Commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda
April 7, 2010 UNOG

Speakers:

Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General United Nations :
Ms. Pillay asks the room to stand up in Memory of the Rwandan victims and reads the speech Ban Ki Moon had addressed to the audience which stresses: we should never forget what has happened in Rwanda, and that this tragedy was predictable. He trusts the ICTR to continue its work and deliver justice. He acknowledges that progress has been made in the Great Lake region thanks to the historic Pact on Security, Stability, and Development.

Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Secretary General United Nationas Office Geneva:
The international community was unable to prevent genocide in Rwanda 16 years ago. The promises of help and assistance of UN Institutions taken a few years ago should be fulfilled at last, and he stresses that these crimes should never be committed again. Mr. Ordzonikidze trusts Rwandans’ capacity of resilience. To conclude, he said Rwanda has met most of the Millennium Goals, as well as showing a true empowerment of women. Reconstruction has impacted the country’s trust, stability, and peace.

Ms. Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights:
Hatred, genocide and war crimes still exist throughout the world. Ms. Pillay welcomes the courage and resilience of the 1994 genocide survivors. She remembers how the OHCHR established their first presence on the ground a couple of days after the beginning of the troubles in Rwanda. She stresses that in the future; there should be no more separation, but inclusion. She also emphasized that Rwanda has made progress towards gender equality by reducing the gender gap in order to overcome related violence. Nondiscrimination and gender equality has seen progress over the past 16 years, and is now widely promoted in Rwanda. The Security Council has given the ICTR until the end of this year to conclude its prosecution on war crimes. Capital punishment has now been abolished in the country.

Mr. Francis Deng, Special Advisor on Genocide:
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda took over 800,000 victims. Mr. Deng personally went to Rwanda 3 months after the beginning of genocide, and what he saw is still haunting him.
However, attention should now be drawn to survivors. The International community should not forget the genocide, or its failure to prevent it. Genocide can and must be prevented. Whenever there is a risk of genocide, Mr. Deng’s office immediately takes action.
As genocide is an extreme form of identity conflict, equitable access to power and justice should help to prevent. It is a challenge to manage ethnic diversity in Rwanda.

Ms. Venetia Sebudandi, Ambassador of Rwanda:
As the UN peace keepers left, the Rwandan people were abandoned. This is an occasion to think about the failures that occured at that time. In 1994 for 100 days innocent men, women and children of the Tutsi ethnicity were killed.

With this commemoration we are focusing on the survivor’s trauma. Many organizations are taking care of survivors, but not much has been done to date by UN institutions. We are currently rebuilding the judicial system. The aim is to focus on special crimes such as revisionism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes. Traditional community justice should help; suspects should confess their crimes, admit their guilt, and ask for forgiveness. The National Reconciliation aims at peace and justice. Crimes against women occurred a lot during the genocide and this is still a cause of major trauma for these women. The ICTR established in Arusha (Tanzania) is still working on all the crimes committed during and after the genocide. It has already made some extradition demands to European countries for those involved in the atrocities, however, this process is long and difficult; the Reconciliation process will take time. Despite this, great steps have been taken. For instance, tolerance has been mainstreamed into education, and all school children have free access to education.  Rwanda is also participating in some peace keeping, e.g. in Darfur.
As for conclusion, SEMs Sebudandi says:”Never again”, we owe this to the victims.