World should fight Genocide denial, says Mushikiwabo

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, has condemned Genocide revisionism and urged the world not to look at Genocide as a tragedy that happened in Rwanda but as a crime against all humanity. Mushikiwabo was speaking in London at a Global Conversation on the upcoming 20th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The conversation, dubbed “The UK Remembers”, attracted several British politicians, including Jack McConnell, a member of the UK House of Lords, as well as MPs Andrew Mitchell and Stephen Twiggs, amongst others. “We should look at the Genocide against the Tutsi as a crime against all humanity and although it took place within Rwandan borders, its implication presents a vexing challenge to all persons of good conscience,” Mushikiwabo said. Mushikiwabo recalled that the Genocide was neither unexpected nor spontaneous but the outcome of a deliberate, state-orchestrated campaign to dehumanise a portion of the Rwandan population. “On April 7, 1994, decades of official discrimination, vilification and violence against Rwanda’s Tutsi population culminated in one of the most brutally efficient killing sprees in human history,” she said. She added that although the world expected total state failure characterised by aid dependency and unrelenting ethnic violence after 1994, Rwanda rose against the odds to become a beacon of development and unity. “The ethnic ideology that promoted hatred and triggered off Genocide was a toxin that found its way into Rwanda’s bloodstream. It brought us to our knees. It threatened our viability as a nation. But it did not prevail. That is why as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Genocide, we are proud to have a prosperous nation,” she told the gathering. The event was among many global conversations taking place in the lead up to the commemoration period. Mushikiwabo said these discussions are about addressing essential questions and offering historical clarity on what truly happened.

National

World should fight Genocide denial, says Mushikiwabo