The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has called on all African member states to fight revisionism and hate speech.
He said this as the African Union Commission in collaboration with the Rwandan mission in Addis gathered to mark the 29th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.
The event was held in the Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union headquarters under the theme "Remember, unite, renew” and was attended by around 500.
The Commemoration began with a "Walk to Remember” around the AU headquarters premises attended by around 300 members of the diplomatic corps, religious leaders, different officials, members of the Rwandan Community and Students from nearby Ethiopian schools.
Faki, a representative of Ethiopian government, AU Commissioners, diplomats, heads of UN agencies and other international organisations and think tanks among others joined members of the Rwandan community in the commemoration activity.
Also present was the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, who is also Rwandan.
Amb. Bankole Adeoye, the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security called for zero tolerance to crimes against humanity, hate speech and the ideology of hate.
"The Commemoration inspires us to promote ethnic and religious tolerance, strengthen national social cohesion and renew our commitment to address the root causes of conflict in our member states and to ensure that African people live in a peaceful and secured continent in line with our aspirations set in Agenda 2063- the Africa We Want,” he stated.
On his part, Faki delivered a message of solidarity with the Rwandan people and of comfort to the survivors, and commended Rwanda’s tremendous achievements in the past 29 years, its restored unity and the resilience of the Rwandan people.
He reminded the audience three main objectives of this annual commemoration: remember to never forget, but most importantly to never start again; unite to commemorate the victims and especially to refuse and fight revisionism and hate speech and to reiterate Africa’s solidarity with Rwandans.
He furthermore reaffirmed the African Union resolve to fight Genocide ideology on the continent.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Amb. Birtukan Ayano, conveyed the Ethiopian people's commiserative message to the Rwandan people, a message of honor to the victims and of solidarity with the survivors.
The Ambassador of Rwanda to Ethiopia and Djibouti and Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the AU and UNECA, Hope Tumukunde Gasatura, called on all AU member states and the international community to continue fighting Genocide denial in all its manifestations, as well as to enact legislation on hate speeches and ideologies of extremism and marginalization and any form of discrimination.
"This commemoration is therefore, a communal plea to double our efforts to stop similar horrors from ever occurring again. The continued troubling trends of growing expressions of racism, and intolerance that result in the dissemination of hate speech and calls for violence cannot be left unchallenged,” the envoy stated.
The commemoration continued at the Embassy Chancery with the night vigil by the Rwandan community in Ethiopia.
The guest of honor at the evening vigil was Nzansabaganwa, who reminded the Rwandan community about the importance of remembering and honoring the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and of unity as Rwandans through the government’s efforts in reconciliation and unifying a country that was shattered by tragedy.