UN IN GENOCIDE EXHIBITION CONTROVERSY

SABC News, South Africa
April 11 2007

The United Nations has been hit by a controversy after a photography
exhibition on the massacre of thousands of Rwandans in 1994 was
suspended. This after Turkey protested that it carried a mention of
the massacre of Armenians after World War I.

The exhibition was meant to open early this week to mark the 13th
anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. It was organised by a British
based Aegis Trust and approved by the UN secretariat.

On the day of the exhibition, with pictures on the wall and the UN
secretary-general already issued the copy of his speech, the event
was abruptly cancelled. The cancellation follows an objection by the
Turkish government about a reference in the exhibition to a genocide
in Turkey during the World War I.

Over a million Amernians were killed in what historians refer as the
first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the murders
constituted genocide saying that they resulted from civil war and
unrest. Turkey has been accused of denying and distorting history.

However the UN refuses to get involved.

Organisers express disappointment However, it has now emerged that
there is more to the cancellation than just the Turkish objections. The
UN secretariat has also made a blunder in allowing the exhibition. But
the question is, how did the exhibitors get to a point of hanging
pictures in the exhibition area of the world body and even have the
secretary-general of the organisation ready to bless the occasion
which has now been found to have skipped proper procedures?

The organisers of the exhibition have expressed disappointment
at its cancellation saying it undermines the values of the UN in
preventing genocide. The saga has refreshed memories and opened old
wounds about how the UN stood by and watched while the Tutsis and
Hutus were killing each other in a 100 day slaughter in Rwanda.

The UN security council gave a restrictive mandate at the time ordering
the UN not to get involved. The exhibition was scheduled to be at the
UN until next month and then go on a tour of Africa, including Rwanda,
Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress