NEWS RELEASES

March 26, 2004 (11:15 a.m. EST) No. 47

GRAHAM CO-HOSTS MEMORIAL CONFERENCE ON RWANDAN GENOCIDE

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham today co-hosted the Memorial Conference on the Rwandan Genocide at United Nations headquarters in New York. Minister Graham was joined by Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande in chairing the event, at which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered the opening address. The conference commemorated the 1994 Rwandan genocide and focused on changes to the international system necessary to prevent future occurrences of genocide.

"As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, it is important for us all to honour the victims of this terrible tragedy and to look for ways to prevent future acts of genocide and other humanitarian atrocities," said Minister Graham. "We must not forget that this genocide represents the international community's failure to enforce fundamental and widely agreed-upon humanitarian obligations."

The Minister emphasized the need to focus international attention on the principles outlined in The Responsibility to Protect, the final report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. The Commission, which was established by Canada, was launched in September 2000, in response to a challenge from Secretary-General Annan for the international community to revisit its role and responsibility in responding to humanitarian crises such as those in Rwanda, Srebrenica and Kosovo. In December 2001, Canada presented the report, which proposed a new approach to the issue of intervention for human protection. It stresses the responsibility of sovereign states to protect their own populations, and argues that when states are unable or unwilling to ensure such protection, that responsibility falls to the international community. Canada has been actively promoting consideration of the report and its principles.

April 7, 2004, marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide. Approximately 800,000 people were killed over a period of a few months in 1994.

For more information about The Responsibility to Protect, please visit

www.iciss-ciise.gc.ca.

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