Rwanda marked 30 years since its 100-day genocide, during which extremists from the country’s Hutu majority massacred some 800,000 people, most of them ethnic Tutsis.
A daylong commemoration included a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is the resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the slaughter.
“Our journey has been long and tough,” President Paul Kagame said at a ceremony yesterday, adding that “the lessons we learned are engraved in blood.”
Context: Kagame, who led Tutsi rebels during the genocide, has overseen impressive economic and health-care gains during his decades in power. But critics accuse him of relying on harsh methods to achieve that stability and to maintain his rule. He is up for re-election in July.
