Accessing Material from the Genocide Archive of Rwanda

In 1994 around 800,000 Rwandan people were killed in a hundred days of genocide. The Aegis Trust, a genocide education charity, began collecting testimonies from survivors in 2004 and, in partnership with Kigali City Council, established a national memorial site and archive, known as the Genocide Archive of Rwanda. In addition to the testimonies, this Archive now houses a wide range of materials such as footage of Gacaca court proceedings and annual remembrance ceremonies, maps, historical photographs, colonial documents, propaganda literature, identification cards and other official documents. To increase the accessibility of these archival materials, on 10 December 2010, the Genocide Archive of Rwanda launched its own website (www.genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw), providing members of the international community with an opportunity to explore the digital database. As yet, the digital archive contains only a small number of the testimonies that have been recorded. This means that, although the process of digitisation, transcription and translation into English and/or French is on-going, the vast majority of testimonies can be accessed only by visiting the physical archive in Kigali.This article is based on my experience of working at the Genocide Archive of Rwanda as part of a collaborative research project between the University of Nottingham and the Aegis Trust. My research uses evidence from the testimonies of female survivors to analyse the impact of the genocide on identity. Despite working directly with the testimonies at the Archive for an entire year, I encountered a number of challenges with respect to accessing the materials. This article will discuss these challenges and how they were overcome. The main issues fell into three broad areas including: (1) gaining the trust and cooperation of Archive staff, (2) learning how to handle political sensitivities, and (3) struggling with language barriers and issues relating to translation.Relationships with Archive staffThe vast majority of staff members at the Archive are survivors of the genocide. Many have family members buried in the grounds of the memorial or photographs of their families in the exhibition. Some have even given their testimonies to the Archive. This gives the staff a strong sense of ownership over the material. Moreover, the permanent members of staff at the Archive have been involved in every stage of its formation. They travel around the country to record testimonies, they organise and store the tapes, and they digitise and transcribe them. In order to access information regarding the contents of the Archive, it is essential to gain these people’s trust and cooperation; however, a lingering mistrust of outsiders makes forging relationships with the Rwandan Archive team less than straightforward.Inside Rwanda, outside forces are justifiably considered to have been influential in causing the genocide. For example, Rwandans blame the legacy of Belgian colonisation for planting the seeds of division among the Rwandan people. France is also perceived to be at fault for supporting President Juvenal Habyarimana’s regime and for arming and training the militia who carried out the killings. During the genocide itself, the United Nations peace-keeping mission visibly withdrew its forces and the international community stood by and allowed the genocide to unfold (Melvern, 2004). In addition, throughout history, Westerners who have come to Rwanda often fail to listen effectively to the voices of local people, which has resulted in oversimplifications, stereotypes and general misunderstandings of Rwandan culture and politics (Thompson, 2007). This, in turn, has led to the popularly held belief among Rwandans that Western people simply cannot understand their culture. In response, Rwandans have become more aloof with Western people, which results in further misunderstandings, thereby perpetuating the cycle.In addition to the more general difficulties in the relationship between Rwandans and outsiders, many Westerners who come to work for the Aegis Trust fail to establish successful relationships with local staff.