- 16 Jul 2014 09:36
#14438425
7 April 2014
At least 800,000 people - mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus - died at the hands of Hutu extremists.
The killings ended ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement, marched into Kigali and seized control of the country.UN personnel in Rwanda during the genocide showed "remarkable bravery", Mr Ban said according to AP.
"But we could have done much more. We should have done much more," he said.
"In Rwanda, troops were withdrawn when they were most needed," he added.
"One year later in Srebrenica, areas proclaimed 'safe' by the United Nations were filled with danger, and innocents were abandoned to slaughter. The shame still clings, a generation after the events," Mr Ban sai
In an interview with the French-language weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Mr Kagame denounced the "direct role of Belgium and France in the political preparation for the genocide".
He also said that French troops had taken an "active" part in the killings.
France has rejected this charge, with Edouard Balladur, who was French prime minister in 1994, telling Europe 1 radio: "France is in no way complicit in the genocide.
"On the contrary, it of all countries in the world was the only one that took the initiative to organise a humanitarian operation to prevent widespread massacres."
France did send troops who set up "safe zones" in Rwanda. It says they saved thousands of lives but Rwanda's government has long said they did not do enough to stop the killing - and now says they worked with the Hutu militias carrying out the slaughter.
Charlotte Attwood BBC Africa, Kigali
100 days of slaughter
6 April 1994: President Habyarimana dies in plane crash 7 April: Rwandan armed forces and militia start killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus 7 April: Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels resume offensive 11 April: Red Cross says tens of thousands have already died 17 May: UN Security Council says acts of genocide have been committed but no reinforcements sent 22 May: RPF controls Kigali airport 22 June: Killing of Tutsis continues in "safe" area despite presence of French troops 4 July: RPF controls Kigali
During the genocide, French troops set up supposedly "safe zones" in Rwanda, but the killing continued
IF I HAD UNDERSTOOD THE SITUATION A BIT BETTER I SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY JOINED THE ANARCHISTSGeorge Orwell