April · This Day in Africa
April 7
1994 — The World Vows Never Again
April 7 marks the United Nations' International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. It is the day the mass killing began, when Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was murdered the morning after the presidents' plane was shot down. The observance holds that date each year as a time to remember, to name what happened, and to refuse to look away.
From Kigali to Cape Town, the world lights candles, reads names, and renews the pledge of never again. Its purpose is to honor the victims and fight genocide ideology and denial, across generations, so memory itself becomes a form of protection.
One of 366 days. Every entry is researched and checked against the historical record before it is filmed or printed; where the record is uncertain, the entry says so. About the method.