HISTORY

The Genocide Archive of Rwanda (GAR) is a project that was initiated by Aegis Trust, a UK-based genocide prevention organisation.

It was founded in 2000 by Drs James and Stephen Smith, who also founded 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 to warn of the threat of genocide globally, to develop steps to prevent the escalation of these threats and to build the political will for preventative steps to be taken. The Aegis Trust UK is based in Laxton, Nottinghamshire and has a satellite office in London. Aegis-Rwanda operates from Kigali and is a registered NGO.

In collaboration with Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG), Aegis constructed the Kigali Genocide Memorial (KGM) which was officially opened on the 7^th of April 2004, in time to host the 10^th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The Centre is a permanent memorial that serves as a place where people can come to grieve the ones they lost. It also serves as a museum where visitors, both local and international, can learn about the history of the genocide.

The Centre has three permanent exhibitions which include a history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, a separate children’s memorial, and an exhibition on the history of genocide around the world.

Large amounts of information and material were collected to create these exhibitions, especially for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi exhibition.

After the centre was opened, questions and concerns arose as to what was going to happen to the excess materials that had been collected, but not used in the museum. Thus the idea to develop a documentation center dedicated to preserving the leftover materials was launched in partnership with the University of Texas.

OUR OBJECTIVES

The Genocide Archive of Rwanda was launched officially on the 10^th of December 2010 in the context of International Human Rights Day. This event was the result of years of research and development which is ongoing. It is the first archive of its kind in Rwanda and it sets high standards for artifact and memory preservation.

The collections currently housed within the Genocide Archive of Rwanda consist of a wide range of materials including photographs, physical objects, audios, videos, testimonies, documents and publications, and interactive GPS mapping data. Our materials are well preserved and accessible locally to those who visit the archive in Kigali, as well as globally through this website. Disseminating information about the Rwandan Genocide not only contributes to the preservation of its memory, but also serves as an educational tool to teach future generations, facilitate in depth research, and encourage the rest of the world to deeply engage in genocide awareness and prevention. 

Our objectives at the GAR are:

• To collect all forms of material related to the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, sourced from libraries, academic institutions and survivor organizations around the country, as well as from individual donors.
• To preserve our collections according to international standards.
• To provide access to our collections on a global scale.
• To encourage students, teachers and researchers to use our collections as teaching material for present and future generations, primarily to teach about the history of the genocide, the dangers of genocide denial, and the importance of genocide prevention.
• To train other institutions in how to properly preserve their archival materials and help build their capacity in archive management.

The GAR also includes a publicly accessible reference library containing scholarship on all major 20^th century genocides, a digital viewing facility providing local and international visitors with an opportunity to explore our digital collection, and a physical archive with only secured access. The physical archive is both temperatureand humidity controlled, ensuring that collected items are stored safely. This is the only project of its kind in Rwanda and it allows previously inaccessible material to be consulted for personal, educational, and research purposes.

Our collections are constantly expanding as new materials are either collected or donated to the GAR.

Please visit or contact us to find out how you, too, can contribute to our collections or get involved in our causes.