Ramaphosa: 'The world cannot stand idly by as another genocide is carried out'

CAPE TOWN - As Rwanda commemorates 30 years since a genocide in that country, President Cyril Ramaphosa is appealing to the world not to close its eyes to such atrocities wherever they occur. 
 
Writing in his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa has described the Rwandan genocide, in which up to a million people are estimated to have been killed in just 100 days, as one of the darkest chapters in human history. 
 
Ramaphosa said the world cannot stand by idly as another genocide is unfolding in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
 
It’s been six months since Israel launched its attack on Gaza in retaliation for the killing of over 1,000 Israelis by Palestinian militant group, Hamas. 
 
Over 32,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children. 
 
President Ramaphosa noted that when the Rwandan genocide began in 1994, the Genocide Convention had been in existence for nearly half a century. 
 
He said that the atrocities in Rwanda were allowed to happen in the face of indifference from the international community. 
 
Ramaphosa said the world owed it to the victims of the Holocaust and the world’s worst genocides not to betray their memories by looking away or failing to act. 
 
He welcomed additional measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week, ordering Israel to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza. 
 
Ramaphosa said South Africa’s freedom, attained 30 years ago, comes with the responsibility to work for peace, justice and human rights everywhere. 
 
He said it’s a duty and a standard South Africa would continuously strive to uphold, not only for South Africans but for people everywhere.