By Atira George | Fairleigh Dickinson University | USA
Rwanda genocide survivor Paul Rusesabagina expressed his sentiments, “In 1994, during the one hundred days of the Rwanda genocide, I tried everything to get the international community to listen, to respond, to help—but nobody was ready to see, hear or, most importantly, to act.” His statement speaks the truth about the inaction of the international community throughout the genocide. During our course we have discussed genocide and the framing of genocide, and spent some time discussing the silence that surrounds genocide.
Through this discourse I will aim to answer the question “why the silence?” surrounding the 1994 Rwanda genocide, drawing from coursework covered in class as well as my online dialogue with students from Rwanda who recall the devastation of genocide. I am humbled to be a part of their dialogue and I hope that together we can come one step closer to not only answer the question but also try figure out a plan for action and implementation on the broad level for everyday citizens. Continue Reading…
By Chris Kessler | Fairleigh Dickinson University | USA
Generally considered a twentieth century phenomenon, genocide has emerged as the pinnacle of all human rights tragedies upon garnering the attention of the United Nations in 1946. Two years later, the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide formally established a definition for the term coined by Raphael Lemkin. Excusing any inherent flaws that various segments of the global community vociferously decry, the presence of a legal definition for genocide, and its recognition as a crime, reinforce both the legitimacy of the act and the threat it poses to humanity. In spite of this, instances of genocide have occurred since 1948, in developing and developed regions alike. In each instance, most of the world sat idle. In fact, it wasn’t until fifty years after the inception of the treaty that anyone would be convicted of genocide (Power, 60). Continue Reading…
By Elizabeth Schedl | Fairleigh Dickinson University | USA
The Rwandan genocide began on April 6,1994 after the Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana, was assassinated. The genocide was an outgrowth of years of conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu that had resulted in a civil war breaking out in l990. Habyarimana had negotiated a peace agreement with Tutsi rebels and was in the process of implementing this agreement when he was killed. Powerful Hutu leaders in the MRND and members of the Akazu opposed the peace agreement. These individuals appear to have been planning the attacks on the Tutsis prior to Habyarimana’s death and may even be responsible for his death. Whatever their involvement was in his death, it is clear that behind the attacks on the Tutsi people was a struggle for power amongst the Hutu. According to Lemarchand, the genocidal process was driven by a struggle for power between moderate and extremist Hutu. The genocide was organized by the MRND, the Akazu and officials of the Rwandan government and carried out by the Rwandan military and Hutu militia. Amongst the first targets were Hutu moderates, other political opposition groups and leaders of the Tutsi people. Once the killings started, many Hutu civilians also participated in the attacks on the Tutsis (Lemarchand, 2009 & Peck , 2005). Over a period of 100 days, from April to July, about 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu’s sympathetic to the Tutsis were killed. Continue Reading…
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Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Elie Wiesel
Do we speak up for another human being or don’t we?
Nesse Godin
Students at Kean University in New Jersey, studying the 1994 Rwandan Genocide with Dr. Dennis Klein, were asked to consider the question, “Why the Silence?” Part of their assignment was to discuss the topic with fellow classmates, as well as with Rwandan students, on the Journal’s Forum page.
Below is a distillation of the responses by both American and Rwandan students. When reading these, one is struck by the complexity of the topic and the deceivingly simple question of why such atrocities occur without effective intervention.
Judith Seaman
Editor
A Reflection by a Rwandan
It is difficult to feel the horror a survivor feels. His or her memory recalls a more direct situation. His memories are his whole reality. The horrific images are always stirring. He has no words to express his reality. Unlike an outsider who was not a victim of atrocities, a survivor constantly observes from the inside and always remains a victim.
While students and teachers make great efforts to understand the reasons behind a genocide and the reasons behind the lack of outside intervention, it is a reality that is difficult to explain, to find words or reasons. What happened is beyond our understanding yet I believe your participation is a hopeful one. Thank you.
Rurangwa Pierre Claver
The Bystander Effect
In 1964, Catherine ‘Kitty’ Genovese was murdered outside her apartment complex in Queens, New York, while thirty-eight of her neighbors listened and did nothing. Their response, or lack thereof, has come to be called the ‘bystander effect,’ and this behavior is part of what we studied in Dr. Klein’s class on genocide.
-Daniel Reyes
Continue Reading…