Secretary-General António Guterres video message for the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

Secretary-General António Guterres says in his video message for the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda "Together, we pay tribute to the one million people who were murdered in just 100 days in 1994 – the overwhelming majority Tutsi, but moderate Hutu and others who opposed the genocide too. We honour their memory. We stand in awe of the resilience of the survivors. And we reflect on our failures as an international community. The genocide was neither an accident nor unavoidable. It was deliberate, systematic – and carried out in broad daylight. No one who followed world affairs or watched the news could deny the sickening violence taking place. Yet too few spoke out – and fewer still tried to intervene. Much more could have – and should have – been done. A generation after the events, the stain of shame endures. As we remember the bloodshed 28 years ago, we recognize that we always have a choice. To choose humanity over hatred; compassion over cruelty; courage over complacency; and reconciliation over rage".