Rwanda's 'forgotten' genocide

2003-04-09 10:15

Addis Ababa - The African Union (AU) held an ecumenical religious ceremony late on Monday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, in which up to a million people were killed in a government-orchestrated ethnic cleansing campaign.

The date of "April 7, 2004, will be commemorated by the Commission of the AU as a day of remembrance of the victims of the genocide in Rwanda and the reaffirmation of African resolve to prevent and fight genocide on the continent", said Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Girogis.

Over the course of 100 days in 1994, beginning April 7, government troops and allied militia unleashed a well organised killing spree that left up to a million Tutsis and Hutus opposed to the genocide dead.

"This ceremony commemorates an event that most of the world has totally forgotten," said Gerard Kaplan, a Canadian professor and author of a report entitled "Rwanda: the genocide that could have been prevented."

"We can be sure that CNN will not interrupt its coverage of the war in Iraq," lamented Kaplan.

"I represent those who believe that this is the world's second betrayal of Rwanda. The first was committed during the genocide itself," he said, referring to the failure of the international community to intervene in 1994.

"We must learn lessons from the Rwandan tragedy and regard the genocide not as a singular historical event but rather as a collective failure to learn from history," said Rwanda's ambassador to Ethiopia, Pascal Ngoga.

"The wounds are still open," said Vatican Apostolic Nuncio Silvano Tomasi.

"We are here because we do not want to see a repetition on the continent," said AU Commissioner Lawrence Agubuzu.

- AFX