On Genocide Anniversary, Rwanda’s President Comes For World Leaders Who Did Nothing

KIGALI, RWANDA - APRIL 7: The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, lights a flame to start of 100 days of remembrance as Rwanda commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide on April 7, 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda.

KIGALI, RWANDA – APRIL 7: The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, lights a flame to start of 100 days of remembrance as Rwanda commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide on April 7, 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Photo: Luke Dray (Getty Images)

Thirty years ago the Rwandan genocide ripped through the African nation, killing hundreds of thousands of people. On Sunday, Rwandan President Paul Kagame commemorated the horrific tragedy, while also sharing a message pointed at the rest of the world.

During a commemoration event in Kigali, President Kagame blamed the international community for not intervening during the genocide, which took the lives of tens of thousands of Tutsis and perceived sympathizers.

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“It was the international community which failed all of us, whether from contempt or cowardice,” said Kagame.

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In April of 1994, extremists began carrying out a mass killing of the minority Tutsi population in Rwanda. Over 800,000 thousand Tutsis and perceived sympathizers were brutally murdered and millions more were displaced in 100 days as the world watched.

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The genocide was ended in July of that year by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which was mostly comprised of Tutsi refugees, including now-President Kagame, who has led the nation for decades.

Rwandan officials have previously called out the Western world for failing to do anything to prevent or stop the genocide despite the warning signs and their own role in stoking ethnic tensions that erupted into mass violence.

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Some world leaders have acknowledged their nation’s failures. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton called the genocide a failure of his administration. And ahead of the anniversary, French President Emanuel Macron acknowledged his nation’s failure to intervene.

“France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, lacked the will to do so,” he said in a pre-recorded video message that was released on the Sunday anniversary.