“O The 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide is an opportune and urgent moment to take stock of the progress made, both nationally and internationally, towards holding accountable the suspects who planned, ordered and carried out these horrific crimes”, says the Organization No -Government (NGO) defending human rights, in a statement released today.
“It is even more urgent to do so and accelerate efforts to prosecute the remaining genocide suspects, as several genocide planners and masterminds have already died and one of them – Félicien Kabuga – has been declared incapable of standing trial”, adds the organization.
One of the “lessons” left by the genocide is related to the fact that the international community “did not pay attention to the clear signs” that the atrocities committed in 1994 were being prepared, despite the multiplication of warnings to that effect from Rwandan and international human rights organizations, diplomats, United Nations officials and others.
A genocide was being planned in the period leading up to April 1994 and “governments and intergovernmental bodies, including the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity [agora União Africana]”, not only did they “fail to act to stop the genocide as it unfolded”, but “the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda withdrew most of its troops at the height of the massacres, leaving the Rwandan civilian population defenseless” , highlights HRW.
“Despite the passage of time, victims deserve to see those responsible for genocide and other crimes arrested and prosecuted in fair and credible trials”, says the executive director of HRW, Tirana Hassan, quoted in the statement.
“The genocide in Rwanda continues to be a stain on our collective conscience and, 30 years later, lessons can still be learned from the actions – or lack thereof – of world leaders in the face of ongoing atrocities”, adds the activist.
On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying the President of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down over the capital of Rwanda, crashing in the gardens of the presidential palace in Kigali.
The accident marked the beginning of three months of ethnic killings across Rwanda on an unprecedented scale, killings that lasted for several months, inside and outside the country’s borders.
A significant number of individuals responsible for the genocide, including former high-level government officials and other key figures behind the massacres, have since been brought to justice, and more than a dozen cases against genocide suspects are being prosecuted in national courts. across Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
However, in recent years, several high-profile alleged masterminds of genocide have died or, in the case of an alleged planner, been declared incompetent to stand trial, highlighting the “urgent need to continue seeking justice”, argues HRW .
The organization is releasing a series of files that highlight “the efforts of human rights defenders in Rwanda and abroad to raise awareness of the planned 1994 genocide and try to prevent the deaths.”
“The documents painfully illustrate the refusal of the main international actors to recognize the massacre of more than half a million people and to act to put an end to it”, highlights the human rights organization.
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