100-day mourning to commemorate one of humanity's worst ethnic genocides

The Rwandan Government declared 100 days of national mourning to remind the world of the shadow of the genocide in which more than a million people were murdered in Rwanda, in a period of 100 days –between April and July 1994–.

To commemorate 30 years of the genocide in Rwanda, this April 7, Paul Kagame, president of the African country, was in charge of leading the event in the capital Kigali, more specifically at the Genocide Memory Center, close to the mass graves of more than 250,000 victims of the massacre.

Various international delegations attended the event, including the presidents of South Africa, Madagascar, South Sudan, Republic of the Congo, among others, as well as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Also present were the president of the African Union commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Among the attendees, attention was drawn to the presence of President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, exactly the same day that marks six months of the war in Gaza and for which the Jewish state faces accusations of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the murder of more than 33,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas.

Bill Clinton, president of the United States at the time of the genocide, also attended the 30-year commemoration. Accusations weigh on his government that Washington had knowledge of what was happening in Rwanda, but He opted for inaction and the withdrawal of UN forces.

According to documents declassified by the Pentagon in 2001, a State Department official warned Warren Christopher, Secretary of State at the time, that the military wanted to take power in Rwanda and that “widespread violence could break out.”

However, on April 15 of that year, the State Department asked US representatives to the UN to seek the withdrawal of the Rwanda Assistance Mission, to which the Security Council voted favorably a week later, receiving all kinds of criticism and condemnations.

France has recognized its political responsibility

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy also attended the commemoration event. Various accusations weigh on his country regarding the genocide in Rwanda and his lack of action to prevent it.

President Emmanuel Macron recognized, on April 4, that together with his Western and African allies they could have “they stopped the genocide, but they did not have the will to do it,” according to a statement published by his office.

Even in 2021, during the commemoration of the 27 years of the genocide, Macron, from Kigali, recognized France's political responsibility in the conflict, which ended with the extermination of 75% of the Tutsi minority, according to estimates by the Rwandan Government. In 2021 Macron said:

France was not complicit, but for too long it has prioritized silence over examining the truth. (…) Only those who have passed through the night can perhaps forgive, give us the gift of forgiveness

The commemoration events will last a week

In addition to the hundred days of mourning, the commemoration program includes the prohibition of large celebrations, concerts and other cultural events, as well as weddings or sports competitions.

For its part, UNESCO recognized four new genocide monuments as part of world heritage in the cities of Kigali, Bisesero, Nyamata and Murambi. The Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, declared:

This means international recognition that what happened in Rwanda is a tragedy, not only for Rwanda but also for the entire international community, all of humanity.

The commemorations will end on April 13 with another event at the Genocide Memory Center, which will remember all the politicians who were also massacred in 1994.

The genocide began after the shooting down of the plane in which the Hutu presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were traveling at the time, Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, respectively.

Subsequently, the Hutu government blamed the assassination on the Tutsi rebels, with whom it had been waging a war since 1990. These, in turn, blamed the Hutu extremists, who were opposed to negotiating and who, finally, were the ones who started the campaign of organized slaughter of the Tutsis.

European leaders expressed solidarity with Rwanda

The European Union (EU) expressed its commitment to the prevention of genocide and sent a message signed by the 27 members of the bloc in which they ask that the memory of this event be maintained. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, expressed:

The EU reiterates its unwavering commitment to the prevention of genocide and any crime against humanity worldwide, as well as its commitment to ensuring full accountability

The letter also highlights the change that Rwanda has undergone since then and the “advances” in governance, economic and social issues and applauded its “path towards transformation.”

About Belgium faces accusations of having spread hatred between Hutus and Tutsis, during the colonial era between 1920 and 1962, a fact partially recognized in 2000 by the former Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt:

I affirm it. The entire international community has an immense and heavy responsibility. I assume here before you the responsibility of my country and of the Belgian political and military authorities. (…) On behalf of my country, I bow to the victims of the genocide. In the name of my country, of my people, I apologize

With EFE, AFP and local media