Sixty three years ago, on December 10, 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Political leaders representing different countries from around the world took a stand. They stood by a document that said that we human beings can treat each other in a more humane way. They said that despite all our differences, deep inside we all have a shared humanity. A humanity that had seemed to have been pushed aside during World War II when some of the worst atrocities ever known to human kind were perpetrated.

In Rwanda, this Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) was held up as a justification for the erstwhile Hutu serfs to rebel against their Tutsi rulers a decade later. Unfortunately, it turned out that the free serfs in Rwanda forgot about this declaration as soon as they overthrew the masters. Since then, we have had several violent struggles for power between various elite groups. The current government of Rwanda waged a war that resulted in the deaths of millions of Rwandans, some killed by the former government and some by the current government. Once again, freedom and human rights were claimed as the motives for this war. The reality of how things are in Rwanda today has turned out to be quite different.

As we celebrate the anniversary of the UNDHR, let us remember all the victims of all the bad forms of government that we have had so far, since hundreds of years ago until this very day. The victims who suffered or lost their lives during the feudal monarchy times to the victims who suffered or lost their lives during the reign of the various presidents and those who are still suffering and those who are still losing their lives today.

Finally, let us ask ourselves as a nation, are we really completely incapable of producing leaders who can transform our nation into a more humane society? Are we as a nation completely incapable of educating the armed men and women who are our brothers and sisters so that they can use their strength to keep the peace instead of using it to destroy some of our people? Are we going to keep going around in a circle of oppression and hopelessness? Or are we going to create a nation that can finally abide by fundamental human rights? The future is in our hands. Every action we take counts, every word we say counts, just like the ocean is made up of many individual water drops.

Happy International Human Rights Day!