An organization representing Tutsi survivors of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda has issued a statement condemning Rwandan Secretary of State Antony Blinken. new era report On Monday, it claimed that the atrocities were committed against various people.
The outrage stemmed from a post Blinken posted on X on April 7, the first day of Rwanda’s genocide, in which he sought to express solidarity with the victims of the atrocity.Rwanda phone A “kwibuka” or “mourning” ceremony commemorates those killed and vows not to repeat the crimes of 1994. April 7, 2024 marks his 30th anniversary of the genocide.
In his message, Blinken said the United States “stands with the Rwandan people,” adding that the United States “remains in memory of the thousands of Tutsis, Hutus, Twa and others who have lost their lives.”
The United States stands with the people of Rwanda during Kwibuka 30 to remember the victims of genocide. We mourn the thousands of Tutsis, Hutus, Twa and others who lost their lives during 100 days of unspeakable violence.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 7, 2024
The Rwandan genocide was the culmination of years of ethnic tensions, and shortly before that, on April 6, 1994, then-President Juvenal Habyarimana and then-Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira were arrested after the plane they were traveling on was discovered by an unidentified plane. He was shot down and killed by the attackers. Both presidents were Hutus, Rwanda’s overwhelming majority. Hutu militias responded to the killings by: Mass media He called for the genocide of the Tutsi people, compared all Tutsi people to “cockroaches,” and broadcast nationwide a list of the names of the Tutsi people who were blamed for the assassinations and killed all the Tutsi people.
united nations Estimate It is estimated that more than 1 million people were killed in this genocide, of which more than 800,000 were Tutsis. As Hutu mobs used machetes and clubs to beat and cut down as many people as possible, hundreds of thousands of others endured rape and severe mutilation as weapons of war.
Genocide Ended After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by current president Paul Kagame, seized Kigali and expelled the Hutu genocide leaders in July 1994, there was no useful international aid or intervention.
On December 19, 1996, tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees are flowing back toward the Rwandan border after Tanzanian authorities forced them to return home despite the threat of death. (Jean-Marc Bouges, File/AP)
Ibuka, an organization representing Tutsi survivors of the genocide, slammed Blinken for failing to specify that Tutsis were the explicit targets of the genocide. The group released a letter signed by 16 leaders of organizations representing Rwandan genocide survivors.
“Survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi people in Rwanda are emotionally devastated and outraged by your misleading statements,” Ibuka said. I have written “It was issued on a day when we were mourning the deaths of our loved ones who were brutally murdered in a genocide,” he said in an official letter to Blinken.
“By not explicitly stating that the genocide specifically targeted Tutsis, your statement obscures the primary intended victims,” the letter continued, according to the newspaper. new era. “Hutu and Twa people also lost their lives, but they were not the main targets. This genocide was overwhelmingly aimed at exterminating the Tutsi people. It was planned by extremist Hutus.”
Ibuka accused Blinken of “re-traumatizing many survivors, exacerbating our pain and suffering, and undermining efforts to advance knowledge and understanding about genocide and human rights.” I requested that this post be retracted.
An injured child poses in Rwanda on May 5, 1994. In April 1994, hundreds of Tutsis were murdered at the Catholic mission in Lucara in one of the worst massacres of Rwandan violence. (Scott Peterson/Liaison)
The letter follows comments from President Kagame, who appeared to criticize Blinken shortly after issuing the statement. Mr. Kagame appears to interpret Mr. Blinken’s inclusion of Hutus, the main group in the genocide, on the list of victims as an indictment against the RPF, which is facing accusations of revenge killings after the initial atrocities ended. is.
“Would you please come and commemorate with us and stop by there?” Kagame Said On April 9, I headed to Blinken. “There are 365 days in a year. Give us that day, April 7th, commemorate it with us – then you will tell me every day everything we don’t like about you for the remaining 364 days.” Please blame it on us.”
Associated Press report On April 8, Mr. Kagame said that the Biden administration’s refusal to identify Tutsi targets meant that former President Bill Clinton, the head of the U.S. delegation to the 2024 genocide commemoration event, was the president at the time. He claimed that it was an “element of discussion”. He was a victim of genocide and did nothing in particular to respond to it.
“Let us not forget that when we needed all the help, the world turned its back on us,” Kagame said at Kwibuka 2023, adding that the lesson of this historical episode is: “You “I am myself,” he declared.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame (J. Countess/Getty Images)
Reports of anger and disgust toward Blinken make no mention of similar sentiments toward President Joe Biden, who released his own statement on April 7 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide. Biden’s statement differed from Blinken’s in that it distinguished Tutsis from the national majority. Target of genocide.
“On this day 30 years ago, a brutal and systematic genocide campaign began in Rwanda. Over the next 100 days, more than 800,000 women, men, and children were murdered,” President Biden said in a statement. . read. “Most were Tutsis. There were also Hutus and Twa. It was a systematic mass extermination that pitted neighbor against neighbor, and decades later its effects are still felt across Rwanda and around the world. ”
Although the memo is titled “President Joe Biden’s Statement on the 30th Anniversary of Genocide in Rwanda,” Biden does not actually use the term “genocide” in the text.
