DAR ES SALAAM, April 7 (Xinhua) — The East African Community (EAC) on Thursday commemorated 28 years of the 1994 Rwanda genocide by laying wreaths as a tribute to the more than one million innocent lives lost through the genocide.

A statement by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania’s northern city of Arusha said the wreaths were laid at the commemoration monument at the EAC gardens.

The event brought together a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including representatives from various religious groups, the East African Business Council, the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, students from different universities and secondary schools in Arusha and the EAC staff, said the statement.

“As we commemorate for the 28th time, it is important to reaffirm the fundamental truth that we are all created equal, and we have certain undeniable rights that include the right to life and no one has the right to take it away as it was done 28 years ago from the innocent men and women of Rwanda,” said Peter Mathuki, the EAC secretary general.

“I want once again wish to reiterate our commitment as EAC secretariat that the Community will continue to ensure the genocide vice is uprooted from our region, through discussions and reflections on the dangers of genocide ideology and its denial,” he said.

“With the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, the entire humanity was put to test and the sanity of human nature was put into serious doubts,” said John Mongella, the Arusha regional commissioner.

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