A three–day conference convened to examine the international community’s failure to prevent the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi concluded in The Hague, Netherlands.

The event that was planned to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Genocide was organised by the US Holocaust Museum, The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the National Security Archive (George Washington University).

It brought together key decisions makers or those directly involved in the conflict, witnesses and former diplomats.

"The Hague Institute is pleased to host this important conference on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.,” said Abi Williams, president of The Hague Institute.

"It will afford some of the most senior national and international actors from the period an opportunity for reflection and debate and will—we hope—provide us with a better understanding of how international decisions affected how the calamitous events of 1994 unfolded, with a view to ensuring that such horrendous crimes are never repeated,” .

Key figures who spoke at the conference included Gen. Romeo Dallaire, former commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda (Unamir) Amb. Collin Keating, New Zealand’s former envoy to the UN and president of the Security Council in April 1994, Amb. Charles Murigande, a spokesperson of the RPF in 1994, as well as Karel Kovanda from the Czech Republic, who was the first UN ambassador to use the term "genocide” to describe the events in Rwanda.

Harbouring fugitives

France, which has had a chequered history and was deeply involved in events leading to the Genocide, called Hubert Verdrine. President Mitterand’s former Secretary General in its defence.

A source at the conference revealed that Verdrine and Rwandan exile, Jean Marie Ndagijimana, came out strongly in defence of France’s policies.

But they hit a brick wall when several experts; among them Linda Melvern, Colette  Braeckman and Rwandan Senator Jean Damascene Bizimana, confronted them with evidence that France’s ties to the former genocidal government had remained intact; not only had they welcomed fleeing members of the government with open arms, they had continued to arm them while in exile.

Murigande told the conference that Rwanda had learnt important lessons when it was abandoned 20 years ago and vowed to never sit back when people were in danger.

"That is why we are the 6th largest contributor to UN Peacekeeping Mission,” noted Murigande.

The conference focused on three themes: Failure to prevent, failure to protect and lessons learnt.

"Ongoing crises in Syria, Sudan, and the Central African Republic highlight the urgent need to improve the international community’s efforts to prevent genocide and other forms of mass violence,” said Cameron Hudson, acting director of the Museum’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide.

"While there have been a number of previous inquiries into the Genocide in Rwanda, few have gathered in one place so many former officials and eyewitnesses in a collective search for knowledge and understanding.”