Kagame blasts UN over genocide
Apr 07, 2009
PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has slammed the cowardice of the international community that “abandoned†his people during the 1994 genocide.
By Raymond Baguma and Agencies
PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has slammed the cowardice of the international community that “abandoned†his people during the 1994 genocide.
Commemorating 15 years after the genocide, Kagame addressed nearly 20,000 people gathered at the Nyanza site in Kigali, a scene where some 5,000 people were slaughtered.
The massacre came four days after a deadly attack on Belgian UN peacekeepers that led the troops to withdraw – which Kagame said made the outside world “guiltyâ€.
“We are not like those who abandoned people they had come to protect. They left them to be murdered. Aren’t they guilty?†Kagame said of those who commanded the UN presence.
“I think it is also cowardice. They left even before any shot was fired. We are not cowards. They (the international community) are part of that history and the root causes of the genocide,†Kagame added.
President Yoweri Museveni in a message hailed Rwanda for rising above the tragedy and focusing on reconciliation and development. Uganda, he said, would continue to stand with Rwanda. He said the genocide was one of the most unfortunate episodes in the history of mankind.
Kagame placed a wreath at the hill site in Nyanza and lit a torch in memory of the one million victims, mainly minority Tutsi and moderate Hutu, killed across the small central African country by extremist Hutu militia during the 100-day slaughter.
Kagame also led a symbolic burial of a victim’s remains as children sung songs of hope.
“As we remember, life must go on. We must continue to build a better future,†said Kagame. He said Rwanda had made “significant and tremendous progressâ€.
“Our future, no one can decide it for us,†he added.
It was Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel group, backed by Uganda, which ended the genocide after it took over power.
Rwandans living in Uganda converged at Ggolo in Mpigi district in honour of the dead.
Often, the victims’ bodies were dumped in rivers Kagera and Nyabarongo, which flow into Lake Victoria in Uganda. The bodies ended up on lake shores in Rakai, Masaka and Mpigi districts. Locals retrieved and buried them in six mass graves at Namirembe, Malembo, Dimo, Lambu, Kasensero and Ggolo in Mpigi.
The graveyard in Ggolo was offered by local entrepreneur Thoban Mahmood of Four-ways Group of Companies. A monument with chambers to enable viewing of the remains is to be built.
State minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem presided over the Ggolo service. Diplomats from Norway, France, Cuba, Belgium and Tanzania attended.
Oryem said the burial sites will provide an eternal shared history for the two countries and determination to ensure that genocide never happens in the region again.
Ignatius Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda’s ambassador to Uganda, said the remains in Namirembe, Malembo and Dimo will be exhumed and reburied in Lambu, Kasensero and Ggolo beginning next week. This will reduce the burial sites in Uganda to three from six.
Karegesa honoured Godfrey Kasumba and George William Wasswa, residents of Ggolo who helped retrieve rotten bodies from the lake. “Without gloves, or masks, they served humanity,†he said.
PRESIDENT Paul Kagame of Rwanda has slammed the cowardice of the international community that “abandoned†his people during the 1994 genocide.
Commemorating 15 years after the genocide, Kagame addressed nearly 20,000 people gathered at the Nyanza site in Kigali, a scene where some 5,000 people were slaughtered.
The massacre came four days after a deadly attack on Belgian UN peacekeepers that led the troops to withdraw – which Kagame said made the outside world “guiltyâ€.
“We are not like those who abandoned people they had come to protect. They left them to be murdered. Aren’t they guilty?†Kagame said of those who commanded the UN presence.
“I think it is also cowardice. They left even before any shot was fired. We are not cowards. They (the international community) are part of that history and the root causes of the genocide,†Kagame added.
President Yoweri Museveni in a message hailed Rwanda for rising above the tragedy and focusing on reconciliation and development. Uganda, he said, would continue to stand with Rwanda. He said the genocide was one of the most unfortunate episodes in the history of mankind.
Kagame placed a wreath at the hill site in Nyanza and lit a torch in memory of the one million victims, mainly minority Tutsi and moderate Hutu, killed across the small central African country by extremist Hutu militia during the 100-day slaughter.
Kagame also led a symbolic burial of a victim’s remains as children sung songs of hope.
“As we remember, life must go on. We must continue to build a better future,†said Kagame. He said Rwanda had made “significant and tremendous progressâ€.
“Our future, no one can decide it for us,†he added.
It was Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel group, backed by Uganda, which ended the genocide after it took over power.
Rwandans living in Uganda converged at Ggolo in Mpigi district in honour of the dead.
Often, the victims’ bodies were dumped in rivers Kagera and Nyabarongo, which flow into Lake Victoria in Uganda. The bodies ended up on lake shores in Rakai, Masaka and Mpigi districts. Locals retrieved and buried them in six mass graves at Namirembe, Malembo, Dimo, Lambu, Kasensero and Ggolo in Mpigi.
The graveyard in Ggolo was offered by local entrepreneur Thoban Mahmood of Four-ways Group of Companies. A monument with chambers to enable viewing of the remains is to be built.
State minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem presided over the Ggolo service. Diplomats from Norway, France, Cuba, Belgium and Tanzania attended.
Oryem said the burial sites will provide an eternal shared history for the two countries and determination to ensure that genocide never happens in the region again.
Ignatius Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda’s ambassador to Uganda, said the remains in Namirembe, Malembo and Dimo will be exhumed and reburied in Lambu, Kasensero and Ggolo beginning next week. This will reduce the burial sites in Uganda to three from six.
Karegesa honoured Godfrey Kasumba and George William Wasswa, residents of Ggolo who helped retrieve rotten bodies from the lake. “Without gloves, or masks, they served humanity,†he said.