Rwanda
Introduction
Already more than 20 years we as a publisher are involved in Laws and Wars around the world. Our main topics were Human Rights and International Criminal Law. Almost 12 years ago we started to work together with academics and volunteers that were involved in the genocide that took place in Rwanda.
In 2011 we published the Dutch version of the book: The Men who killed me. In that book we published testimonials of victims of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
In 2019 we published the "second" edition of this book, in cooperation with IMPACT and Mukomeze. The authors of the first edition in 2008 went back to Rwanda in 2018 and interviewed the victims again. What happened in those 10 years with them? In the book And-I-Live-On you can read the stories of 2008 and 2018/19 and you will discover many surprising issues.
EXHIBITION
On Sunday 6 February 2011, the exhibition 'The men who killed me' opened at the National Monument Camp Vught about the fate of survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Some of their stories symbolise the plight of Rwandan victims of sexual violence, whose families were often murdered before their eyes.
Gaze-catchers in the exhibition are enlarged portraits of the eyewitnesses, created by Canadian photographer Samer Muscati.
On April 7, 1994, all hell broke loose in Rwanda. In 100 days, Hutus murdered a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus and raped an estimated quarter to half a million women and girls. These were mostly Tutsi women, but also moderate Hutus and (on a smaller scale) men and boys. The Tutsis had to be wiped out, was the idea. Not only by murder, but also by raping Tutsis. Sexual violence was used as a very effective means of removing Tutsis: babies born to rape were given the ethnicity of the Hutu rapists; many women were (deliberately) infected with HIV to die a slow death, and many died from brutal sexual violence or suffered lifelong physical and psychological problems. After the genocide, 70% of survivors were HIV positive and are often looked at by their environment. The murderers of their relatives and their rapists are now often free.
Our member of Parliament Ferrier received the first copy of the Dutch book that we published and she spoke interesting words. As Ferrier said, "after 1945 we agreed as an international community - NEVER AGAIN - but the Rwanda genocide shows that we have failed".
In 2019 we published the second version of this book: And I Live On and we also produced a small exhibition where you can see a selection of the victims of the genocide from 2008 and how they feel, act and survive now. When you click on EXHIBITION you will enter into a small example of the exhibition.
MAMA LAMBERT
One of the most important witnesses and victims of the Rwanda tragedy is our friend Mama Lambert.
She published with us her biography in Dutch and English and she presented the first copy of the book And I Live On to the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng at the Peace Palace in April 2019.
The books of Mama Lambert
For those who do not believe in miracles
The resilience of a Rwandan woman who survived the genocide
Mama Lambert & Hans Dekkers
2nd Edition 2019
Upon coming face-to-face with death, Beata escapes its fearsome grasp at the last moment. This hair-raising escape alone justifies the book’s title, ‘For those who do not believe in miracles’, a biography of Beata Mukarubuga.An almost unbelievable tale of the horrors of the genocide that broke out in 1994 in Rwanda, as seen through the eyes of Beata, a Tutsi woman and one of its victims. She was on the run for three months with her one year-old son, Lambert,on her back.She survives the terrible slaughter, but loses everything dear to her. Now she faces the nearly impossible task of building a new future for herself all alone. But Beata shows amazing resilience, leaves the name ‘Beata’ behind and goes forward in life as Mama Lambert.The reader follows her difficult journey in which forgiveness, reconciliation and strong faith are the healing powers that form the basis for her renewed existence and rightly give the book its title ‘For those who do not believe in miracles.’
Mama Lambert (1952) has been the head of counseling of Solace Ministries in Rwanda since 2002, where she supports genocide survivors in coming to terms with the genocide. She found the courage to resume her studies and in 2015 she successfully completed a university course in theology at the ‘Rwanda Institute of Evangelical Theology’. Hans Dekkers (1946) from the Netherlands wrote down Mama Lambert’s life story.
Voor wie niet in wonderen gelooft
De veerkracht van een Rwandese vrouw die de genocide overleefde
Mama Lambert & Hans Dekkers
2e editie 2019
Oog in oog met de dood, ontkomt Beata op het allerlaatste moment aan zijn fatale greep.Deze huiveringwekkende ontsnapping alleen al rechtvaardigt de titel van het boek ‘Voor wie niet in wonderen gelooft’, een biografie over het leven van Beata Mukarubuga. Een bijna ongelooflijk verhaal over de gruwelen van de genocide die in 1994 in Rwanda uitbreekt en waar ook Beata, een Tutsi-vrouw, slachtoffer van wordt. Drie maanden is ze op de vlucht met haar eenjarige zoon Lambert op de rug. Ze overleeft de verschrikkelijke slachtingen, maar verliest alles wat haar lief is.Voor haar ligt nu de schier onmogelijke opgave om in haar eentje aan een nieuwe toekomst te bouwen. Beata toont echter op bewonderenswaardige wijze haar veerkracht, laat de naam Beata achter in het verleden en gaat voortaan als Mama Lambert door het leven.Als lezer volgen we haar moeizame weg naar boven, waarbij vergeving en verzoening, en een sterk geloof de helende krachten zijn die de basis vormen voor haar hernieuwd bestaan en waardoor het boek terecht de titel meekreeg ‘Voor wie niet in wonderen gelooft’.
Mama Lambert (1952) is sinds 2002 hoofd counseling van Solace Ministries in Rwanda waar ze genocide-overlevenden ondersteunt bij de verwerking van de genocide. Ze bracht de moed op om weer te gaan studeren en rondde in 2015 haar universitaire studie theologie aan het ‘Rwanda Institute of Evangelical Theology’ met succes af. De Nederlander Hans Dekkers (1946) tekende haar verhaal op.
AND I LIVE ON
The Resilience of Rwandan Genocide Survivors of Sexual Violence
Edited by Anne-Marie de Brouwer,
Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Eefje de Volder &
Samer Muscati
Photographs by Samer Muscati
Foreword by Patricia Viseur Sellers
ISBN: 978-94-6240-600-1
In the 100 days of genocide that ravaged the small East Central African nation of Rwanda between April and July 1994, approximately 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed, and an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were raped, as well as an unknown number of men and boys. Almost all Rwandan women who survived the genocide were victims of sexual violence or were profoundly affected by it, and an astounding 70 per cent of survivors are living with HIV.
And I Live On: The Resilience of Rwandan Genocide Survivors of Sexual Violence features searing testimonials from Rwandan survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi 15 and 25 years after the horrific events of 1994. Through their narratives and Samer Muscati’s powerful portraits, these women and one man bear witness to the crimes committed in their country and to the suffering they continue to endure. The testimonials also showcase the survivors’ extraordinary strength, courage and resilience—challenging the stigma they face both as survivors of sexual violence and as people living with HIV. In speaking out, they provide a glimpse into the worlds of survivors living with the genocide’s legacy decades after a conflict. Their stories, along with the accompanying text, make an indelible impact.
Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book will go to Mukomeze, a charitable organisation established to improve the lives of Rwandan genocide survivors of sexual violence, including those featured in the book.
To look for more information there is a special website about this book. Click here