Rape as war weapon: Rwanda genocide 13 years later

Apr 9, 2007, 21:43 GMT

New York - A photography exhibition on the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994 was opened at UN headquarters Monday with human rights advocates denouncing sexual violence as a major weapon in conflicts, citing the current situation in Sudan's Darfur region.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the exhibition at UN headquarters, saying two lessons should be taken from Rwanda above all.

'First, never forget, second, never stop working to prevent another genocide,' Ban said. 'Today, our thoughts go to the victims - the more than 800,000 innocent people who lost their lives, with terrifying speed. May they continue to rest in peace.'

'Out thoughts go to the survivors,' he said. 'Their resilience continues to inspire us.'

The massacre of ethnic Tutsis, which was incited by the Hutu-led government in Kigali following the death of their leader in a plane crash in April, 1994, has been branded a genocide and condemned by the international community.

The victims were slaughtered within three months while a UN peacekeeping mission stood by under orders not to get involved - the result of a restrictive mandate provided by the UN Security Council in New York.

But Jody Williams, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who last month led a mission to investigate atrocities against civilians in Darfur, said that rape has remained the weapon of war in what she called 'the genocide in Darfur.'

Williams' mission, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, was to investigate the killing in Darfur. But the Sudanese government denied visas to the mission's members and they spent their time interviewing Darfurian refugees outside the country.

'Rape is a major tactic in the war in Darfur,' Williams said. 'It is intended to destroy not only the women, but also their families and communities.'

She said the targeting of women for rape, during the Rwandan conflict 13 years ago and now in Darfur, has remained a tactic in war.

The ethnic conflict in Darfur has killed more than 300,000 people since 2003 and resulted in more than 2 million refugees.

Williams led the global campaign against landmines, which won her the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Rwanda genocide exhibition will remain at UN headquarters until May 11, then moving to Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

Since the 1994 killing in Rwanda, governments in Africa's Great Lakes region have signed a pact on security, stability and development, which contains a protocol on the prevention and punishment of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.