For information only – not an official document

UNIS/SGSM/1489
7 April 2025

The Secretary-General

Message on the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda

7 April 2025

Today we mourn the one million children, women and men slaughtered in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

This appalling chapter in human history was not a spontaneous frenzy of horrendous violence. It was intentional, premeditated and planned -- including through hate speech that inflamed division, and spread lies and dehumanization. The overwhelming majority of victims were Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who opposed the genocide.

As we recall how these crimes came about, we must also reflect on resonance with our own times.

These are days of division. The narrative of “us” versus “them” is ascendant, polarizing societies. Digital technologies are being weaponized to further inflame hate, stoke division, and spread lies.

We must learn from the terrible history of the genocide in Rwanda, and act to stem the tide of hate speech, stop disunity and discontent mutating into violence, uphold human rights, and ensure accountability.

I urge all States to deliver on commitments made in the Global Digital Compact to tackle online falsehoods and hate, to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, and to become parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide without delay.

On this day of remembrance, let’s commit to be vigilant and to work together to build a world of justice and dignity for all – in honour of all the victims, and survivors of the genocide in Rwanda.

* *** *