The African Commission urges the AU and its member states to reverse the disregard of the promise of ‘never again’ made in honour of the victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) joins the Republic of Rwanda (Rwanda), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) in marking the 32nd commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, within the framework of ACHPR Resolution 485 (EXT.OS/XXXIII) 2021 on the commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi.
The African Commission welcomes the opportunity to honour the victims and survivors of the 1994 genocide and once again reiterates the imperative of heeding the lessons from this catastrophic event.
Considering that the lack of regard to the standards of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) led to the emergence of the conditions that facilitated the genocide, the African Commission emphasises that respecting and protecting the rights and freedoms enshrined in the African Charter constitutes an important form of honouring the memories of those who perished during that horror, and is durable guarantee, both against reversals in the progress made towards addressing the consequences of the genocide that continue to reverberate to this day in Rwanda, and the region and its recurrence.
This commemoration should also serve as a solemn occasion for reversing the betrayal of the promise of ‘never again’ and the AU’s commitment to the principle of non-indifference that were adopted as part of the lessons learned from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. In this respect, the African Commission reminds the AU and its member states that they bear legal responsibility for invoking Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the AU in cases of grave circumstances such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and take all the necessary measures within that framework for addressing the mass atrocities unfolding particularly in Darfur, in context of the war in Sudan.
The African Commission reiterates the call in ACHPR Resolution 485 (EXT.OS/XXXIII) 2021 that states bear primary responsibility for ensuring respect for, and protection of the rights enshrined in the African Charter and within that framework to legislative, institutional and educational measures to prevent the conditions that lead to genocide and other forms of mass atrocities, and that they have obligations for enabling both the investigation of reports of mass atrocities, and the provision of accountability and remedial measures, including through instituting transitional justice processes as envisaged in the AU Transitional Justice Policy and the African Commission’s Study on Transitional Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The African Commission reminds the wider African public that memorialisation, through this annual commemoration and working towards the promise of ‘never again’, constitute a collective responsibility for which all members of the public, particularly the media and civil society have major contributions to make including through countering hate speech, incitement to violence, disinformation and misinformation particularly, on the basis of ethnic, religious and cultural identities.
Honourable Commissioner Idrissa Sow
Chairperson of the African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights
Honourable Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, PhD
Focal Point of the African Commission on Transitional Justice
and Human and Peoples’ Rights in Africa
Done this 7th day of April 2026
