New York, NY (PRWEB) April 29, 2015 -- Date: Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 Time: 9am-7pm
Press Conference New York: 9am-12pm, 1 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
Event Ceremonies: 12pm-7pm, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, 163 West 125th St. New York, NY 10027
The Collective of Survivors and Victims of the 1972 Hutu genocide with the sponsorship of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and the Canadian Center for International Justice (CCIJ) announces the second international conference on East Africa’s first documented genocide, committed in silence and without prosecution or punishment: the 1972 Burundi genocide against the Hutu people. The conference will take place in New York City on Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 from 9am to 7pm beginning with an interfaith celebration. The Collective cordially invites all journalists and all representatives of media to attend and hear testimonies on the plan and execution of this genocide, and how it has been kept hidden for over 40 years.
The timing of this conference coincides with the Remembrance Day of the 43rd anniversary of the 1972 Burundi genocide. The Collective is organizing this second International conference with the following objectives:
- Breaking silence on the 1972 genocide against the Hutu people and other atrocities
- Requesting the United Nations to recognize the 1972 Burundi Genocide against the Hutu people
- Educating the public on this grievous injustice
- Supporting the establishment of an impartial Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Burundi
- Requesting the United Nations to speed up efforts to empower the Commission to tell the truth about the 1972 genocide against the Hutu people and other atrocities
It is believed by members of the Collective that sustainable peace in Burundi can be achieved only through a combination of truth, reconciliation and justice.
Facts on the 1972 Hutu genocide: In the spring and summer of 1972, the Michel Micombero regime arrested and executed more than 200,000 men, women and children whose only crime was being of the Hutu ethnic group. Thousands of individuals still lie forgotten in over 500 mass graves still. (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/006/1977/en/ Amnesty International Report 1977, November 10, 2014)
Patrick Melady, Former US Ambassador for Burundi testifies on these mass graves in his book Burundi: The Tragic Years: “Our plane circled over the lake on May 25, when Melady was leaving for a new assignment…I noticed the area near the airport where, according to reports received from reliable sources, thousands of Hutus had been buried in a mass grave...”
According to David Schwegman of the University of Connecticut, “Research on genocide studies has not been equitable across all genocides. Some genocides – Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda – are widely studied and researched... Other genocides, in the world…have become “Forgotten Genocides”. ... In an attempt to remedy this historical neglect, the focus of this paper is one of the Forgotten Genocides” - the 1972 genocide against Burundian Hutus”. (Schwegman, David, "The U.S Government and the 1972 Burundi Genocide" (2011). Holster Scholar Projects. Paper 8.)
About the Collective:
We are a collective of Burundian survivors, victims and families of the genocide against the Hutu people of 1972. We work together to contribute to the rehabilitation activities for the dignity of all innocent victims of genocide. We do not lie in our testimonies. We are not inventing our stories. We state what we saw and experienced. We are treating our emotional wounds, looking toward a future where justice will prevail and the infractions incurred by all victims will never be forgotten.
Additional information about the Collective International is available on our website: http://www.genocidehutu1972.org Email: info(at)genocidehutu1972(dot)org
Contact: Dr. Levi Rukundo, Email: [email protected] // Tel:(646) 288-8682
Levi Rukundo, Collective of Survivors and Victims of 1972 Hutu Genocide of Burundi, http://www.genocidehutu1972.org, +1 646-288-8682, [email protected]
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