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KIGALI, April 7-- Lighting the flame of hope and laying wreath, Rwandans on Saturday marked the start of the 24th commemoration of the 1994 genocide with calls for keeping telling the truth of that history. Rwandans and friends of Rwanda all over the world joined the small central African country to remember the genocide that claimed about 1 million lives of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Rwandan President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame and the dean of foreign diplomatic corps laid a wreath at the genocide victim's mass grave that houses more than 250,000 remains of the genocide victims. Later, Kagame and the First Lady lit the flame of remembrance at the Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi in Kigali, the country's capital. Representative of the genocide survivors and families of the victims also laid a wreath at the victim's mass graves. The flame of remembrance will burn for 100 days until July 4, the date when the genocide was stopped by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), now Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF). Kigali Genocide Memorial is home to over 250,000 genocide victims and has three permanent exhibitions to document the 1994 genocide. This year's genocide commemoration is observed under the theme "Remember, Unite and Renew." Speaking at the event to kick-start commemoration activities, Kagame said the truth about genocide in Rwanda holds key to sustainable unity and reconciliation among Rwandans. | 
