The UN's commemorations

Yesterday, April 9th, marked the 13th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. The UN marked this in two notable, and ignoble, ways.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon issued a statement calling for "a global partnership against genocide," declaring that the position of UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide will now be a full-time position, and the UN Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention will be "boosted". As Jerry Fowler at Voices on Genocide Prevention noted, there was "No reference to preventing genocide in any particular place, of course, and especially no reference to the whatchamacallit in Darfur," and the upgrading of the Special Adviser position was "his one example of fulfilling the stated imperative to do 'more, much more'".

The UN also had planned an exhibit commemorating the Rwandan genocide. It's been stalled, though, because Turkey objected to being blamed for the "murder" of "1 million Armenians". Rightly so, I believe - the exhibit should say what actually happened, that the murders occured in the Ottoman Empire. This stalling all points to some dangerous habits in the UN - Turkey objects to anything that says that 1 million Armenians were killed (even if the name of their modern-day country isn't mentioned) and the UN staff and member countries focus more time and energy remembering their past failures than they do stopping current and future ones.

For more of my analysis check out my 2 most recent posts at www.livesinthebalance.com. Hat tip to Exploring International Law for the NY Times/Reuters article on the Exhibit.