UN General Assembly
1994

on the one essential point: the respect owed to the physical and moral integrity of every human being. For Belgium, the crisis in Rwanda has marked the international agenda. In the wake of the genocide, death lashed out blindly at a population in exile, pushing back the limits of horror already reached in Bosnia and Somalia. My fellow citizens were deeply troubled by the ruin of so many efforts of development, the failure of so many attempts at reconciliation. The savage killing of 10 Belgian "blue helmets", who were among the 100 United Nations peace-keepers slain since the beginning of this year, highlights the unmistakable fragility of peace-keeping operations. I believe the best way to honour all those who lost their lives is by reflecting in particular upon the limits and possibilities of international action. In this regard, the common experience in which Belgium took part - in the former Yugoslavia, in Somalia and in Rwanda - has enabled us, sometimes in tragic circumstances, to make a number of observations for