20th commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in Anvers, Belgium on 19 April 2014. Even with the remove of official commemoration, Rwandans in Belgium will still hold commemorative events for our departed everywhere and anywhere. (Photo by) Embassy of Rwanda to The Kingdom of Belgium
There is an old Rwandan saying: No matter how much you boil water, it always goes back to its original state of being cold. This wisdom, passed down through generations, captures a painful truth about Belgium—a country that has, time and again, demonstrated that no amount of diplomatic warmth, historical reconciliation, or political engagement can fundamentally change its nature.
Belgium, whose colonial policies laid the groundwork for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, has once again shown that, despite decades of supposed progress, it remains the same old Belgium.
The latest example of this reality is Belgium’s decision not to hold an official commemoration for the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi this year. The commemorative stele in Liège, erected in 2022 as a symbol of remembrance, will remain untouched by official ceremonies.
Even more telling, a conference organized by IBUKA, which has always taken place within the Belgian Parliament, has now been banished elsewhere.
These actions are not coincidental; they are deliberate signals of Belgium’s true stance on history and justice.
Belgium’s Colonial Legacy and Genocide Ideology
Belgium’s colonial administration played an instrumental role in creating the ethnic divisions that led to the genocide. Its policies of racial classification, identity card segregation, and preferential treatment of one group over another sowed the seeds of hatred that exploded in 1994.
And yet, rather than fully acknowledging this historical responsibility, Belgium continues its pattern of selective memory—offering empty gestures of reconciliation one moment and then actively undermining Rwanda the next.
In recent months, Belgium has taken its hostility to another level, leading a campaign within the European Union, and internationally, to push for sanctions against Rwanda and its officials. This is not merely diplomatic friction; it is a calculated move to punish Rwanda for refusing to remain in Belgium’s shadow.
Belgium resents the fact that Rwanda has rebuilt itself on its own terms, without seeking validation from its former colonizer. It cannot tolerate a Rwanda that is strong, independent, and unafraid to challenge Western hypocrisy.
Father Albert Pagès: The Architect of Hate
But Belgium’s role in Rwanda’s tragic past is not just about colonial administration—it is also about individuals who actively shaped the ideology that led to genocide. One such figure is Father Albert Pagès, a Catholic priest and Belgian colonial agent whose influence was instrumental in fostering the racist ideology that eventually culminated in the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Father Pagès was a leading figure in the Belgian colonial system, particularly in the Catholic Church’s efforts to entrench ethnic divisions. As early as the 1920s and 1930s, he promoted pseudo-scientific racial theories that categorized Rwandans into hierarchical ethnic groups.
His writings and sermons reinforced the idea that the Tutsi were foreign invaders and that the Hutu were the true indigenous population of Rwanda. These teachings were not just theoretical—they laid the foundation for the violent ideology that led to the systematic persecution of the Tutsi decades later.
Under Belgian colonial rule, Pagès and his associates played a key role in crafting policies that marginalized the Tutsi, stripping them of power, property, and rights. His work directly influenced the 1959 so-called “Hutu Revolution,” which saw mass killings of Tutsi and the beginning of their exile.
When the genocide erupted in 1994, it was merely the climax of a long process that Belgium and its agents, including Pagès, had set in motion many years before.
From Father Pagès to Dr Léon Mugesera
But Pagès’ legacy did not die with Rwanda’s independence. His ideology found new voices and new platforms, including that of Dr. Léon Mugesera, a Rwandan politician and academic who echoed the same racial hatred decades later. Mugesera is infamous for his November 22, 1992 speech, where he called for the extermination of the Tutsi, referring to them as “cockroaches” and urging Hutu extremists to throw them into the Nyabarongo River to be sent “back to Ethiopia,” a direct reference to the false colonial narrative that the Tutsi were foreign invaders. Mugesera is currently serving life at Mpanga prison, after being deported by Canada to face justice.
Mugesera’s words were not an accident. They were the continuation of a racist ideology that Belgium had nurtured and left behind like a ticking time bomb.
His speech served as a rallying cry for genocide perpetrators, reinforcing the idea that killing the Tutsi was not just necessary but justified. Less than two years later, the Genocide against the Tutsi was carried out with horrifying efficiency.
Belgium’s Continued Hypocrisy
Despite this undeniable history, Belgium continues to pretend that it bears no responsibility. It conveniently ignores figures like Father Pagès while lecturing Rwanda on democracy and human rights.
Worse still, it shelters genocide suspects, refusing to extradite them to face justice in Rwanda. This hypocrisy is not an accident—it is part of Belgium’s deeply ingrained unwillingness to confront the consequences of its own actions.
The decision to abandon this year’s commemoration is not about logistics or policy changes—it is about Belgium revealing its true colors. It is about a nation that, despite decades of posturing, has never truly changed.
Just like water, no matter how much it is heated, Belgium always returns to its original state of indifference, arrogance, and revisionism.
History has a way of repeating itself, and Belgium has proven that it is incapable of learning from its own past. Rwanda, on the other hand, has moved forward—not by forgetting history, but by owning it, by transforming pain into strength, and by refusing to let the ghosts of colonialism dictate its future.
If Belgium wishes to boil and cool itself indefinitely, so be it. But Rwanda will not wait for it to change. The past may be cold, but Rwanda’s future burns bright.
