Crowds gathered in solemn reflection near the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Tuesday, marking the 15th anniversary of the start of a 100-day genocidal massacre in Rwanda in which an estimated 800,000 people were brutally killed.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame addressed thousands during an emotional candle-lighting ceremony, criticizing the international community for not doing more to prevent the bloody wave of violence.
“I remind those experts that they need to go back to school,” Kagame told reporters. “These children you saw here — you think they are standing there because they are exploiting everybody’s guilt?
Sparked by the assassination of then-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, extremist militias made up of ethnic Hutus slaughtered ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus across Rwanda after Belgian peacekeepers left the country.
During a ceremony at the United Nations, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reflected on what he described as a “horrifying scene and experience.”
“Today is a day to open our eyes to this suffering and honor the memory of those killed in Rwanda 15 years ago,” he said. “But beyond reminding us of the horror, that silence should spur us to action.”
