KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda is preparing to mark the 30th anniversary of the East African nation's most horrific period in history — the genocide against its minority Tutsi. To this day, new mass graves are still being discovered across the country of 14 million people, a grim reminder of the scale of the killings.
Delegations from around the world will gather on Sunday in the capital of Kigali as Rwanda holds somber commemorations of the 1994 massacres. High-profile visitors are expected to include Bill Clinton, the U.S. president at the time of the genocide, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
In a pre-recorded video ahead of the ceremonies, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and its allies could have stopped the genocide but lacked the will to do so. Macron's declaration came three years after he acknowledged the “overwhelming responsibility” of France — Rwanda's closest European ally in 1994 — for failing to stop the country's slide into the slaughter.
Here's a look at the past and how Rwanda has changed under President Paul Kagame, praised by many for bringing relative peace and stability but also vilified by others for his intolerance of dissent.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 1994?
An estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days. Some moderate Hutu who tried to protect…
