Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa said the world could not afford to standby and watch yet another genocide take place in Gaza in the Middle East, 30 years after the tragedies of the Rwandan genocide.
Following the conclusion of his visit to Rwanda for the 30th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which commemorated on 7 April 1994. The genocide was one of deadliest in history as approximately one million men, women and children lost their lives across a period of 100 days in a campaign of violence and civil war.
Ramaphosa said that the world cannot turn a blind eye to Gaza, the same way it had to Rwanda all those years ago, he said in his newsletter.
“It is because of our stated commitment to never again allow atrocities of this kind, that the world cannot stand idly by as another genocide is carried out, this time against the people of Palestine in the besieged Gaza Strip. Nobody can claim ignorance about what is happening in Gaza, because, unlike in Rwanda in 1994, these atrocities are being televised, written about, tweeted and live streamed.” he said.
We owe it to the victims of all the world’s genocides to not betray their memories by looking away, by failing to act, or worst of all, by claiming we didn’t know. https://t.co/jSbiZVaL4x pic.twitter.com/ICssIHtf5B
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 8, 2024
Ramaphosa highlighted that head of the UN deployment had predicted a mass extermination of the tutsi people, but UN peacekeepers in Rwanda during the time of the genocide could not prevent the genocide as the lacked authority to intervene. Several western countries, some of which had a presence in Rwanda at the time, would later say they were not aware of the extent of the killings
He said the atrocities in Rwanda were allowed to happen because of a lack of intervention from the outside world, and only years later did the ‘bystanders to the genocide’ apologise for what had happened.
“It should never be, and must never be, that atrocities, gross human rights violations and genocide should somehow carry less weight because of the race, ethnicity or religious affiliation of the victims. We owe it to the victims of all the world’s genocides to not betray their memories by looking away, by failing to act, or worst of all, by claiming we didn’t know.” he added.
During his time there, he held extensive discussions with Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, on rekindling the once very strong political and economic ties. The discussions also focused on the importance of joint efforts and cooperation in finding a peaceful solution to ending the conflict in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa concludes his working visit to Kigali, Rwanda, where he was attending the 30th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.#Kwibuka30 🕯️🇷🇼#BetterAfricaBetterWorld 🌍 pic.twitter.com/aHv9K9VDn1
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) April 7, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
