Rwanda commemorates 30 years since genocide
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Rwandan President Paul Kagame expressed that it was the world community that failed Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide out of "cowardice or contempt."
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Family photographs of some of those who died in the Rwanda genocide hang in display in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali, Rwanda on April 4, 2024. (AP)
Rwandan President Paul Kagame paid respect to the victims of the Rwandan genocide on Sunday, citing that the international community "failed" his country at the time in 1994.
Kagame spoke in Kigali at an event commemorating the 100-day genocide that killed 800,000 people, primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus, saying his country had been "completely humbled by the magnitude" of the loss and that the lessons learned had been "Engraved in blood."
"It was the international community which failed all of us, whether from contempt or cowardice."
Kagame's audience included former US President Bill Clinton, who in the past referred to the genocide the "biggest failure" of his administration.
The solemn ceremonies begin on April 7 every year and last for a week, the day Hutu militias began their slaughter in 1994. Kagame laid wreaths on mass graves and lit a rememebrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where over 250,000 victims are thought to be buried. Each year, additional mass graves are discovered in the country.
France a refuge for genocidaires
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to issue a statement on Sunday, saying that France and its Western and African friends "could have stopped" the killing but lacked the courage to do so.
France has emerged as a favored refuge for individuals involved in the Rwandan genocide seeking to evade prosecution in their home country. Rwanda has criticized Paris for its reluctance to extradite or prosecute these individuals.
From 2014 onwards, France has taken legal action, resulting in the trial and conviction of six individuals, including a former intelligence chief, two former mayors, and a former hotel chauffeur.
African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed that "no one, not even the African Union, can exonerate themselves from their inaction... Let us have the courage to recognise it, and take responsibility for it."
Rwanda reports that hundreds of individuals suspected of genocide are still at large, including in neighboring countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. Only a total of 28 have been extradited to Rwanda.
