Survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda observed a moment silence at the Kigali Genocide Memorial to honour the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide and expressed solidarity with survivors and those who lost loved ones in the 1995 massacre in a video message.

“Today, we remember the genocide in Srebrenica, (which took place) just a year after we survived the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. We remember more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims murdered simply because of who they were. We remember those who survived and we stand with you. We remember that denial is the final stage of genocide. And when we tell our story, we refuse to let yours be forgotten,” the survivors said.

They said that they remind visitors at the Kigali Genocide Memorial of the Srebrenica Genocide as well, “because those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them.”

“Though we are far apart, our shared experience unites us. You’re our sisters and brothers, you will always be in our hearts.” By honouring the memory of the lives that were lost we can educate future generations, they said, as they lit candles in silence to honour the victims.

The Kigali Genocide Memorial is run by the British NGO Aegis Trust, which campaigns to prevent genocide worldwide.

“Looking at Rwanda’s Genocide against the Tutsi and Bosnia’s Genocide at Srebrenica – not forgetting the concentration camps in Prijedor and Herzegovina, the massacres in Zvornik, Visegrad, Bijeljina and many other places, or the rape-camps in Foca – we understood very clearly that lessons from the Holocaust had not been learned,” said Dr James Smith, the founder and Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust.

Dr Smith will bring together genocide survivors from Rwanda and Bosnia for the public webinar ‘From Kigali to Srebrenica’ where the will “explore shared experience, consider the legacy of genocide in their countries and discuss what lessons need to be applied today.”