April 7 marks the 32nd anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, during which more than one million people, overwhelmingly from the Tutsi community, were killed in less than three months.
By 1994, Rwanda's population of over seven million comprised three ethnic groups: Hutu (around 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%).
The genocide was triggered on April 6, 1994, when the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down, sparking weeks of systematic killings.
On April 7, broadcasts by Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines incited violence against Tutsis, while Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian peacekeepers were killed.
Within hours, roadblocks were set up and Tutsis were identified and targeted, as members of the presidential guard began attacks in the capital, Kigali.
As violence escalated, the United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNAMIR) was drastically reduced from over 2,000 troops to just 270, limiting its ability to respond.
Over the course of less than three months, more than one million people, mostly Tutsi, were killed, and between 150,000 and 250,000 women were subjected to sexual violence.
Moderate Hutu leaders were also assassinated.
In June, a French-led intervention, Operation Turquoise, was launched to create safe zones, though it remains controversial for allowing some perpetrators to escape.
The genocide ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front took control of the country.
The genocide exposed the failure of the international community to act despite clear warnings, a point repeatedly highlighted in global commemorations.
In the aftermath, Rwanda and the international community undertook extensive efforts to bring perpetrators to justice.
At the international level, the Security Council on 8 November 1994 set up the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to "prosecute persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda and neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994."
The Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR),prosecuted senior figures responsible for the genocide.
The Tribunal indicted 93 individuals whom it considered responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda.
Those indicted included high-ranking military and government officials, politicians, businessmen, as well as religious, militia, and media leaders.
Over two decades, it convicted dozens of individuals, including former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, the first head of government to be found guilty of genocide.
The tribunal also delivered landmark rulings, including recognising rape as an act of genocide in the 1998 Akayesu judgment.
At the national level, Rwanda's courts tried thousands of suspects, while the community-based Gacaca courts handled over 1.2 million cases, aiming to deliver justice and promote reconciliation.
UN general secretary António Guterres paid tribute to the victims, mourning "entire families brutally erased" and honouring "their stolen dignity."
"We must learn from past failures and protect the living by rejecting hatred, inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to violence," he said.
The commemorations, held at the United Nations and globally, are coordinated by the UN's outreach programme on the genocide, established in 2005 to promote remembrance and prevent future atrocities.
More than three decades later, Rwanda continues its journey of healing and reconciliation, striving to rebuild a society where communities can live together in peace.
The anniversary serves as a reminder of the consequences of hatred and division, and the urgent need to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.
Since 1994, several mass atrocities, including Srebrenica, Darfur, and the Rohingya crisis, Israels genocide in Gaza have been widely recognised or judicially determined as genocide.
It's important to note that this year's remembrance comes as the world still witnesses another devastating and widely documented genocide in Gaza by the Israel occupation, and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) genocide in Sudan.