Bill Clinton and others join Rwandans in commemoration of 30th anniversary of genocide: NPR

Former US President Bill Clinton, left, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrive to lay a wreath at a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, Sunday, April 7, 2024. He salutes Rwandans mark 30 years since the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists.

Brian Enganga/AP

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Former US President Bill Clinton, left, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrive to lay a wreath at a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, Sunday, April 7, 2024. He salutes Rwandans mark 30 years since the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists.

Brian Enganga/AP

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwandans are marking 30 years since the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed by government-backed extremists, shattering the small East African nation that is still grappling with the horrific legacy of the massacres.

Rwanda has shown strong economic growth in the years since, but scars remain, and there are questions about whether true reconciliation has been achieved under the long rule of President Paul Kagame, whose rebel movement halted the genocide and seized power.

Kagame, praised by many for bringing relative stability but vilified by others for his intolerance of dissent, will lead somber commemorations on Sunday in the capital, Kigali. Foreign visitors included a delegation headed by Bill Clinton, the US president during the genocide, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Kagame will light the flame of remembrance and lay a wreath at a memorial site housing the remains of 250,000 victims of the genocide in Kigali.

The killings erupted when a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down over Kigali. The Tutsis were accused of shooting down the plane and killing the president. They became targets of massacres by Hutu extremists that lasted more than 100 days in 1994. Some moderate Hutus who tried to protect members of the Tutsi minority were also killed.

Rwandan authorities have long blamed the international community for ignoring warnings about the killings, and some Western leaders have expressed regret.

After leaving office, Clinton cited the Rwandan genocide as a failure of his administration. French President Emmanuel Macron, in a pre-recorded video ahead of Sunday's ceremony, said Thursday that France and its allies could have stopped the genocide but lacked the will to do so. Macron's announcement came three years after he acknowledged the “tremendous responsibility” borne by France – Rwanda's closest European ally in 1994 – for failing to stop Rwanda's slide into carnage.

The ethnic composition of Rwanda has remained largely unchanged since 1994, with a Hutu majority. Tutsis represent 14% and only 1% of Rwanda's population of 14 million people. Kagame's Tutsi-dominated government banned any form of organizing along ethnic lines, as part of efforts to build a unified Rwandan identity.

National ID cards no longer identify citizens by ethnic group, and authorities imposed a strict penal code to prosecute those suspected of denying genocide or the “ideology” behind it. Some observers say the law is being used to silence critics who question government policies.

Rights groups have accused Kagame's soldiers of carrying out some of the killings during and after the genocide in apparent retaliation, but Rwandan authorities see the allegations as an attempt to rewrite history. Kagame had previously said that his forces had shown restraint in the face of genocide.

Kagame is expected to speak and an overnight vigil will be held later on Sunday as part of a week of remembrance activities.

Naftal Ahishaki, president of Ebuka, a prominent group of survivors, told The Associated Press that keeping the memory of the genocide alive helps fight the mentality that allows neighbors to turn on each other, killing even children. Mass graves are still being discovered across Rwanda 30 years later, a reminder of the scale of the killings.

“It is time to find out what happened, why it happened, and what the consequences of genocide are for us as genocide survivors, for our country, and for the international community,” Ahishake said.

He said his country had come a long way since the 1990s, when only survivors and government officials participated in commemoration events. “But today, even those who are family members of the perpetrators come to participate.”

Kagame, who grew up as a refugee in neighboring Uganda, was Rwanda's de facto ruler, serving first as vice president from 1994 to 2000, and then as acting president. He was elected to office in 2003 and has since been re-elected several times. He is a candidate in the elections scheduled for July, and won the last elections with about 99% of the votes.

Rights activists and others say authoritarian President Kagame has created a climate of fear that discourages open and free discussion of national issues. Critics have accused the government of forcing opponents to flee, imprisoning them or making them disappear, while some are killed in mysterious circumstances. Kagame's most dangerous political rivals are his former Tutsi comrades who now live in exile.

Although Rwanda is mostly peaceful, it has also had troubled relations with its neighbors.

Recently, tensions erupted with Congo, with leaders of the two countries exchanging accusations of supporting armed groups. Relations with Burundi have been strained over allegations that Kigali supports a rebel group attacking Burundi. Relations with Uganda have not yet been fully normalized after a period of tensions stemming from Rwanda's allegations that Uganda supports rebels opposed to Kagame.