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Since taking power in July 1994, the Rwandan government has undertaken an ambitious social engineering program intended to prevent future ethnic violence in the country. Believing that the 1994 genocide grew out of problems rooted deeply in Rwandan culture, the government has implemented a series of policies to foster a unified national identity, encourage respect for rule of law, create a socially responsible citizenry, and promote a democratic political culture. The government has used trials, public addresses, commemorations and memorialization, school programs, re-education camps, and new national symbols to shape the collective memory of Rwandan history. Through these policies, the regime hopes to transform how Rwandans understand their social identities and replace them with a unified national identity. At the same time that the government is seeking to force the population to come to terms …