Genocide

Almost everyone in the world has heard of Rwanda, and that is for only one reason: genocide.

Rwanda is a very small country- it seemed that you could get anywhere in just three hours in a mini bus from the capital, Kigali. You will find beautiful rolling hills all throughout the country, and even volcanoes, rainforests, mountain gorillas, and Lake Kivu, one of Africa’s great lakes.

But Rwanda has had a history of ethnic violence. The worst genocide happened in 1994, when anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million people died as a result. In college, I took several history and politics classes that focused on Rwanda, and therefore had read a lot about its history and what happened in 1994. I was anxious to go see it for myself.

My second day in Kigali I went off in a moto taxi to the genocide memorial. It is down the hill from the main part of town, but still very much inside the capital. I felt prepared to see and hear the stories that I had already read about and seen in the film, Hotel Rwanda.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. It is a great memorial, with a complete history of what happened, along with many personal stories. I slowly walked through, taking it all in and trying to keep my composure. I completely lost it at the end, when they had large picture of kids. Underneath, they had the name of the kid, age, who their best friend was, their favorite toy, their last words, and how they died.

I don’t remember specific names, but the ages in the exhibit were from 3 months to about 15 years old. The best friends included their father or mother, sister or brother, or a schoolmate. One of the kids was killed by the family of his own best friend. Most of the kids were killed with machetes, sometimes in the bathtub, and usually they were killed in front of their parents, so that they would have to watch their children die before they themselves were killed. One baby died because a militia man threw it against the wall. Another had his skull smashed by the militia mans foot. The only reason that these stories are known is because one of the family members, who had been sliced and left for dead, miraculous lived (often for several days) before they were finally found.

Around the memorial is a garden, and many mass graves of the victims of the genocide. An eternal flame burns, and there is even a library and classrooms for learning in the same building.

When I went back to the Presbyterian Church hotel/hostel where I was staying, the college aged girl working the desk asked me what I did that day. I told her that I went to the genocide memorial. After a short pause, and she told me that her family is buried there.

On the mini bus to the north, I noticed that several people had huge gashes on their legs and/or arms. Was this from the genocide? I also saw along the road many of the local trials that are still going on today, called gacacas. At these trials, the accused person, in a pink shirt, stands in front of the people of the town and tells his or her side of the story of what happened. At the end of the trial, the community decides what will happen to the person, which rarely includes jail time even if they are guilty of murder. This is not the most perfect way for justice, but how in the world could you possibly prosecute and jail the tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people that participated in the genocide? In Arusha, Tanzania, I passed by the international criminal tribunal, which is trying the worst offenders.

A friend of mine asked me “how many more genocide museums will we put up with?” And yet we continue to sit on the sidelines, allowing the long genocide in Darfur and others to continue.

I will never forget the last words of one of the kids. He said to his mother not to worry, because the UN will come to their aid. Thanks to our apathy and inaction, and that of many other Western countries, we refused. On the same day that they spoke of the horrible atrocities being committed in Rwanda, the UN member states, including the US, voted to reduce the UN force significantly.

How many more genocide museums will you put up with?