Recognising the importance of combating impunity for all violations that constitute the crime of genocide, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 23 December 2003 adopted a resolution (A/RES/58/234) designating the 7th of April, the start date of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, as the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda.

Every year, on or around that date, the UN organises commemorative events at its Headquarters in New York and at UN offices around the world. Since 2005 the Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations has been arranging commemorative activities in more than 20 countries.

The genocide in Rwanda happened 23 years ago in 1994. More than 800,000 men, women and children were systematically murdered across the country – overwhelmingly Tutsi, along with moderate Hutu, Twa and others.

To prosecute the persons responsible for Rwanda Genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda, the UN Security Council in 1995 established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The Tribunal is located in Arusha, Tanzania, and has offices in Kigali, Rwanda. Its Appeals Chamber is located in The Hague, Netherlands.

Since it opened in 1995, the Tribunal has indicted 93 individuals whom it considered responsible for Rwanda Genocide. Those indicted include high-ranking military and government officials, politicians, businessmen, as well as religious, militia, and media leaders.

For the first time in history, the ICTR as an international tribunal recognised rape as a means of perpetrating genocide. Another landmark decision was reached in the Media case, where the ICTR became the first international tribunal to hold members of the media responsible for intentionally broadcasting news and opinions to provoke the public to commit acts of genocide.

The ICTR delivered its last trial judgement on 20 December 2012 in the Ngirabatware case and the ICTR Appeals Chamber delivered its last appeal judgement on 14 December 2015 in the Nyiramasuhuko et al case. With these judicial deliberations, the ICTR ended its 22-year judicial activities to ensure prosecution of the genocide perpetrators.

In his message for the Rwanda Genocide Day, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “Today we remember and honour those who survived in Rwanda Genocide. We recognise their pain and courage, and the struggles they continue to face. The survivors' resilience and their capacity for reconciliation are an inspiration to us all. The only way to truly honour the memory of those who were killed in Rwanda is to ensure that such events never occur again. Preventing genocide and other monstrous crimes is a shared responsibility and a core duty of the United Nations.”

Compiled by Law Desk (SOURCE: UN.ORG and UNMICT.ORG).