The 1994 Rwandan genocide was a tragedy that the rest of the world overlooked, writes Alice Gatebuke, and sixteen years later the international community is still turning a blind eye to Rwanda. Recent human rights abuses – the maltreatment of a presidential candidate and the suspension of rights of an American lawyer – and Rwanda’s actions in neighbouring Congo have not been condemned by the international community. Gatebuke, a genocide survivor, argues that present-day violations of universa...read more
The 1994 Rwandan genocide was a tragedy that the rest of the world overlooked, writes Alice Gatebuke, and sixteen years later the international community is still turning a blind eye to Rwanda. Recent human rights abuses – the maltreatment of a presidential candidate and the suspension of rights of an American lawyer – and Rwanda’s actions in neighbouring Congo have not been condemned by the international community. Gatebuke, a genocide survivor, argues that present-day violations of universal rights and norms must not be ignored, nor can they be excused by consideration of past acts of evil against Rwandanese people. Rwanda too, she says, must be held to a universal standard.
