30 years have passed since the genocide of Rwanda in which 800,000 people were murdered and 150,000 women were raped in less than 100 days. A genocide perpetrated by the Hutus on the Tutsis, which began in Rwanda and whose wounds remain open today.

Patrick, belonging to the Hutu population, was a corporal in the Rwandan army at the time, a time he wants to forget. So he has retired to a small town in the north of the country. The sound of revenge still resonates in his head: “I killed the people I was supposed to protect and I was accused of genocide, but I am now free,” he says.

One of the fastest and cruelest genocides in history was committed in Rwanda, resulting in almost a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu deaths. But this was not achieved only by a downed plane, but rather the seed of hatred was planted long before, as Joan Hakolimana, a witness to the genocide, recalls: “Overnight the Belgians said that Rwandans had to be divided between Hutus and Tutsis“.

For Joan, the worst moment was when she returned to her town. More than 10,000 refugees were hiding in her church, who were murdered in a matter of two days: “They killed them all on a Wednesday. Not one was saved“he remembers; and the only ones who could have done something decided to leave.

30 years after this genocide, the wounds are still open and there are images, like those shown in this video, that are difficult to see without looking away. Images that are too harsh and similar to many that we have lived with daily for six months.