahimDr Azeem Ibrahim: Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Policy
Jonathon Miller Jonathon Miller: Asia Correspondent for Channel 4 News
69th anniversary of the Genocide Convention
To mark the UN’s Genocide Day on 9 December 2017, Hampton’s Genocide80Twenty group wrote a letter to newspaper editors. The letter is also signed by 17 survivors of recent genocides.