08 April 2009
United States Remembers 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Washington — President Obama says the 15th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide is a somber occasion to reflect on the deaths of more than 800,000 people killed “simply because of their ethnicity or their political beliefs.”
“The memory of these events also deepens our commitment to act when faced with genocide and to work with partners around the world to prevent future atrocities. The figure of 800,000 is so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic,” the president said in a statement April 7.
Between April and July 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandan men, women and children were killed in 100 days. Those killed included Tutsis and some moderate Hutus. The genocide was sparked by the death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his airplane was shot down flying above the Kigali airport on April 6, 1994.
“As we mourn their senseless passing, we must also acknowledge the courageous men and women who survived the genocide and have since demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts,” Obama said.
The United States has partnered with Rwanda to promote sustainable development, respect for human rights and lasting peace in Rwanda.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Rwandans “have worked heroically over the past 15 years to repair their lives and move forward. We are inspired by their example and offer our support in their extraordinary political, economic and social rebuilding.”
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, reflected on her own memories of the genocide. She was a staff member on President Clinton’s National Security Council when she visited Rwanda six months after the ethnic cleansing.
“For me, the memory of stepping around and over those corpses will remain the most searing reminder imaginable of what our work here must aim to prevent,” Rice said at the special commemorative event at the United Nations April 7 in New York.
“Rwanda holds its own tragic place in the 20th century’s grim litany of mass murder,” Rice said.
Rice said Rwanda did not suffer from “ancient hatreds” between Hutu killers and Tutsi victims. “It suffered from modern demagogues, from the ex-FAR [Forces Armees Rwandaises], from the Interahamwe, from Radio Mille Collines. It suffered from those who were willing to kill in the warped name of ethnic difference, from those who saw division and death as a path to power.”
“And it suffered from an international community, international institutions, and individual governments — including my own — that failed to act in the face of a vast, unfolding evil.”
The full text of Obama's statement, the full text of Rice's statement and the full text of Clinton's statement are available on America.gov.
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