20 April 2024 - High Commissioner Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye joined over two hundred members of the Rwandan Community and friends of Rwanda in New Zealand for Kwibuka30, a solemn event to mark the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The event at Hyundai Marine Sports Centre in Auckland featured prominent attendees including the Deputy Mayor of Auckland, Desley Simpson, former New Zealand Ambassador to the UN, Colin Keating, former Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jim McLay, and former Senior Trial Attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Jonathan Moses.

In her remarks, the Governor-General of New Zealand, Dame Cindy Kiro, who represented His Majesty King Charles, King of the Realm of New Zealand, reflected on the unspontaneous and callous nature of the tragedy that befell Rwanda in 1994.

“The Genocide Against the Tutsi was not an accident – it was a deliberate, methodical effort to erase a group of people and to bring suffering – not just in those moments of cruel and violent action, but for generations into the future”, Dame Cindy said.

New Zealand Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Andrew Bayly commended Rwandans, particularly genocide survivors, for their post-genocide resilience as well as efforts to make Rwanda one of the most economically progressive states in Africa.

He noted that Rwanda and New Zealand may be geographically far apart, but “in remembering those killed during the genocide we are not apart”.

Former New Zealand ambassador to the UN, Colin Keating, who was the president of the UN Security Council in April 1994, recounted how his country repeatedly called for UN intervention to stop the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. However, these efforts hit a snag.

“New Zealand and some others tried to get an agreement to stop the genocide in Rwanda. But we had too little support. Too many major powers were against us and the veto was always lurking in the background”, Keating recalled.

High Commissioner Uwihanganye highlighted the egregious nature of genocide as a crime against humanity and called for increased cooperation and partnership to fight genocide denial and trivialization.

Additionally, he thanked New Zealand for standing with Rwanda during the dark days in 1994.

Watch the highlights of the event here.