4 May 1998 SG/SM/6545
AFR/54
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS FUNDAMENTAL FAILURE TO PREVENT RWANDA GENOCIDE WAS LACK OF POLITICAL WILL, NOT LACK OF INFORMATION 19980504The following statement, concerning an article on Rwanda in the current issue of The New Yorker, was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:Philip Gourevitch's article on Rwanda in the current issue of The New Yorker raises important questions. The failure to prevent the 1994 genocide was local, national and international, including Member States with important capability. The fundamental failure was the lack of political will, not the lack of information. No one can deny that the world failed the people of Rwanda. But the crucial issue today is not how to apportion blame with the benefit of hindsight. Rather, we should be asking how we can ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again, and how the international community can best assist the people and Government of Rwanda in the enormously difficult process of rebuilding a united community and healing the wounds of the past. * *** *
United Nations
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