Ahead of Annan funeral, Rwandans say they will remember that he failed them

Record ID: 1355776

  • Title: Ahead of Annan funeral, Rwandans say they will remember that he failed them
  • Date: 11th September 2018
  • Summary: WALL SHOWING PICTURE OF FORMER UN SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN, SHAKING HANDS WITH FORMER UN SECRETARY-GENERAL BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI VISITOR LOOKING AT PICTURES POSTER SHOWING ARMED MILITIA INTERAHAMWE MARCHING IN STREETS, WITH PICTURE OF ANNA NEXT TO IT VARIOUS OF WALL WITH PICTURES OF GENOCIDE VICTIMS PICTURE OF BODY INSIDE TRUCK PICTURE OF INTERAHAMWE MILITIA
  • Embargoed: 25th September 2018 16:27
  • Keywords: Kofi Annan UN Secretary General Rwandan genocide diplomacy legacy
  • Location: KIGALI, RWANDA
  • City: KIGALI, RWANDA
  • Country: Rwanda
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0028X6O2FR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Gisozi genocide museum in Rwanda's capital, Kigali stands on slopes above the mass graves containing the bodies of thousands of Rwandans murdered in 1994 -- a reminder of the country's painful history.
    Ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were the targets of the 100-day massacre at the hands of Hutu authorities. It is estimated that 800,000 people were killed.
    Here, visitors can find documents, photographs and audio-visual recordings collected from survivors, witnesses and perpetrators of the genocide.
    As the world remembers the life and legacy of former the United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Kofi Annan who died last month and will be buried this week in Ghana, many Rwandans say their memories remain bitter.
    Annan was head of U.N. peacekeeping in 1994, when he acknowledged he should have done more to help prevent the slaughter.
    The greatest reproach was that Annan failed to act on a telegram from the U.N. peacekeeper commander, General Romeo Dallaire, urging a move against arms caches being built up by Hutu extremists as they prepared mass murder.
    "I think broadly, Kofi Annan has a mixed legacy, but particular to Rwanda his legacy is one for failure. One of failure to help stop the genocide because as you know before the genocide, former head of UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda) Dallaire sent a cable to the UN, at that time Kofi Annan was the head of United Nation Head of Peace Keeping Mission, and at the time that cable was never shared with Security Council. So that is the critical information that if it had been shared by all members of Security Council and probably all members of the UN, probably the genocide could have been averted, that is what most Rwandans I think remember with Kofi Annan," said Christophe Kayumba, a senior lecture at the University of Rwanda.
    Annan will be remembered as a dedicated humanitarian whose career was tarnished by ugly conflicts that spun out of control.
    Twenty-five years after Rwanda's genocide, Annan's name remains attached to a tragic part of history.
    "I can't say that he left a good legacy for Rwandans, the only legacy that he left Rwandans was that we thought that the international community existed but what Kofi Anna showed us was that the international community does not exist, but rather that it exists only for interests of the super powers," said genocide survivor, Gasana Theogene.
    "No Rwandese should follow Kofi Annan's legacy, why? Because he left a bad legacy, he was a bad seed, one that does not even deserve to be planted," added Kigali resident, Damien Bizimana.
    Annan's body is in his home country Ghana ahead of a state funeral on Thursday (September 13). He died in a Swiss hospital on August 18 at the age of 80.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains photographs or artwork. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip.
Register