Accessing material from the Genocide Archive of Rwanda

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Periodical article

Title:	Accessing material from the Genocide Archive of Rwanda
Author:	Williamson, Caroline
Year:	2012
Periodical:	African Research and Documentation (ISSN 0305-862X)
Issue:	120
Pages:	17-24
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Rwanda
Subjects:	genocide archives access to information
Abstract:	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 testimonies, the 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. This article is based on the author's 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. The author discusses the challenges she encountered with respect to accessing the materials and how these were overcome. The main issues concerned: 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. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract]