Rwanda genocide: UN ashamed, says Ban Ki-moon
April 8, 2014
President Paul Kagame and UN chief Ban Ki-moon lit the torch[/caption]
The UN is still ashamed over its failure to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said.
He was addressing thousands of people in the capital, Kigali, as Rwanda began a week of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide. Many people were overcome by emotion during the ceremony, with some suffering fits. At least 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus – died at the hands of Hutu extremists. The killings ended ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Mr Ban lit a torch which will burn for 100 days – the length of time the genocide lasted. A diplomatic row has prompted Rwanda to bar France’s ambassador, Michel Flesch, from attending the event, AFP news agency reports.The week of mourning began with a wreath-laying ceremony at the national genocide memorial, followed by the lighting of a flame at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, where UN peacekeepers protected thousands of people during the genocide.
The torch has been carried across the country for the past three months, visiting 30 districts and passing from village to village. Thousands of people packed the stadium, having queued for hours through the fog, reports the BBC’s Charlotte Attwood from the scene. Many of them reacted with uncontrollable emotion to the stories, speeches and performances recalling the genocide, our correspondent says. Some of them had to be led out of the stadium while others had fits, she adds. [caption id="attachment_9087" align="alignright" width="300"]
Mr Kagame said Rwanda was “completely broken” after the genocide, but it had managed to unite itself.
“It [the genocide] simply should never have happened,” he added. Other international leaders present include Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, former South African President Thabo Mbeki and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, now an advisor to the Rwandan government. On Sunday, hundreds of people attended a Mass at Sainte-Famille Catholic church in Kigali to remember those who died in the church itself and elsewhere. A spokesman for the Rwandan government said France would not be represented at the events to mark the genocide. Mr Flesch told AFP that he had received a telephone call from the Rwandan foreign ministry to “inform me that I was no longer accredited for the ceremonies”. Earlier, the French foreign ministry said Mr Flesch would represent France at the events after Justice Minister Christiane Taubira cancelled plans to attend following an accusation by Mr Kagame that France had participated in the mass killings. France was a close ally of Mr Habyarimana’s government. In an interview with the French-language weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Mr Kagame denounced the “direct role of Belgium and France in the political preparation for the genocide”. He also said that French troops had taken an “active” part in the killings. [caption id="attachment_9088" align="alignleft" width="300"]
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The UN Secretary General did the right thing by regretting the inability of the UNO to do more to stem the tides in Rwanda in 1994. Kudos to the Rwandans for doing all to put the sad events behind them
This is only possible if the people of Rwanda and their leaders can work to create a conciliatory forum where the perpetrators can come forward and atone for the mayhem they caused on their brethren. They should talk more and kill the deep rooted anger some of these people are still harbouring.
France instead of babbling should muster the courage and try to decipher what went wrong and use this as a stepping stone to relinquishing her strangle hold on Africa. If not, she would wake up one morning to discover her roof on fire from these same African colonies. Belgium is silent over the accusations probably because there is absolutely something wrong and France that was at the fore has the temerity to complain.
The UN have realized its shortcomings in Rwanda should make hay and take the situation in the Central African Republic under full control and not wait until it is out of hand to tender a belated apology. Meanwhile, let all Africans open their eyes and stop playing second fiddle in matters concerning them.