KIGALI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda began a week of commemoration on Monday to mark 31 years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group.

President Paul Kagame and first lady Jeannette Kagame, alongside the dean of the diplomatic corps accredited to Kigali, the country's capital, and representatives of survivors, laid wreaths at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the resting place of over 250,000 victims.

Kagame and Jeannette then lit the "Flame of Remembrance" at the memorial, a symbol of hope and resilience, to light for 100 days, the span of the genocide.

Speaking at the event, Kagame assured that the genocide will never happen in Rwanda again, not because those who planned and facilitated it will not try to do so again, but because Rwandans have chosen to stand together and so that it never happens again.

"What didn't kill us and finish us 31 years ago, has hardened us, prepared us for the bad things that will always come anytime. We will not die without a fight like last time," he said.

Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement Jean-Damascene Bizimana said the colonialists who legitimized ethnic divisions among Rwandans played a significant role in preparing the genocide.

He called on countries around the world to fight genocide denial and bring to justice genocide fugitives living in their countries.

Freddy Mutanguha, a survivor who was 18 years old in 1994, recalled how he was discriminated against at school as a Tutsi, how his family was persecuted in western Rwanda's Rutsiro district, and how he survived after the genocide.

"Through our pain, we have found purpose; through remembrance, we have found strength," said Mutanguha, who works at the Kigali Genocide Memorial site.

In 2014, the United Nations and the African Union designated April 7 as a day of remembrance for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Over a span of just 100 days in 1994, more than one million people -- primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus -- were slaughtered by Hutu extremists. Enditem

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