– Lessons learned –
In his speech at the stadium, Kagame took another thinly-veiled swipe at France, saying it was impossible to “change the facts” and drawing loud applause.
But he said Rwandans should also celebrate the remarkable progress made in the past 20 years.
Kagame has led Rwanda since his then-rebel force ousted Hutu extremists, carrying out a business-friendly and zero-corruption policy — although he has also come in for fierce criticism over his refusal to tolerate dissent and his alleged backing of rebels in neighbouring DR Congo.
“Today we have a reason to celebrate the normal moments of life, that are easy for others to take for granted. If the genocide reveals humanity’s shocking capacity for human cruelty, Rwanda’s choices show its capacity for renewal,” Kagame said.
The UN chief has said the commemorations were a chance to remind the world to do all it can to ensure such crimes never happen again.
“Today, Syria is in flames and the Central African Republic is in chaos. The world has yet to fully overcome its divisions, its indifference, its moral blind spots,” he said.
But he asserted there was progress because “leaders and warlords alike face the growing likelihood of prosecution for their crimes”.
The UN was widely criticised in 1994 for only belatedly recognising that a genocide was in progress and therefore shirking its responsibility to intervene, but Ban said the UN had taken stock of its failures.
“Our first duty must always be to protect people — to protect human beings in need and distress. That is what we have done recently in South Sudan,” the UN secretary general said.
“We are sure to face other grave challenges to our common values. And we must meet them. We must not be left to utter the words ‘never again,’ again and again.”
The official “Kwibuka” mourning – meaning “remember” in Kinyarwanda – ends on July 4, Rwanda’s liberation day.
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