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The ICRC in Rwanda
Rwanda in 1994:
a "millimetre of humanity..."
Gruesome statistics can never reflect the full horror of what this country and its people endured during those 100 days... read more

Special features:
  • First-person account by P. Gaillard, the ICRC's head of delegation in Rwanda in 1994
  • Photo gallery: days of horror, moments of hope
  • Legal background on the issue of genocide
  • "Preventing Genocide" – speech by the President of the ICRC, Stockholm, 2004

  • © ICRC/Josué Anselmo/rw-n-00111-06

    The ICRC opened a delegation in Rwanda in 1990, prior to which it covered the country from the regional delegation in Kinshasa.

    The ICRC focuses its activities in Rwanda on the thousands of detainees held in prisons and communal lock-ups and unaccompanied children separated from their families either in 1994 or during the mass repatriations in 1996-1997.

    The organization works with the authorities to incorporate IHL into domestic legislation and school and university curricula. It also supports the development of the Rwandan Red Cross.

    Personnel (2009): 104, including 14 expatriates


    For further information on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, see: International criminal jurisdiction: ad hoc tribunals

    Feature
      23-6-2010
      Rwanda: former child soldier hugs mother at last
      Eight years after having been separated in tragic circumstances, a teenager and his mother have been reunited thanks to the joint efforts of the ICRC and the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC).
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature Includes Photo

      12-4-2010
      Rwanda/Democratic Republic of the Congo: draw me a family!
      Having already lost their father, Azaria and Léonie lost track of their mother as the result of the recurrent violence in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Thanks to the efforts of the ICRC and the National Societies, a family cousin has just taken them in; she lives in Rwanda, their country of origin. Pedram Yazdi accompanied them on their journey.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Congo-Kinshasa)
      Feature Includes Photo

      12-5-2009
      Rwanda: a young girl and her grandmother find each other at last
      After more than 10 years of a long and painful separation from her parents because of war, a young girl found her grandmother, thanks to an ICRC radio announcement.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature Includes Photo

      16-7-2007
      Rwanda: Cyprien helps young Evariste to rejoin family after years of separation
      Cyprien Ndemeye has been a Rwandan Red Cross volunteer for 15 years. For most of that time he has worked to trace and reunite families thrust apart by the tragic events that have shaped Rwanda and the region since 1994. As time passes, memories fade and any information obtained may be too fragmentary to help to reunite a family. Nevertheless, thanks to Cyprien, a young man aged 16 was able to rejoin his family last year.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature Includes Photo

      1-12-2005
      Rwanda: “They took care of Brigitte when no one else did…”
      ICRC employee Jakob Larsen meets Charlotte, an HIV/AIDS educator trained by the ICRC to raise awareness of the virus among co-detainees in Rwanda.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature Includes Photo

      1-12-2005
      Rwanda: ICRC combats HIV/AIDS in prisons
      The ICRC, which frequently visits prisons in Rwanda to check on the conditions of detention, has just completed an awareness-raising campaign on HIV/AIDS for some 36,000 detainees. According to Jean-Paul Tuyisenge, who works at the ICRC delegation in Kigali, the results are encouraging.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature

      25-5-2005
      Aline: "Many former detainees speak of a moral debt to the ICRC…"
      Aline Mukamabano was the first local employee to be hired by the ICRC in Rwanda, in 1990. She currently works as administration delegate at the ICRC's regional delegation in Cameroon.
      (The ICRC worldwide\Africa\Rwanda)
      Feature

    International Review of the Red Cross
    Official Statement
      28-1-2004
      Preventing Genocide: threats and responsibilities
      At the Stockholm International Forum, organized by the Swedish government on 26-28 January 2004, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger highlighted lessons that had to be learned from horrors such as the Holocaust and Rwanda.
      (ICRC Activities\Promoting IHL)
      Official Statement

    Photo Collection
      30-3-2004
      Rwanda 1994: days of horror, moments of hope
      Between April and July 1994 the population of Rwanda experienced a nightmare; hundreds of thousands failed to survive it. Selection of photographs by Claude Gluntz of the Swiss magazine L'Illustré, Thierry Gassmann, Josué Anselmo and Patrick Fuller of the ICRC.
      (Info resources\Photos\Africa)
      Photo Collection Includes Photo

    More in this section
    Other site
      23-2-2005
      International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
      News. Information on Tribunal (annual reports to General Assembly, bulletins, map of Rwanda). Basic texts. Library (list of publications, resources, etc.) Access to database containing the Court proceedings
      (Info resources\Other sites\International law)
      Other site


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    2-09-2010