UN General Assembly
1995

home. We know that speeches made in this prestigious forum are listened to, analysed and scrutinized, especially because they are opportunities for nations to express the will, aspirations and priorities of their peoples, as well as their positions on international issues of the day; they must go beyond purely national egoisms and contribute to international understanding and solidarity. The crime against humanity committed in Rwanda were crimes not just against the Rwandan people but also against the members of this body, who should give us a few moments to submit some reflections on the first and 21 foremost victim of that crime, which, unfortunately, is my own country, Rwanda. With respect to this tragedy, it is painful for us to have to emphasize the conduct of the United Nations, its failure, on the day it decided to withdraw the 2,500 Blue Helmets who were in Rwanda when the genocide and massacres began, thus abandoning a whole defenceless population and delivering it into the hands of the killers. This was clearly a case of failure to assist a people in