"Foreword" [2016] ELECD 1508; in de Brouwer, Anne-Marie; Smeulers, Alette (eds), "The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) xvi

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Editor(s): de Brouwer, Anne-Marie; Smeulers, Alette

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784711696

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

Foreword
Navanethem Pillay



The genocide in Rwanda started in the night of 6­7 April 1994 after
the downing of the plane carrying the Rwandan president Juvenal
Habyarimana, the president of Burundi and several others. It stands out
as one of the most extreme periods of mass violence in contemporary
history. Within three months, between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsi and
moderate Hutu were killed and many others tortured, maimed, raped,
traumatized and left behind completely devastated. The Rwandan geno-
cide against the Tutsi is known for the speed with which so many people
were killed and raped and the involvement of many civilians as well as
the brutal and openly conducted nature of the violence used in the
atrocities. After World War II, the international community had pledged
that such crimes as were committed by the Nazi Regime during the
holocaust would never happen again. But it did in the mid-1990s as
genocide even took place twice: in Rwanda in 1994 and later during the
conflict in the former Yugoslavia ­ in Srebrenica ­ in 1995. Despite the
existence of the UN, the acknowledgement of international human rights
and ratification of many treaties relating to crimes such as genocide and
torture and the proclamation of the Agenda for Peace by the UN
Secretary General, the atrocities could not be prevented. Despite its
presence in Rwanda, the UN did not manage to prevent or halt the
genocide; rather it reduced its forces on the ground despite warnings
from the ...