Rwandan president cancels lecture

In a blow to the Undergraduate Government of Boston College's (UGBC's) plans for a Genocide Awareness Week, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame cancelled his lecture set for this Thursday. The humanitarian leader's speech had been the focal point of a week dedicated to raising awareness about global issues.

Burnell Holland, UGBC vice president and A&S '05, said that he believes escalating civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which neighbors Rwanda, caused Kagame to cancel his entire trip to the United States. The president had been scheduled to speak before the United Nations in New York City, and then in Washington, D.C.

Genocide Awareness Week will otherwise go on as planned. Eric Reeves, an English professor at Smith College, will speak Tuesday on genocide in the Sudan. Reeves has served as a policy and advocacy adviser to a number of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian and human rights issues in Sudan, as well as on the advisory board of the U.S. Committee for Refugees. Numerous other educational teach-ins have also been scheduled.

Holland said that awareness of global issues is an integral part of the ideals of BC's jesuit background. "We ran on a platform of building community, and an important part of that is getting back to your roots. We decided knowledge of global issues is a critical part of getting back to the Ignation ideals of this school," he said.

Kagame's appearance was the brainchild of UGBC president Grace Simmons, A&S '05, who worked alongside Pierre-Richard Prosper, ambassador to the UN at-large for war crimes issues, to plan the event.

Prosper is a member of the Board of Trustees and boasts a long background in international issues. From 1996 to late 1998, Prosper served as a war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Under his leadership, eight leaders of a Rwandan militia movement were convicted of genocide, the first men to be found guilty under the provisions of the1948 Genocide Convention.

University spokesperson Jack Dunn said that he is optimistic that the lecture can be rescheduled for next semester. "We're all very disappointed that the event had to be postponed. We look forward to rescheduling the event as soon as possible," he said.

Kagame is credited by many for helping expedite a reconciliation between the Tutsi and the Hutu groups of Rwanda.