Rwanda’s Legacy

When thousands of Rwandans ­gathered this spring in the capital, Kigali, the hope was that they could put behind them the genocidal rampage that tore their country apart twenty-­five years ago. First, they watched as world leaders, including Canadian governor general Julie Payette, laid wreaths and lit a memorial flame at a site where more than a quarter of a million victims are buried. Then, as darkness fell, about 3,000 people walked through the city to the national football stadium, where 30,000 more were waiting. The lights were extinguished, and the stadium was lit by a sea of flickering candles as survivors of the genocide spoke, their voices punctuated by cries of anguish in the audience.

The killing on everyone’s mind that mournful night in Kigali began on April 7, 1994, after an airplane carrying the country’s Hutu president was shot down. The killers were organized and had lists of those who had been marked for death. They were urged on by a private radio...