After months of difficulty finding members willing to join its leadership committee, Ibuka-USA, a non-profit organization incorporated in Delaware, last week announced a new team of six leaders to guide the organization for the next four years. The group brings fresh faces but also faces criticism that, like other Ibuka chapters, it is an extension of the ruling RPF and too close to the regime. That makes it hard to advocate for survivors, especially when the regime’s interests clash with ours. Can this new leadership overcome that?
At the helm of the new committee is President Marcel Mutsindashyaka, an IT executive at a college in Cleveland, Ohio. Marcel, who has been actively involved in survivor organizations in Rwanda, like AERG and GAERG, is known for his entrepreneurial drive, and from what I know of him, he doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations. His leadership style marks a shift from his predecessor’s and makes him a promising choice for Ibuka-USA.
The rest of the team includes Vice President Favorite Iradukunda, a professor at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Mireille Ishimwe, a Doctor of Pharmacy in Indianapolis, who will serve as the Social Affairs officer; Luck Ndunguye from Phoenix, Arizona, as secretary; Nicole Karekezi Umurerwa from Portland, Maine, as a committee member; and Paul Rukema as treasurer.
Ibuka-USA, founded in 2020 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, aims to support and advocate for the genocide survivors who now live in the United States. The organization aspires to be an umbrella body for other survivor non-profits and individuals in the U.S., similar to its parent organization, Ibuka-Rwanda. This goal is not, however, universally accepted by local survivor groups in the U.S., which have long organized commemoration events and other activities for survivor welfare and genocide education independently.
Globally, there are many Ibuka chapters operating independently from each other, including in Europe, where the first Ibuka was established in 1995 in Brussels, Belgium. These chapters are credited with sustaining the commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi by organizing annual events, working with host countries to erect memorials, combating genocide denial, and promoting genocide education through conferences and other initiatives.
However, critics argue that Ibuka groups, both in Rwanda and abroad, often align too closely with the Rwandan government, even when this alignment conflicts with the interests of survivors. For instance, Ibuka has been known to support government actions against critics but to remain silent when one of its own members is harmed, whether by the regime for dissent or by released genocide perpetrators.
Ibuka chapters abroad are also accused of being influenced by the Rwandan government through its embassies, which exert tight control over these groups. This relationship challenges their independence and hampers their ability to advocate effectively for survivors, especially when Ibuka-Rwanda itself operates under severe political constraints.
These dynamics have made many survivors hesitant to engage actively with Ibuka chapters, often limiting their involvement to annual commemoration events. A common perception is that the group is politically aligned and lacks independence, which may explain why Ibuka-USA had difficulty attracting survivors to its leadership committee, despite considerable outreach efforts. Survivors critical of the government often face ostracism and even loss of membership, reinforcing a belief that supporting the RPF or the current government is expected, while dissent can put one’s survivor status at risk.
Additionally, Ibuka has been used to attack fellow survivors who have formed independent organizations, such as Igicumbi – Voix des Rescapés du Génocide des Tutsis, which the Rwandan regime opposes because it cannot control it. Nearly all Ibuka groups were pressured to align against this new organization, which again shows the regime’s influence over Ibuka.
Still, the new committee has a real chance to build its independence and bridge political divisions among its members. It can work with the government without breaking the solidarity of survivors who share the same loss and trauma.
The name “Ibuka,” meaning “remember” in Kinyarwanda, was coined by Eugene Mutabazi, a Rwandan living in Belgium during the genocide who lost many family members.
The new leaders will have to work through all of this if they want to truly advocate for survivors and honor those we lost. The big question is whether these new faces can overcome the old problems that have held Ibuka back. Ends.
Albert Gasake, September 12, 2024.
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