Our Duty Never to Forget What Happened in Rwanda in 1994
Very few people who don’t understand the history of ethnic tensions in Rwanda and the surrounding regions couldn’t have seen what was to come after the Presidential jet carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira was blown off the sky as it approached the airport in Kigali.
That event exactly 15 years ago was the catalyst to the worst crime on humanity that most of us have witnessed in our generation. In fact, the assassination of the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi is just one aspect of a deep rooted and historic conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi people of Rwanda.
You have to go back as far as 1957 to get a sense of some of the historical aspects that led to the 1994 genocide, including the build up to the genocide itself.
Many observers from all walks of life have argued and debated the facts and figures in this case, including the death toll and statistics involved, as well as the impact and effects. However, unlike with the Nazi genocide of the second world war or the genocide of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge, authorities of the time in Rwanda made no attempt to officially record the deaths.
However, It’s hard to disagree with James Smith from the Aegis Trust who points out that: “What’s important to remember is that there was a genocide. There was an attempt to eliminate Tutsis — men, women, and children — and to erase any memory of their existence.“
Not least because there are lessons to be learnt from the Rwandan experience, I believe it is our duty to make sure that the world doesn’t forget what happened in 1994 in Rwanda.
I wouldn’t be doing any justice by trying to capture or articulate a perspective of what actually happened and why we should make an effort of remembering it on this day. However, I highly recommend reading this comprehensive and chronological account of the events before, during and after the Rwandan genocide to get a sense of why what happened should never be forgotten.
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Tags: Rwanda Genocide
April 11th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I think the saddest part is that besides a few well placed tsk tsks most didn’t really take the time to understand the genocide, and without truly understanding the psyche behind such an atrocity, how can we really prevent it from happening again?
April 11th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Loco, its for that very reason that we should tell our kids and tell them to tell their kids so that people understand why such a genocide can never be allowed to take place again.
At one point in early 2008, Kenya was headed that direction. Most of the ingredients were in place from perceived and historical tribal prejudices and inequalities, politicians who were prepared to use all means necessary to grasp and cling on to power, a disenfranchised population who were only concerned with naval gazing, and a trigger in the form of a discredited election process.
The thing that gave me the most confidence about Kofi Annan mediating the talks in Kenya is that when he was reflecting on his time as the UN Secretary General just before the end of his tenure – he made a point of saying that his biggest regret was that the genocide in Rwanda happened on his watch.
Kenya gave him a chance to redeem himself and he was never going to let Kenya slide into an abyss that none of us ever want to think of again.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
great post…
@Kofi Anan was never on watch at all