Can Genocide Be Forgiven?

Ending a genocide is one thing. Picking up the pieces which remain is another.

Read an interview with Jean Paul Samputu, a Rwandan man whose family was killed during the 1994 genocide by a friend and neighbor.

Although it took some time, Samputu has finally found peace, healing, and reconciliation through forgiveness of the man who committed such atrocious acts against his family. Even today, Samputu calls the man his friend.

By forgiving him, I was healed…it’s a cycle of violence. A cycle of hatred. It’s generations. The world, where we live, carries the wounds of not forgiving and future peace depends on what we do with that.

Samputu is now an ambassador of peace in Rwanda. He will take part in the country’s international forgiveness conference to be held this month.

To learn more about Rwanda’s 100 days of genocide in 1994, click here. Approximately one-tenth of the country’s population was killed.