We are incredibly pleased to announce that Dr Catherine Gilbert has taken over as Chair of Ishami Foundation from Zoe Norridge who stepped down last April. Dr Gilbert is an Academic Track Fellow at Newcastle University. She is an esteemed academic and writer and recently won the SAGE Memory Studies Association Outstanding First Book Award in 2019 with her monograph From Surviving to Living: Voice, Trauma and Witness in Rwandan Women’s Writing. Her exceptional work examined the published testimonies written by Rwandan women genocide survivors. Her latest project explores genocide commemoration and education in the Rwandan diaspora as well as the denial of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

We are delighted that she is joining us at the Foundation, and we look forward to working together to fulfil our core values.

Dr Catherine Gilbert said:

I am honoured to be appointed as Chair of the Ishami Foundation and to follow on from Zoe Norridge’s inspirational leadership as the inaugural Chair. As a young charity, Ishami has an important role to play in promoting survivors’ voices and engaging public audiences across the country. My mission as Chair is to help the Foundation increase collaborations with schools and advocate for the inclusion of teaching the history of recent genocides in the national curriculum. I strongly believe in the power of storytelling to create change and empower communities, and it is a real privilege for me to work with this inspiring team to achieve these goals.

We thank Dr Zoe Norridge for her leadership and support and are delighted that since standing down in April has remained an active member of the Advisory Board with a particular interest in education and storytelling. We also thank Paul Ryumugabe for his role as acting chair over the past seven months.

We are also pleased to announce that Joel Freedman has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Board of Trustees, switching from his previous role as Youth Trustee. We look forward to continuing to work with Joel in his new position.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF

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Rwandans in the UK and around the world welcomed the arrest of key genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga in Paris on Saturday morning (16 May). However, the arrest brings into sharp focus the failure of the UK government to take seriously its international commitments to bring alleged perpetrators of genocide living here to justice.

Genocide is a crime like no other. Those who use their skills, personalities, power and wealth purely to target a particular group for destruction cannot be allowed to walk free if humanity is move forward. That Kabuga was able to evade capture for 26 years is testimony not just to his wealth and powerful friends, but to the total failure by a number of countries to arrest him.

The five genocide suspects currently residing in the UK are not in hiding. But despite the heinous nature of the crimes they are accused of – the mass murder of thousands of men, women and children – they have avoided justice for 14 years and counting. The UK has one of the worst records of any western country when it comes to bringing genocide suspects to justice. It is sincerely hoped by survivors and all right-thinking people that Kabuga’s arrest will stir up a new, positive and urgent determination at Westminster to finally get these individuals in the dock.

Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE, a survivor and Chief Executive of the Ishami Foundation, set up to draw on genocide survivor experience to help us all connect to our common humanity, said:

‘The UK government has denied survivors’ justice by refusing to extradite or put on trial the five accused Rwandan genocidaires. This failure of the UK judicial system increases genocide denial and is a daily affront to survivors, sending out a signal that their pain and suffering does not matter.

We call on the UK and international community as a whole to stand on the side of the victims; to take suspected mass murderers off the streets of the UK and other cities across the world and send them to face justice where they committed the crime. They did not do enough to prevent the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Now they must, even after 26 years, show a renewed commitment to punish the perpetrators.’

Alice Musabende, survivor and Ishami Foundation member commented:

‘I am so happy to hear of Kabuga’s arrest. I hope it serves as a reminder to other fugitives that sooner or later they will have to face justice, their crimes, and their victims. Each and every arrest and trial brings to survivors who live with the intense pain of their loss every day, a little peace and consolation.’

Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE
Founder & CEO
Ishami Foundation

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BBC insistence on incorrect genocide terminology erodes trust in Rwanda

Dear Lord Tony Hall,

BBC SPORTAFRICA this week aired a special issue devoted to my story of surviving the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In it I talk about how football saved my life and show how I’ve gone on to use sport and storytelling to build peace through my charity, the Ishami Foundation. The story is beautifully filmed and sensitively told: the collaborative nature of the project is evident.

However, despite us having been clear throughout the process that using the correct terminology to describe the genocide – “the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda” – was essential for myself and the other Rwandans who appear in the film, this week the programme was aired with the incorrect wording the “Rwandan genocide”. This decision ignores the wishes of survivors, the Rwandan government and the UN, who in 2018 agreed to adopt the terminology “the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda”. The main reasons for the change in wording are to avoid ambiguity about the group that was targeted and to combat genocide denial. “Rwandan genocide” is a term which can offend survivors because it has become associated with negationism and disproved theories about a double genocide.

As you are no doubt aware, the BBC is only just beginning to rebuild trust in Rwanda following the airing of “Rwanda: The Untold Story” – a documentary that was widely condemned by academics and the Rwandan community for repeating these disproved theories about a double genocide and giving a platform to discredited researchers to repeat misinformation about the scale of the genocide against the Tutsi. Because of the way “Rwanda: the Untold Story” misled Rwandan contributors and encouraged denial, the Rwandan government has been very cautious about granting media permits to the BBC to record in Rwanda. As part of the filming authorisation for the SPORTAFRICA programme the BBC agreed that the government department responsible for genocide prevention, CNLG, would be shown a final version of the programme. This was indeed the case. However, the BBC shared a version of the film with the correct terminology with both CNLG and myself before then going on to broadcast a different version with incorrect​ ​wording. This appears to be a deliberate betrayal of trust and a breach of Article 3 of the contract signed between

December 9^th 2019 marks 71 years since the signatories to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide vowed to end identity-based violence against groups. But genocide remains a reality in many parts of the world including Darfur, Syria and Myanmar.

This year for Genocide Prevention Day Joel Freedman, Youth Trustee for the Ishami Foundation, has produced a video asking viewers to take action to learn about the past and prevent further violence.

According to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, 53% of people in the UK cannot name a genocide since the Holocaust. How can we stop genocide when we are not aware of its ongoing presence around the world? There are lessons to be learned from Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and beyond. Genocide is planned. This also makes it preventable.

In the film survivors Eric Murangwa Eugene (Rwanda), Sabit Jakupovic (Bosnia), Ruth Barnett (Holocaust) and Amouna Adam (Darfur) talk about their lives before genocide and how these lives were destroyed by violence. They remember waiting for help and their feelings of being abandoned by the international community. We can help protect innocent people targeted because of their identity by asking national governments and international organisations to take concrete action.

Ishami Foundation Youth Trustee Joel Freedman, a History undergraduate at Bristol University explains why he made the video: “Going to a Jewish school I learnt about the Holocaust from a young age. But I was shocked to discover, aged 16, that genocide didn’t end in 1945. Genocides continued throughout the second half of the twentieth century. That’s when I knew that I had to take action to help prevent future violence against people based on identity and beliefs. This year, four genocide survivors and Ross Green of Greenie Films gave their time free of charge to work with me to make this happen.”

We need to come together to resist the growing division, racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism in the UK today. Goldsmiths academic and Ishami Advisory Board member Dr Keon West asserts:“I fight prejudice in my work, in my home, and in myself, remembering that there is no uncrossable gulf between the slightest act of dehumanisation and the most brutal act of genocide; they’re just steps on the same unbroken path.”

Ishami Foundation CEO Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE comments: “For us survivors, seeing young people like Joel taking action to raise genocide awareness gives us hope for the future. We know only too well the costs of discrimination and prejudice. Genocide destroys lives. Let us come together to learn from survivors’ experiences and work towards a more peaceful, tolerant society.”

Quotations about the convention from 70+ genocide survivors, educators, politicians, activists and artists are available on the Ishami Foundation website: https://ishamifoundation.org/genocide70/

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

• Ishami Foundation CEO Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE emurangwa@ishamifoundation.org or 07730 538 729
• Ishami Foundation Youth Trustee Joel Freedman joel.freedman@ishamifoundation.org
• Ishami Foundation Chair Dr Zoe Norridge zoe.norridge@kcl.ac.uk

NOTES TO EDITOR

The video is available to view on YouTube: https://Youtu.be/VqXa3XQxnGc

It will be released to the public through Facebook and Twitter on Monday December 9^th through @FoundIshami.

The Ishami Foundation draws on genocide survivor experiences to connect us all to a sense of our shared humanity. For more about our work please see: www.ishamifoundation.org

UN Genocide Prevention Day is marked every year on December 9^th, the anniversary of the adoption of the Genocide Convention.

May 14th 2019

Ishami Foundation

Survivors who fled horror back home to rebuild their lives in London join the Mayor of London and 25 London schools for the 25th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

On May 20th 2019 students and teachers from 25 London schools will join a workshop at London’s City Hall to meet survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and reflect on what we can learn from Rwanda in London today. This is the culmination of months of activities in schools. The afternoon ends with a formal commemoration service attended by schools, Rwandans in London and Londoners connected to Rwanda.

In the early 1990s, co-founders of the Ishami Foundation Eric Murangwa Eugene and Jo Ingabire Moys never dreamed London would one day be their home. They were living with their families in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, aware of mounting tensions but hoping peace would prevail.

When the President’s plane was shot down and the genocide against the Tutsi began on April 7th 1994, Eric was a national hero – the goalkeeper for Rwanda’s biggest football club, Rayon Sports. Eric survived the genocide, hidden by his football teammates. Jo was just five years old when she witnessed her father, brother and two sisters being killed in front of her but survived multiple gunshot wounds after a neighbour came to help the family.

Whilst Jo and Eric went into hiding, over a million people were killed in just 100 days. The international community looked on and failed to take action. The genocide was eventually stopped by the RPF – an army made up of Rwandan exiles. But whilst most Rwandans and the new government wanted to build peace, there were attacks on remaining survivors by rebel groups intent on continuing the genocide for years to come.

Fearing for their lives, Jo and Eric moved to London where they joined a growing Rwandan community who were still recovering from the trauma of genocide and the pain of leaving home. Eric, inspired by the bravery of his fellow teammates, dedicated himself to genocide education and sport for development and peace. Jo studied hard through school and university and became a film industry professional. Having met through family friendships and genocide education activities, in 2015 they decided to found Survivors Tribune – an organisation supporting survivors of recent genocides to speak about their experiences in public. In 2018 Survivors Tribune joined with Eric’s sporting organisation Football for Hope Peace and Unity to form the Ishami Foundation. Eric and Jo believe there are lessons we can all learn from Rwanda. Lessons about: how divisions begin and escalate; the human cost of polarisation; and the inspiring way in which Rwandans have built peace after terrible violence.

Dr Zoe Norridge, Senior Lecturer in African Literature at King’s College London and Chair of the Ishami Foundation Board of Trustees, comments: “Ishami’s aim is to draw on genocide survivor experience to connect us all to a sense of our common humanity. This is all too relevant for students in London schools. We live in precarious times: there is a very real danger that racism and the far right will cause ever greater divisions within our communities. We believe that hearing from people who have lived through the consequences of such divisions helps young people to take action to stand up to prejudice and hatred.”

Eric Murangwa Eugene, Ishami Foundation CEO explains: “We currently work with survivors, schools and universities all over the country – from St Andrew’s to Cardiff, from Brighton to Birmingham. But for the 25th commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi we wanted to focus our efforts on the capital and bringing schools together at City Hall to meet with survivors and reflect on the past. London has been my home for over twenty years. I’ve seized the chance to work with the Mayor’s team to connect this city with lessons from Rwanda, the country of my birth.”

Ishami Foundation partnered with Hampton School and King’s College London to produce teaching resources explaining the history of genocide alongside stories from survivors and other young people whose lives were changed in 1994. Many of these accounts came from work being done by Jo Ingabire Moys for her 100 Stories for 100 Days project, which focuses on Rwandans telling their stories in their own words.

Andy Lawrence, Head of History at Hampton School, says such stories were a key motivation for him to join the project: “The genocide against the Tutsi is still hardly taught in schools. After my students study the Holocaust it is tempting for them to think that the calls for ‘Never Again’ were heeded. The events in Rwanda in 1994 prove to them that the world didn’t learn, that genocide can still take place today. This project is unique in bringing students from across London together to interact with survivors. Meeting a survivor is the most meaningful learning experience my students will have all year. I can teach them the facts of the genocide but hearing directly from someone who lived through such horrific events takes their learning to a completely different level.”

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The genocide in Rwanda was one of the most horrific periods in modern history. To prevent a repeat of the genocide it’s vital that the world learns from survivors’ stories and remembers its harrowing legacy.

“I’m proud that London was able to give a home to many of the survivors and thank the Ishami Foundation for their great work in sharing their stories.

“London’s diversity is our greatest strength, but with divisive rhetoric gaining traction in public life, the unity and tolerance which makes our city so special must never be taken for granted. It is more important than ever that we stand together against prejudice and stamp out hatred.”

The survivors, for their part, feel heard, feel that sharing their stories with the next generation is one of the most important things they can do. On May 20th, 25 years after many of the Ishami Foundation founders, trustees, advisory board and speakers lost members of their immediate and extended family to genocide we will join together to remember the victims and reflect on how we can learn the lessons from Rwanda.

December 3 2018
Ishami Foundation

On the 70^th anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention survivors, educators and public figures warn that we still need to learn the lessons of the past

December 9^th 2018 marks the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Ishami Foundation have brought together 70 survivors, genocide educators, politicians, activists and artists to mark the anniversary and raise awareness of the ongoing need to take action to address genocide. These public figures will be tweeting messages explaining what the crime of genocide means to them from 9am on Sunday December 9^th.

In his message, Professor Philippe Sands, international lawyer and author of East West Street, explains: “Genocide is the only international crime that recognises the right of a group to exist and to be protected”. However, the failure of the international community to act to prevent and punish has meant that genocides continued throughout the twentieth century, even after the creation of the convention.

Joel Freedman, Ishami Foundation youth trustee and Bristol University history undergraduate, who initiated this campaign, comments: “Going to a Jewish school I learnt about the Holocaust from a young age. But I was shocked to discover, aged 16, that genocide didn’t end in 1945. Genocides continued throughout the second half of the twentieth century. That’s when I knew that I had to take action to help prevent future violence against people based on identity and beliefs.”

Genocide survivors participating in the campaign talk about waiting for help and their feelings of being abandoned by the international community. Rwandan survivor Alphonsine Kangabo comments: “As a History teacher in Rwanda I taught WWII & the genocide convention. I never dreamt genocide would happen in my country. I thought the international community would prevent it. I was wrong.” The effects for the lives of survivors in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur have been and continue to be devastating.

Ishami Foundation CEO, Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE, a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, explains: “The Ishami Foundation draws on genocide survivor experiences to connect us all to a sense of our shared humanity. The messages we’ve collected stress the need to come together to prevent violence and see justice done. This seems to be more and more urgent in our increasingly polarised times.”

Dr Zoe Norridge, Ishami Foundation Chair and King’s College London academic adds: “In 1948 the world was horrified by the slaughter of six million Jewish people during the Holocaust. Europe was in ruins. There was a desire to stand up and prevent such violence from ever happening again. Today as we see the rise of the far right across Europe and consider changing our ties to the continent the need to learn from the past remains pressing.”

Many of the messages connect genocides of the past with ongoing violence in Darfur, Myanmar and beyond. Anthony Levin, Australian Human Rights Lawyer and Poet, grandson of Holocaust survivors reflects: “At 16 my grandmother didn’t know the word Auschwitz. By 18 – she did, cradling her ashen faced mother. Today I can barely grasp it, or the meaning of #Rakhine. Compassion is my teacher, my bulwark.”

Activists warn of the need to guard against all forms of prejudice, starting without ourselves and our own attitudes towards others. Goldsmiths academic, Jamaican Social Psychologist and Ishami Advisory Board member Dr Keon West asserts: “I fight prejudice in my work, in my home, and in myself, remembering that there is no uncrossable gulf between the slightest act of dehumanisation and the most brutal act of genocide; they’re just steps on the same unbroken path.”

On Sunday December 9^th 2018 we invite the public to share these messages of remembrance, hope and warning to help raise awareness of the UN Genocide Convention, alongside past and ongoing genocides. Paying attention to the vital importance of this historical document is the first step towards mobilising public opinion to call for greater efforts to prevent and punish genocide.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

• Ishami Foundation CEO Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE emurangwa@ishamifoundation.org
• Ishami Foundation Chair Dr Zoe Norridge zoe.norridge@kcl.ac.uk
• Ishami Foundation Youth Trustee Joel Freedman joelfreedman99@gmail.com

NOTES TO EDITOR

Messages will be released on Twitter from 9am on Sunday December 9^th 2018 through @FoundIshami with the hashtags #Genocide70 and #GenocidePreventionDay.

Messages will also be available on our website at: www.ishamifoundation.org/genocide70

For a sample or full list of messages in advance of December 9^th please e-mail: info@ishamifoundation.org

The Ishami Foundation draws on genocide survivor experiences to connect us all to a sense of our shared humanity. For more about our work please see: www.ishamifoundation.org

March 15 2018
Waging Peace and Football for Hope Peace and Unity

Football brings together genocide survivors from Rwanda and Darfur to remember the dead and honour survivors of the Grenfell Tower Fire

On April 15th 2018, Rwandans, Sudanese, and other survivors of genocide and mass violence will gather together at the White City Tiger Turf for London Play2Remember, a 5-a-side football tournament to remember the dead and honour the living.

This annual event is collaboration between Waging Peace, who campaign against human rights abuses in Sudan, and Football for Hope, Peace and Unity(FHPU), who use sport to build lasting peace in Rwanda.

Maddy Crowther, Co-Director of Waging Peace, explains that “April 2018 is a crucial date because it marks fifteen years since the start of the genocide in Darfur. But sadly violence in Sudan is far from over. We must continue to call out the ongoing brutality and challenge UK and wider European moves to normalise relations with the regime regardless of its human rights record.”

April also marks the twenty-fourth anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Commemorations will be held across the world in the preceding week to remember over a million people who lost their lives.

In the spirit of standing alongside survivors, this year London Play2Remember also acknowledges the sorrow and outrage experienced by members of the West London community, who lost friends and family members in the nearby Grenfell Tower Fire that killed 71 residents. Many of the people living in Grenfell were refugees themselves, having fled war-torn countries and sought sanctuary in the UK.

Survivors of genocide, state violence, and disaster know what it is like to see their world destroyed: to lose loved ones, photographs of loved ones, treasured memories, and a whole way of life. In dark times, Waging Peace and FHPU want London Play2Remember to be a meeting place where people can learn more about the power to inspire, to unite, and create hope where once there was only despair.

FHPU founder, Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE, believes sport has a crucial role to play in rebuilding communities and promoting tolerance, teamwork, critical thinking and active citizenship. Himself a Rwandan survivor, Eric comments: “Football to me is a symbol of life. My passion for the beautiful game started when I was a little boy following my father to watch his beloved club Rayon Sports. That club later took me on as a professional football player. My team-mates saved my life during the genocide and their bravery, alongside my love of football, gave me my life’s purpose. Sport has tremendous power to unite where there are divisions, to heal where there are wounds.”

This year London Play2Remember takes place on Sunday April 15th from 12-5pm. Players, spectators, children, local council representatives, MPs, members of the community, and all those interested in promoting reconciliation and togetherness through sport are welcome. The event starts with a group warm-up for all – players and spectators alike – and a special “football for social impact” demonstration. At the end of the tournament we reconvene to hear from survivors about the importance of remembrance and building community.

Waging Peace’s Co-Director Sonja Miley comments “We hope London Play2Remember participants will leave with a new understanding of what each of us can do to reach out to survivors and bridge divides. Our goal is to encourage affected communities to integrate and become active citizens fighting prejudice, intolerance and hatred, using sports as a tool. For people in the midst of suffering, this hope is instrumental for moving forward.”

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:
FHPU – 07730 538 729 or e.murangwa@fhpuenterprise.org
Waging Peace – 020 3752 5815 or maddy.crowther@wagingpeace.info

NOTES TO EDITOR

London Play2Remember is open to men, women, and mixed teams 18+. 10 players per team.

Advance registration for players is through Eventbrite at: https://londonplay2remember2018.eventbrite.co.uk
Families are welcome and there is space for children to have a friendly kick-about.

The event is not-for-profit; any proceeds will be used to cover running costs and the work of FHPU and Waging Peace with vulnerable survivor, migrant, and refugee groups.

The FHPU website is: http://fhpuenterprise.org/
The Waging Peace website is: http://wagingpeace.info/