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Rwandan genocide remembered
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.

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