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April 8th, 2019

NDP Statement to Mark the 25th Anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda

Guy Caron, the NDP's Foreign Affairs Critic made the following statement:

"This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, one of the darkest chapters in the history of humanity.

New Democrats join Canadians in remembering and honouring the more than 800,000 men, women and children who lost their lives during these inhumane and deliberate atrocities.

Twenty-five years later, Rwanda is a transformed country in many respects, because its people were open and willing to rebuild their country and pursue a national process of reconciliation. The Rwandan people deserve the international community’s full support and solidarity for their ongoing and courageous efforts.

This genocide is a clear example of the horrors created by the politics of hatred and division.

To take the time to remember is also an opportunity for Canadians, and for the entire world, to learn from the past, at a time when the need to defend human rights and the values of justice and international cooperation are more important than ever.

We must never allow ourselves to tolerate the unacceptable. We all have a responsibility to protect vulnerable populations against mass atrocities.

Today, Canada must fight against these atrocities and prioritize them in our foreign affairs policy, because it was the indifference and the immobility of the international community that allowed this terrible genocide to take place in Rwanda."