Rwanda commemorates victims of the genocide 25 years ago (April 7)

On the occasion of the commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda, which took place 25 years ago, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) emphasizes that there are still several regions in which the civillian population has to be protected from serious human rights violations. "Twenty-five years after the genocide in Rwanda, the world has not become significantly safer. Similar crimes could happen again at any time – as the international community lacks the political will to prevent them," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's director, in Göttingen on Thursday. One example is the fate of 1.5 million Uyghurs and Kazakhs in Chinese re-education camps. The states of the "civilized world" must take responsibility to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide.

In the course of the Millennium Summit in 2005, Germany – together with an overwhelming majority of states – had adopted the principle of Responsibility to Protect. However, the violent expulsion of 770,000 Rohingya from Burma in 2017 clearly shows that there is a lack of willingness to prevent crimes against humanity.

Statements that crimes such as the Rwandan genocide must never occur again have become hollow phrases. "If human rights organizations or human rights experts of the United Nations warn about crimes against humanity, they are often ignored," Delius criticized. In South Sudan, more than 60,000 people have become victims of crimes against humanity (committed by all conflict parties) since 2013 – and the killings continue, despite numerous warnings.

Header Image: United Nations Photo via Flickr