Interview de Nicolas Martin, Bourgmestre de Mons
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Transcript
00:00 After the inauguration of the Stelle in memory of the victims of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis
00:07 and the 10 Belgian soldiers of the mission of peace of the United Nations in Rwanda in 1994,
00:15 I interviewed the mayor of the city of Mons, Mr. Martin Nicola,
00:22 who told us how the city of Mons participated in this project,
00:33 finally initiated by the collaboration with Iwuka Memory Justice and the Rwandan community of Mons.
00:45 We listen to Mr. Mayor Martin Nicola.
00:50 We know that Belgium and Rwanda have a special relationship through history.
00:56 Here in Mons, there is an important Rwandan diaspora with several hundred people.
01:02 I have friends in the Rwandan community here in Mons and in Belgium.
01:07 Every year, we commemorate the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis in Rwanda at the city hall of Mons.
01:13 Three years ago, I committed myself to commemorating this genocide in a different way than through an annual event,
01:24 so that we do not forget.
01:26 This is why we decided to make this commemorative stelle,
01:30 both to commemorate the genocide against the Tutsis,
01:34 but also to celebrate the memory of our Belgian Blue Helmets who fell in Rwanda on April 7, 1994,
01:41 as well as all the people who were not Tutsis but who opposed this genocide and who were also victims.
01:48 We really want this city of Mons, which is a university city,
01:52 which is a city with universal values,
01:54 to maintain the best relations with all these communities,
01:58 particularly with the communities of the countries with which we have forged links through history,
02:03 whether it is Rwanda, Congo or Burundi.
02:06 We are very proud of these communities that are an integral part of the city of Mons, of the Montoise population.
02:13 Every year, we commemorate the genocide, but beyond that,
02:17 we try to work on the appreciation of the cultures that make up the richness of the city of Mons.
02:23 I hope to be able to develop many more projects with the Rwandan community here in Mons.
02:28 A little message for a survivor of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis
02:34 who will be waiting for you today.
02:38 I would like to reiterate the disheartening and shameful feeling
02:43 of these events that took place in 1994,
02:46 in the indifference of the international community,
02:49 sometimes even with a certain complicity from certain countries,
02:53 which have made the geostrategic interests prevail,
02:56 which had no place on humanitarian considerations, which were however elementary.
03:01 I think it is important that a generation of political leaders like mine,
03:05 who have come to power after the genocide,
03:07 can mark the blow, show their reproach
03:10 in relation to the positioning of certain Western countries,
03:13 in relation to the leftists and in relation to the horror of these crimes that were committed on the spot.
03:18 I think it is important that today we can still commemorate,
03:22 through Estelle or other symbolic acts, what happened,
03:27 because it is only by knowing our past, that of the entire planet,
03:31 and the events that took place, that we can build a better future.
03:34 And so it is the meaning of the approach that is ours today.
03:37 And I obviously have a very special thought for all the survivors of the genocide
03:42 who have experienced the horror and who, I hope,
03:44 can rebuild their lives today by turning to the future.
03:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]