Rwanda Genocide: 'It Simply Should Never Have Happened' - Rwanda's President
The genocide "simply should never have happened," said
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame while addressing people in the capital,
Kigali, as the country began a week of official mourning to mark the
20th anniversary of the tragedy.
Thousands
of people packed the Amahoro Stadium. Many of them reacted with
uncontrollable emotion to the stories, speeches and performances
recalling the genocide.
20 years ago at least 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus – died at the hands of Hutu extremists.
The killings ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country.
Kagame said Rwanda was "completely broken" after the genocide, but it had managed to unite itself.
UN personnel in Rwanda during the genocide showed "remarkable bravery", Ban said.
The
torch has been carried across the country for the past three months,
visiting 30 districts and passing from village to village.
A diplomatic row has prompted Rwanda to bar France's ambassador, Michel Flesch, from attending the event.
Shortly before the ceremony, in an interview with the French-language weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Kagame denounced the "direct role of Belgium and France in the political preparation for the genocide".
He also said that French troops had taken an "active" part in the killings.
This leaves us with the big question, when will strife, hatred, injustice and war ends?
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63870.html
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Rwandan
President Paul Kagame delivers his speech during the commemoration of
the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, in Kigali, April 7, 2014.
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The emotions and memories were too much for some of the crowd to bear
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The killings ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country.
Kagame said Rwanda was "completely broken" after the genocide, but it had managed to unite itself.
"We did not need to experience genocide to become a better people. It simply should never have happened," he said.Also speaking at the ceremony, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said the UN is still ashamed over its failure to prevent the genocide.
UN personnel in Rwanda during the genocide showed "remarkable bravery", Ban said.
"But we could have done much more. We should have done much more. "[T]roops were withdrawn when they were most needed," he added.Kagame and Ban lit a torch which will burn for 100 days – the length of time the genocide lasted.
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President Paul Kagame and UN chief Ban Ki-moon lit the torch
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A diplomatic row has prompted Rwanda to bar France's ambassador, Michel Flesch, from attending the event.
Shortly before the ceremony, in an interview with the French-language weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Kagame denounced the "direct role of Belgium and France in the political preparation for the genocide".
He also said that French troops had taken an "active" part in the killings.
This leaves us with the big question, when will strife, hatred, injustice and war ends?
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63870.html
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