The Rwandan community in India and friends of Rwanda on Wednesday, April 10, observed the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in New Delhi, India.

The event organised in collaboration with the United Nations office in India, was attended by over 600 people including government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, those from the local business community, civil society, Rwandans and friends of Rwanda in the country.

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In her remarks, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to India Jacqueline Mukangira elaborated on the root causes of the Genocide against the Tutsi, its execution, the country's journey of national unity and reconciliation, as well as the achievements recorded in after the Genocide, in which more than one million lives were lost.

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Mukangira noted that commemoration is an opportunity to honour Genocide victims, comfort the survivors and pay tribute to Rwandans who stopped the Genocide and liberated the country.

She also expressed gratitude to all countries that stood with Rwanda in its recovery journey, reaffirming the commitment to peace and human rights.

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Mukangira urged governments to allocate locations for memorial sites to preserve the memory of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and called on the international community to recommit to preventing and fighting Genocide and other serious crimes by apprehending and prosecuting Genocide fugitives.

She urged governments to include the history of Genocide against the Tutsi into their school curricula, and to enact laws to punish genocide, and to combat hate speech and genocide-related crimes.

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UN Resident Coordinator in India, Shombi Sharp indicated the importance of remembrance.

"Remembering this dark chapter of human history is both an act of honouring the victims and a solemn reminder of our collective responsibility to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again and to embrace the courage of the survivors,” said Sharp as he read out the message of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Kevin Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to India and a friend of Rwanda, highlighted the international community's failure to prevent the Genocide against the Tutsi.

"The world stood idly by as we watched the slaughter of a million people. It was a massive failure of the international community,” Kelly said.