UN General Assembly
1994

Kurds, harshly repressed by Saddam Hussein, or, again in 1992 in Somalia, when the task was to protect the supply of humanitarian aid to a population threatened by famine. On each occasion, the international community courageously assumed its duty to assist, though it is true that in Somalia a political solution remains to be found. Did the international community show similar determination when, last spring, a virtual genocide was perpetrated in Rwanda, especially when the Tutsi community became the target of a deliberate act of extermination undertaken by officials of the Hutu community? The United Nations, after hesitating for a moment, decided to reconstitute the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in order to provide protection to the population that was threatened. But the Secretary-General’s appeal was not heeded. The action finally taken by France and the Africans - and for this I pay a tribute to them - succeeded at least in putting the brakes on this infernal machine. I hope in any case that an international tribunal will be created without delay to