By Nicola Smith - 6th April 2004
European Commissioners have held a minute’s silence in memory of nearly one million people who died in Rwanda’s genocide ten years ago.
Starting on April 7 1994 around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by Hutu militias after the plane of ethnic Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down.
“Coming after the Holocaust, this must strengthen us in our duty to remain vigilant and defend the fundamental values of human rights, tolerance, freedom and respect for and protection of minorities,” said a statement from European Commission chief Romano Prodi.
“War, misery, poor governance and underdevelopment have created conditions that allowed racial hatred to turn into genocide,” Prodi added.
Rwanda will mark the genocide in a series of vigils and a main ceremony to unveil a memorial where the remains of 200,000 people have been buried.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for a worldwide minute of silence at midday on Wednesday.
But as Kigali remembers the massacres of ten years ago, it remains torn between grief for 800,000 lost lives and anger at the world’s failure to intervene and stop the killing.
Rwandan leaders have also been angered by the absence of prominent Western leaders at today’s memorial service.
With the exception of Belgian leader Guy Verhofstadt, other major Western powers are only sending junior officials to the Rwandan capital.
Washington is sending Pierre Richard Prosper, the US roving ambassador for war crimes, and France will be represented by its junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has repeatedly criticised the outside world for failing to stop the 100-day slaughter despite warnings that ethnic Hutus were planning the genocide.
The US, Belgium, France and the UK were singled out as culprits at a genocide conference in Kigali this week and the former UN commander in Rwanda accused Western states of bearing responsibility.
Canadian General Romeo Dallair said France, which led the small international peacekeeping force at the time, the UK and the US did not care enough to intervene.
“It’s up to Rwanda not to let others forget they are criminally responsible for the genocide,” he said at the conference, reported by the BBC.
Human rights groups say it will be impossible to prevent the recurrence of such genocides as long as powerful nations are indifferent to the turmoil of poorer countries.
Amnesty International also urged the Rwandan government and the international community to provide compensation and justice for the genocide victims.
“The foundation for further conflict and insecurity will remain in place until the Rwandan government honours its proclaimed commitment to human rights,” it said in a statement.
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