UNITED NATIONS: On the occasion of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to never forget what happened and ensure future generations always remember.
The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda was a brutal ethnic conflict that claimed the lives of over one million children, women, and men in just 100 days.
Guterres stressed that preventing crimes, genocide against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international law is a collective responsibility and a “duty” of every member of the United Nations.
Stand firm against rising intolerance: UN chief
He called on everyone, in all nations, to stand firm against rising intolerance, be ever vigilant, and always be ready to act. Guterres also emphasized the importance of confronting hate speech and not being complacent in the face of atrocity, stating that complacency is complicity.
While the focus was on the anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice, an advocacy group, warned about the potential for genocide in Indian Illegally Held Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Fai reminded people about last year’s warning by Dr. Gregory Stanton, Chairman of the Genocide Watch, that the disputed territory was “at the brink of” a genocide.
Fai stated that any effort to stop genocide and resolve the Kashmir conflict requires confronting the issue directly and honestly, something that seems difficult for the Indian government to do.
Fai urged the United States to play a role in settling the dispute, saying that India does not want to resolve the Kashmir conflict but to dissolve it.
He believes that a response to the Kashmiri situation must be based on the principles of the right of the people with a distinct cultural and historical identity to decide their own future, the sanctity of international agreements worked out by the United Nations (UN), a peaceful and stable subcontinent completely free from the possibility of a regional nuclear exchange, and the consistent application of human rights standards.
Such an approach could lead to a just and peaceful resolution of the 76-year-old dispute.
