History

The Genocide Archive of Rwanda was created by Aegis Trust, an international organisation working to prevent genocide and mass atrocity. Aegis was founded in 2000 by brothers Dr James and Dr Stephen Smith, founders of the UK’s first Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre in 1995. Aegis was created in response to the genocide crises that took place during the 1990s in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo. It was established to apply lessons learnt from previous genocides and warn the world of the threat of genocide. It fights against genocide by building the political will to take preventive action against mass atrocities. In Rwanda, Aegis is based in the capital Kigali and works across the country.

In collaboration with Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG), Aegis built the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The centre was officially opened on 7 April 2004 to mark the tenth commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The memorial is the final resting place for 259,000 victims of the genocide and serves as a place where people can grieve for their loved ones and pay their respects. It also serves as a museum where visitors, both local and international, can learn about the history, implementation and consequences of the genocide. The centre has three permanent exhibitions which include a history of the genocide, a children’s memorial, and an exhibition on the history of some genocides around the world.

Large amounts of information and material were collected to create the exhibitions at the memorial. After it was opened,  there were concerns about what was going to happen to the additional materials that had been collected but not used. As a result, a documentation centre was established and the Genocide Archive Rwanda was launched.