04211
May 4, 2004

Rwandan genocide remembered

Speakers at NCC event cite inaction of Washington, UN, churches

by James N. Birkitt, Jr.

LOS ANGELES — A commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda recalled the horror of the massacre and offered hope that such incidents can be prevented in the future.

     The April 23 event here was sponsored by the National Council of Churches (NCC). The keynote speaker was Samantha Power, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, focused on the failure of the United Nations, the United States and other Western governments to prevent or respond effectively in cases of genocide. 

     Power called on United States to redefine its “vital interests” to include the prevention of genocide. Longstanding U.S. policy permits military intervention only when the nation’s security or economic well‑being is threatened. 

    Power said it also would be helpful “for the United States to replace its ‘all or nothing’ diplomatic approach with a continuum of responses and options that may stop genocide before it occurs. The failure of the U.S. government to act is always an implicit ... ‘green light’ to the perpetrators of genocide.”

     She noted that such actions would help prevent genocide in Sudan. Even a mild U.S. government reproof prompts the Khartoum government to tone down the hostilities, she said.

    An eclectic group of religious leaders, educators, public-policy experts, students and activists attended the event, titled “Remembering Rwanda: Ten Years After The Genocide,” which featured presentations by genocide experts, testimony from survivors, and the premiere of a documentary film on the slaughter in Rwanda.

    The Rwandan genocide, the result of escalating violence between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes, began in April 1994 and led to the deaths of more than 800,000 Hutu and moderate Tutsi, and the rapes of 250,000 Hutu women during 100 days of terror.

    In her research into the world’s failure to intervene in Rwanda, Power found that the response of the United States and other Western countries was shaped by decisions made before the killing began, rather than in response to it. She said mixed signals from Western nations and the United Nations emboldened the perpetrators.

    Power called on journalists to focus world attention on genocide, encouraged faith communities to raise their voices, and urged governments to be alert for “the early warning signals that are always part of the cycle of genocide, including smaller massacres that serve as ‘trial balloons’ to test international response, and the demonizing of specific groups by the government or the media.”

    She also called on governments to find new ways to conduct diplomacy. “Diplomats are so conditioned to be diplomats that they consistently offer conventional responses in the face of unconventional horrors,” she said. “Governments must replace the pantomime of response with robust, effective responses.”

    The film premiered during the NCC event, “God Sleeps In Rwanda,” a documentary by Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman, focuses on the genocide’s effects on Rwandan families, destabilization of the culture, and contribution to a dramatic increase of HIV and AIDS among Rwandan women and children.

    The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the NCC, noted: “It is important that we remember what we failed to do — and that includes churches and church people. We must ask forgiveness for our silence. Those of us in faith communities must honor God’s call to love and care for the least of our brothers and sisters.”

    Richard Hrair Dekmejian, an expert on the 1915 Armenian genocide and a professor of political science at the University of Southern California, noted that despite the current international focus on terrorism, “Terrorists have killed relatively few people when compared with genocide.”

    Dekmejian called for a three‑point commitment by faith communities and people of conscience to “bring the perpetrators of genocide to justice; work for compensation for its victims; and influence governments to prevent and intervene in future genocides.”

    Gerry Caplan, a founder of the international coalition Remembering Rwanda, said four groups must be remembered one decade after the killings in Rwanda: “those who died; the victims who survived; the perpetrators, most of whom were never brought to justice; and the international community, or more accurately, international bystanders, who actively chose not to get involved.”

    He said churches share the blame for the failure to intervene with Rwanda, the governments of the United States and Europe, and the United Nations.         

    Two Rwandan genocide survivors vividly described the destruction of entire villages and towns, the widespread incidence of rape, the mass psychosis that the slaughter caused, and the lasting impact on survivors.

    The event was scheduled as part of the World Council of Churches’ “Decade To Overcome Violence.”

James N. Birkitt Jr. is director of communication for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches in Los Angeles.