Twenty-five years have elapsed since the world watched in both horror and helplessness as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. Yes, it is a quarter of a century since an estimated 800,000 — some say more than 1 million — Tutsis and moderate Hutus were brutally massacred by Hutu forces, who showed no mercy for men, women, children or the elderly. Rape was used as a weapon of war against women and girls, houses were burnt down and entire communities were wiped out. Equipped mainly with machetes, the assailants mowed down their victims with inconceivable speed and brutality. Within exactly 100 days between April and July of 1994, death and destruction spread across this tiny country, leaving a tenth of its population dead and many millions with a devastating legacy. However, as abhorrent as those who carried out the genocide were, the entire international community was also tainted by staying silent and doing nothing to stop this mass atrocity. Rwanda last week began 100 days of remembrance for the victims of the genocide. Officials and foreign dignitaries joined about 2,000 people in a “walk to remember” from Rwanda’s parliament to the national football stadium, where candles were lit in a night vigil. Others across the world marked the commemoration online with #Kwibuka25 — the word for “remember” in Kinyarwanda, the country’s official language. One of the mechanisms to cope with the gruesome legacy of the genocide is to not let people forget about the history of the atrocities that took place. It is essential that we maintain the memory of the genocide and its victims. After all, the atrocities did not happen in a vacuum, they were not spontaneous, and they exposed the weakness and reluctance of the domestic sociopolitical system and the international community to either prevent the genocide or stop it once it had started its deadly march. Commemoration is first and foremost an act of respect for those who perished, were scarred physically or mentally, or who contracted the AIDS virus as a consequence of the mass rapes.But the commemoration goes beyond honoring the victims and survivors. It is a reminder to all of us about the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another, and the importance of remaining vigilant for any sign of atrocities. Despite the claims made at the time by the UN and the US that they had no intelligence regarding the looming genocide, it is well documented that Canada’s Gen. Romeo Dallaire, Force Commander of the UN peacekeeping mission for Rwanda, cautioned his superiors about the gathering clouds in the country’s political skies, which portended a major ethnic conflict. Add to this that it was known by then that 581 tons of machetes had been allowed to enter Rwanda, and that death lists of prominent Tutsis and their families were being drawn up, and the picture becomes clearer: The international community either suffered from a total eclipse of judgement or was utterly indifferent to the situation. Warnings of a possible large-scale ethnic conflict were also present in CIA reports, but those in the higher echelons of the Clinton administration appear to have ignored them. France was also a close ally of the Hutu-led government prior to the massacres, yet paid no attention to the warning signs, while at the same time allegedly training the militias who were to carry out the genocide. Little was done internationally to stop the killings. Although the UN and Belgium had forces in Rwanda, they were not given a mandate to act; instead the Belgians and most UN peacekeepers pulled out. How many lives could have been saved and how much suffering could have been prevented had the international community acted in a timely and decisive manner? Moreover, despite the shock of the Rwandan genocide, since that time the world has failed to react in much more than a very slow and half-hearted manner to other mass atrocities, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Syria. Preserving the memory of those innocent Rwandans who paid the price for others’ inhumanity or inaction also helps ensure that the genocide denial vultures are kept away. All genocides, from the Armenian to the Holocaust, from the killing fields of Cambodia to Bosnia, to mention just a few, have been followed by those who unscrupulously seek to deny the victims and survivors any credibility or justice. Meticulously documenting the evidence marginalizes those who deny some of the worst atrocities of our time, and prevents the excruciating pain inflicted on those who suffered so much when they are deprived of their voice. As in other cases of genocide, ethnic cleansing or extreme brutality, ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice is imperative, first and foremost because it removes these murderers from society, but also because it can deter others and bring some comfort and closure to the survivors. In November 1994, the UN Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which convicted and sentenced 61 people and also established the truth about how the genocide was planned and premeditated. The Rwandan justice system has also tried a large number of suspected perpetrators. Regrettably, the ICTR closed in 2015 — this is a source of injustice that suggests the passage of time can exonerate war criminals, while sending the wrong signals to would-be war criminals. Rwanda has come a long way since the dark days of 1994. Its people have shown great resilience in dealing with the collective trauma that befell them. Yet, in spite of a prosperous economy and improving living conditions, they still live under an increasingly authoritarian government led by the man who was their liberator from those who massacred them, Paul Kagame. It might also be a good time, while remembering 1994, to start looking for the next generation of leaders who can introduce a more representative governing system. This could be the next step in the healing of the Rwandan nation. Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg