African Insights Blog – May 2004
Rwanda - 10 years Later
It has been ten years, Rwanda has lived in relative peace with
the shadows of death hanging over it...The government has moved
to bring healing and closure through an ancient court system
which seems to be working. Rwanda is growing again, even
the former Hutu Rebels are returning and being re-educated as to
how to live in the new Rwanda. It is my hope that the
Rwanda genocide of almost a million people dying in 100 days in
a nation of 8 million will never happen again...jon
Rwanda - 10 years Later:
April 8th was the day for a ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New
York City. A ceremony to commemorate 100 days where hell was
unleashed in the country of 1000 hills called Rwanda.
The sad reality was a low and embarrassing turnout; not unlike when
the days of turmoil visited Rwanda. The world stood still,
made excuses, called it something else such as a spontaneous tribal
uprising. Koffi Annan and Boutros-Boutros Ghali cut the troop
strength, while the Canadian General Dallaire who was in charge
of the UN contingent nearly lost his mind and soul as the carnage
took place.
The world looked on in silence since it was merely African against
African and that was not a threat to world peace. It only
had dire consequences on fellow Rwandans. Africans stood by,
from Koffi Annan to President Moi and everyone in between.
Uganda was supportive of the Rwanda Patriotic Front that under the
leadership of Paul Kagame brought an end to the carnage. America
and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright quibbled as to the definition
of what is genocide, ignoring the reality on the ground. The world
did get involved by supplying shelter, food, and medicine to genocidaires
who at that point were in then Zaire, Tanzania and upper crust ones
in Nairobi.
France had trained and equipped Rwanda's Army and actually fought
against the Rwanda Patriotic Front in 1990. They also rescued
many of the genocidaires and gave them escort to safety as whole
towns fled. France told the world they had it under control,
but they were more worried about losing French-speaking Rwanda to
an Anglophone rebel group made up of Tutsis whose parents fled to
Uganda in the 60's and 70's. France was afraid of a greater
Tutsi Empire led by President Museveni whose grandmother had Tutsi
roots.
Genocide took place in one hundred days while the world stood still,
while America argued that it was not genocide, while the UN cut
the forces that could have stopped that horrific event. Now it is
10 years later, the sign in Peace Stadium read "Never Again," but
while they were holding the memorial service another event is taking
place, another Rwanda is starting up in the Darfur region of Sudan.
It is Muslim against Muslim, government led militias causing havoc,
and once again there is a silence. Sudan is of course on the UN
Human Rights committee, while an ethnic cleansing is taking place
in West Sudan. Yes, it is happening again.
One can look at all the errors of countries, at historical background
to the genocide in Rwanda and forget that the wounds this genocide
made ten years ago are still there. The machete scars still
exist, the scars of heart and soul, the victims of rape, those who
saw family members killed in front of their own eyes. Today
there is one change that has taken place, no longer is the tribal
affiliation on the national identity card which takes me back to
ten years ago when I asked a question.
"What tribe do you belong to?" Was the question I asked a
woman in Kigali, Rwanda during the late summer of 1994. Her
answer was simple and yet profound. "What does it matter?
I am a Human Being."
Human Beings are
hard to kill, hard to hate, hard to eliminate, but "Invenzi" are
Tutsi cockroaches and needed to be stepped on and crushed.
After all what did it matter whether they were eliminated from the
earth?
The woman that I had asked the question of had actually survived
the 100 days from hell in hiding. She had scars, both physical ones
and psychological ones, and as a consequence she also had AIDS,
and in Africa in 1994 that meant the sentence of death.
Ten years later, I think of Jean who was a cook and housekeeper
in a house I stayed at in Kigali. He spoke of how his neighbors
turned on him, about the radio station, Mille Collines, broadcasting
that the job needed to be completed, "the graves were still only
half full." The Interhamwe (those who attack together) came
to his house and destroyed it and killed his mother and sister.
He and his family got away thanks to a nice Hutu neighbor.
They existed for two months out in the country living off the land.
Life was miserable for him. He was going to go to his church,
but he had heard churches were places where Tutsis were attacked
and not places of refuge.
I remember attending an Anglican Church in Kigali in August of 1994
and seeing the bullet holes, the stains, and my thoughts drifted
to a young girl whose home was attacked, her family killed, she
herself struck by a machete and thrown into a mass grave.
That night she crawled out and found refuge with a kind Hutu man
who hid her beneath the floorboards until the RPF entered Kigali.
Rwanda was not a spontaneous tribal conflict, but a systematic plan
to eliminate a people. Both Hutus and Tutsis speak the same
language, often lived next to each other, there were no separate
territories, the Tutsis were the minority and ruled for years until
the Belgians reversed the order of power.
Hutu Power became the order of the day and the genocide in 1994
was meant to eliminate a people, to cut them down to size by beheading
them. Most deaths came through the machete, house by house,
led by officials, by doctors, inspired by professors, kept on target
even by ministers from various religious denominations.
Now it is ten years later and although Africa vowed never to let
it to happen again . the word is coming from the Darfur Region of
Sudan that we still have not learned. All we need to do is
remember that we are not merely dealing with nationalities, tribes,
religion, belief systems, but fathers, mothers, daughters, children...people
just like us, people with dreams, hopes for a better tomorrow, people
who want to live in peace...may sanity prevail…jon
New Developments: More and more evidence
is coming out that the French were deeply involved in the training
and abetting of the Hutu Army and also in the training of the Interhamwe
which did most of the killing of Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The French in a very arrogant manner even planned
an overthrow of Kagame and the RPA after 1994 as records and letters
have revealed, they simply did not want to lose a Francophone country
to the Anglophones.
Yet, all the while they have been harboring
some of the biggest instigators of the genocide...viva la France...hmm...shame
on you...your record in Africa stinks as it is and is more colonial
than the British...strong opinions, yes.
The shame is that ten years later, only a handful
of minor officials showed up instead of heads of state...why?
Coult it be that this was just an Africa country that had no strategic
importance? Had this been Yugoslavia, what then? All of Europe
would have been involved and the USA and Britain, but Rwanda, they
are not white as Yugoslavia. Watch the documentary about General
Dallaire returning to Rwanda after 10 years called "Shake Hands
with the Devil." Read the book.
President Clinton came one year to the
tarmac in Kigali to say that if he only knew, shame on you
Clinton...shame on you and every other western leader, you knew,
Kofi Anan you knew and you only tied the restraints on General
Romeo Dallaire a bit tighter...hmmm...sad...never again...I
doubt it...jon
Other Pages on Rwanda:
Rwanda
- My Perspective: I spent of lot of time following
the genocide. Here are some thoughts on Rwanda based on my visits
to Rwanda. A beautiful country, an ugly past and dreams of a
brighter future. It has been good to see the changes, the
rebuilding, the will of leaders to see it happen.
Rwanda Picture Gallery:
