Rwanda: Ten years after the genocide
During the horrific 100 days that followed April 7, 1994, the international community refused to intervene as its Rwandan brothers and sisters were butchered and subjected to innumerable physical and psychological indignities such as gang-rape and sexual mutilation. Ten years later, the shame of our inaction then continues to haunt our collective conscience.
Today, as the international community reflects on the many ways it failed Rwanda, it is troubling to note that we remain no further advanced in our abilities to prevent such atrocities from recurring. To its credit, Canada's emphasis on the doctrine of "responsibility to protect" is seen as one of the few tangible steps toward strengthening international resolve to defend civilian populations against gross human rights abuses like genocide.
Rights & Democracy's work in Rwanda began prior to the genocide and continues to this day. We remain committed to supporting Rwanda's human rights advocates in their various efforts to build a society based on trust, tolerance and respect for the rule of law.
In particular, through its work with the Coalition for Women's Rights in Conflict Situations, Rights & Democracy is committed to ending impunity for gender crimes that occurred during the Rwandan genocide and ensuring that the perpetrators of sexual violence are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The Rwandan genocide was the grim book-end to a century scarred by mass murders on heretofore unknown scale. Only through the international community's inflexible commitment to ending impunity for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity can we truly hope to establish the primacy of human rights and the rule of law and prevent future atrocities on the scale of those which engulfed Rwanda 10 years ago.
For More Information
Please contact Steve Smith (ext 255) or Louis Moubarak (ext 261) at Rights & Democracy, 514-283-6073.
