Kigali

Kigali (Kinyarwanda: [ciɡɑlí]), with population of more than 1 million (2012), is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation. The city has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of Rwanda are located in the city, as are the government ministries. The city is coterminous with the province of Kigali City, which was enlarged in January 2006, as part of local government reorganisation in the country. Kigali's city limits covers the whole province, it is consolidated. The city's urban area covers about 70% of the municipal boundaries.

History

Kigali was founded in 1907 by Dr. Richard Kandt under German colonial rule, but did not become the capital until Rwandan independence in 1962. The traditional capital was the seat of the mwami (king: Musinga, Rudahigwa and Kigeri IV) in Nyanza, while the colonial seat of power was in Butare, then known as Astrida. Butare was initially the leading contender to be the capital of the new independent nation, but Kigali was chosen because of its more central location. Since then the city has grown very quickly and is now the major political, economic and cultural centre of Rwanda.

Peterborough Memorial Centre

The Peterborough Memorial Centre is a 4,329-seat multi-purpose arena in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Built in 1956, it is now home to the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League and the Peterborough Lakers of the Major Series Lacrosse league.

The Peterborough Memorial Centre is a single-pad arena. It is most noted for having a large stage to the south end of the arena and a large portrait of the Queen painted by notable local artist David Bierk hanging above the ice. It is named in honour of the many war veterans who came from the region.

Along with hockey, the arena has hosted many events from trade shows, summer fairs, to lacrosse games and corporate Christmas celebrations for large industries such as Canadian General Electric.

In 2003, the Memorial Centre was renovated adding 24 luxury box suites, improved concessions, a licensed restaurant, new seats, boards, scoreboard and the addition of air conditioning. In late 2005 the building added a full video scoreboard.

Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre

The Kigali Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, commemorates the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The Aegis Trust, the UK-based genocide prevention organization, was invited to establish the Kigali Genocide Memorial in partnership with the Kigali City Council and the Rwandan National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG). It was opened in April 2004, the tenth anniversary of the start of Rwanda’s genocide. It is now the hub of the Aegis Trust’s ongoing work in Rwanda. Audiovisual and GPS documentation projects are in progress, recording and substantiating survivor testimony and recording the Gacaca trial process. Since its opening, the Memorial has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, including local Rwandans, young people and young leaders from around the Great Lakes region, politicians from the Great Lakes region and beyond — from countries throughout Africa and from the wider international community.

Aegis Trust's initial commission from the Kigali City Council was to develop the memorial site, where up to 250,000 genocide victims were buried in mass graves, into a memorial centre and permanent exhibition for the benefit of survivors and young people. Having successfully completed this project, the Aegis Trust now manages the Kigali Genocide Memorial and has been asked to develop it into an internationally significant site with a school of education. Project development and fundraising for this development are currently in progress.

Genocide

Genocide is the intent to systematically eliminate a racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural or national group. Well-known examples of genocide include the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, the Cambodian Genocide, and more recently the Rwandan Genocide, the Al-Anfal Campaign, and the Bosnian Genocide.

Etymology

Genocide has become an official term used in international relations. The word "genocide" was not in use before 1944. Before this was established, Winston Churchill referred to it as a crime with no name. In that year, a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin, described the policies of systematic murder founded by the Nazis as genocide. The word genocide is the combination of the Greek word "geno" (meaning tribe or race) and “caedere” (the Latin word for to kill). The word is defined as a specific set of violent crimes that are committed against a certain group with the attempt to remove the entire group from existence or to destroy them.

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states. The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946.

Like the UN as a whole, the Security Council was created following World War II to address the failings of another international organization, the League of Nations, in maintaining world peace. In its early decades, the body was largely paralyzed by the Cold War division between the US and USSR and their respective allies, though it authorized interventions in the Korean War and the Congo Crisis and peacekeeping missions in the Suez Crisis, Cyprus, and West New Guinea. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, UN peacekeeping efforts increased dramatically in scale, and the Security Council authorized major military and peacekeeping missions in Kuwait, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.