Rwanda to commemorate 1994 genocide

KIGALI, Rwanda, April 7 (UPI) -- Rwandan leaders say they will have a service to commemorate the 1994 genocide near the spot where U.N. peacekeepers turned their backs on fleeing residents.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame Tuesday was set to attend ceremonies marking the deaths of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus near the site of the former U.N. base in Kigali, the BBC said.

The site was where Belgian peacekeepers, after sustaining casualties from attacking Rwandan soldiers, turned away about 3,000 Tutsis seeking shelter when the genocide broke on April 7, 1994. The victims are believed to have been slaughtered a few days later on a hillside called Nyanza, the German broadcaster Deutsche-Welle reported.

The BBC said some of the most high-level Hutu perpetrators of the violence have been taken before a special tribunal in Tanzania but many of the key suspects remain at large.

A candlelight vigil was planned for Tuesday to mark the genocide, with messages of support expected to pour in from around the world, organizers said.