Ghosts of Rwanda

[Hovik]

I found these films on the PBS site linked from the website of a class I'm taking.

One of the clips the red cross director states that the Red Cross wasn't there to save lives during the Armenian Genocide or Holocaust...

I suggest watching all of them, very moving, and so many parallels can be drawn between Rwanda and Armenia...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/video/

[Gavur]

Turkish objection postpones Rwanda genocide show

Front page / World
04/10/2007 00:16 Source: AP ©



An exhibition on the 1994 Rwanda genocide, scheduled for Monday was to be opened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But it has been postponed because of Turkish objections to a reference to the murder of a million Armenians in Turkey during World War I.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/10-04-2007/89376-genocide_show-0

James Smith, chief executive of the British-based Aegis Trust, which works to prevent genocide and helped organize the photo exhibition, said the U.N. Department of Public Information approved the contents and it was put up on Thursday.

A Turkish diplomat complained about the reference to the Armenian murders, he said, and Armenia's U.N. Ambassador Armen Martirosyan went to see the new Undersecretary for Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka and they agreed to remove the words "in Turkey."

Martirosyan said Akasaka invited him to the exhibition's opening, but late Sunday "I was informed that the opening would be postponed, or delayed, or even canceled." He blamed Turkish "censorship" and the country's refusal "to come to terms with their own history."

On Monday, the exhibition in the visitor's lobby had been turned around so it could not be seen by the public. Smith said he was still hoping for a diplomatic solution to the dispute.

"We are very disappointed about it because for us, this was meant to be about the Rwandan genocide, and the lessons from the Rwandan genocide," and to engage the secretary-general on the pledge by world leaders to protect civilians from genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing, which Smith said was not happening in Sudan's conflict-wracked Darfur region.

U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed Turkey complained about the exhibition, but he said "the basic concern" was that the review process for U.N. exhibitions, which takes into account "all positions," was not followed. He said there were other concerns which he refused to disclose.

"The exhibition has been postponed until the regular review process is completed," Haq said.

Smith told The Associated Press the exhibition refers to the Armenian murders to help explain the word "genocide," which was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent. Lemkin was inspired by what happened to the Armenians and other mass killings, and campaigned in the League of Nations - the precursor of the United Nations - against what he called "barbarity" and "vandalism."

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.




Smith said a small panel on Lemkin in the exhibit "says that during World War I a million Armenians were murdered in Turkey." It goes on to explain that Lemkin first used the word genocide in 1943, and then focuses on the Rwanda genocide, lessons from it, and the responsibility of the international community to prevent future genocides, he said.

Haq said "the U.N. hasn't expressed any position on incidents that took place long before the United Nations was established" after World War II.

"In any case, the focus during the anniversary of the Rwanda genocide should remain on Rwanda itself," he said.

Rwanda's genocide began hours after a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana was mysteriously shot down as it approached the capital, Kigali, on April 6, 1994. The 100-day slaughter, in which more than 500,000 minority Tutsis were killed by Hutu extremists, ended after rebels ousted the extremist Hutu government that orchestrated the killings.

Smith said the panel on the origin of genocide could have been done without referring to the Armenians.

But once the Armenian reference "was there and approved, we felt as a matter of principle you can't just go around striking things out. It is a form of denial, and as an organization that deals with genocide issues, we couldn't do that on any genocide, and we can't do this," he said.

"If we can't get this right, it undermines all the values of the U.N. It undermines everything the U.N. is meant to stand for in terms of preventing (genocide)," Smith said. "You can't learn the lessons from history if you're going to sweep all of that history under the carpet. And what about accountability? What about ending impunity if you're going to hide part of the truth? It makes a mockery of all of this."

Haq said Ban planned to meet with Rwanda's U.N. ambassador late Monday, and he read a message from the secretary-general who recalled the "personal impact" of his visit to Rwanda last year to pay his respects to victims and survivors of the genocide.

"On this 13th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, two messages should be paramount," Ban said. "First, never forget. Second never stop working to prevent another genocide."

[1.5 million]

A story of courage (Smith) and cowardice (UN/UN spokesperson Haq and Turkey itself of course).

Ultimatly there is no hope. People are weak and stupid. F Turkey!

[Gavur]

Foreign Minister Oskanian Reacts To Rwandan Genocide Exhibition Postponement

"It is not enough that the Government of Turkey thinks it can hide its history from its own people. Now, they have taken their campaign of cover-up and distortion to such lengths that they will prevent an exhibition on Genocide entitled "Lessons from Rwanda, " Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian said in retaliation to a postponement of a UN exhibition on Rwanda Genocide.

This UK-based AEGIS Trust NGO-sponsored exhibition on the horrors of Rwanda, at the United Nations in New York, was postponed because the

http://www.azg.am/?lang=EN&num=2007041204

Turks object to a sentence that refers to Armenians being killed and to Raphael Lemkin's conclusion that such large-scale and pre-meditated slaughter amounted to Genocide.

"Raphael Lemkin's work is part of the international record, and of world history. It is unacceptable that a UN member-state, committed to world peace, dares to export such intolerance to the United Nations. Armenia cannot accept that the history of the world, the current experiences of suffering of the people of Rwanda, of Darfur, and Armenians' memories of injustice are subjected to such callous, cynical dismissal.

It is ironic and shameful that this Turkish-led postponement should befall an event which was to provide lessons on how to respect human rights and prevent genocides. Instead, the lesson here is one of total disrespect for history and memory," Oskanian's statement said.

[Gavur]

Anca Criticizes Turkey For Blocking U.n. Exhibit On The Rwanda Genocide

http://ummahnewslinks.com/2007/04/11/anca-criticizes-turkey-for-blocking-un-exhibit-on-the-rwanda-genocide.aspx

This entry was posted on 4/11/2007 6:17 PM and is filed under Ummah News Links.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has sharply condemned the Turkish government for blocking the opening of a United Nations exhibit on the Rwanda Genocide due to an indirect mention of the Armenian Genocide in one of the exhibit's display panels.

"Sadly, this is only the most recent example of how Turkey's campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide perpetuates the cycle of genocide, making the world a more dangerous place and future genocides more likely," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

The Associate Press reported earlier that the United Nations, bowing to Turkish protests, had delayed the opening of the exhibit, organized by the Aegis Trust, in the international organization's highly trafficked visitor's lobby. The Turkish mission specifically registered its objections to a reference in the exhibit concerning the origin of the word "genocide," which mentioned that Raphael Lemkin, the international lawyer and human rights activist, who coined this term, had been influenced by the crimes committed against the Armenians and other mass killings.

Commenting on the exhibit's postponement James Smith, the chief executive of the British-based Aegis Trust, said that, "If we can't get this right, it undermines all the values of the U.N. It undermines everything the U.N. is meant to stand for in terms of preventing (genocide). . . You can't learn the lessons from history if you're going to sweep all of that history under the carpet. What about accountability? What about ending impunity if you're going to hide a part of the truth? It makes a mockery of all of this."

[CRDA-France]

Here is the page in French giving us the speech of
His Holiness Aram Irst in Kigali in 2004 April 17
"Impunity Creates Unjustice And Violence."

http://www.crda-france.org/fr/9genoc...wanda_aram.htm

Psychanalyst Helen Piralian has written an article in 2004 called : About the Importance of Rwanda "Sites". This article will be again in her next book.

Translation French into English : [ http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en ] :

des ressemblances troublantes avec la genèse du génocide arménien :

En terminant, je m’adresse aux Puissances de l’Europe et j’atteste ce qui a encouragé le gouvernement turc dans ses méfaits ce sont ces mêmes Puissances qui, connaissant la mauvaise administration turque et les cruautés qu’elle a commises en maintes occasions, n’ont rien fait pour l’empêcher de continuer de mal oeuvrer. »

Conclusion du texte écrit à Bombay, (le 3 Septembre 1916) « Les massacres en Arménie turque » par Faiez El-Ghocein, avocat de profession, chef bédouin syrien et capitaine dans l’armée ottomane pendant la 1ère Guerre mondiale, pp 56-57, Beyrouth 1965.

http://www.crda-france.org/fr/9genocide1915/a_rwanda.htm

#455

[Alexandros]

Rwanda genocide mastermind jailed


Page last updated at 11:12 GMT, Thursday, 18 December 2008

The International Criminal Tribunal sentences Theoneste Bagosora to life in prison

Former senior defence official Theoneste Bagosora has been convicted of instigating Rwanda's 1994 genocide and sentenced to life in prison.

Bagosora and two co-defendants were found by a UN tribunal to have led a committee that plotted the massacre of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

It is the first time the Rwanda tribunal has convicted anyone of organising the killings.

More than 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda's genocide.

Along with Bagosora, former military commanders Anatole Nsegiyumva and Alloys Ntabakuze were also found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and given life sentences.

Bagosora, 67, and the two senior military officers were found to have organised, trained and armed the Interahamwe militia, which was responsible for most of the killing.

They were also responsible for drawing up a list of Tutsis and moderate Hutus who opposed their vision of an ethnically pure Rwanda.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania, rejected the defence's argument that the killing was not organised, and therefore not genocide.

Bagosora's lawyer, Raphael Constant, told the AFP news agency that his client would appeal against the verdict.

Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, the former chief of military operations, who was on trial with Bagosora and the two other men, was cleared of all charges and ordered to be released from custody immediately.

In another verdict on Thursday, the tribunal sentenced Protais Zigiranyirazo, 57, to 20 years in jail for his part in the genocide.

Mr Zigiranyirazo, a brother-in-law of former President Juvenal Habyarimana, was accused of ordering Hutus to kill 48 people in two incidents.


'Principal enemy'

The sentences will be welcomed by the government in Rwanda, which has come to regard the tribunal as a key part of the process of justice and reconciliation, says the BBC's Peter Greste.

Bagosora has been in custody since 1996, when he was arrested in Cameroon.

Prosecutors said Bagosora assumed control of military and political affairs in Rwanda when President Habyarimana's plane was shot down in 1994 - the catalyst for the genocide.

However, the indictment alleges that he set out to "prepare the apocalypse" as far back as 1990.

The following year, Bagosora helped draft a document circulated within the army that described Tutsis as "the principal enemy".

Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, head of UN peacekeepers in Rwanda at the time, described Mr Bagosora as the "kingpin" behind the genocide.

Gen Dallaire wrote in his memoirs that Bagosora was a "known extremist" who "controlled - as well as anyone could - the genocidal militia".

Bagosora introduced militia leaders to Gen Dallaire when the UN commander thought it might help save lives to meet them.

After talking to the militia leaders, one of whom had blood stains on his shirt, Gen Dallaire wrote that he felt he had "shaken hands with the devil".

At their last meeting on Rwandan soil, in 1994, Bagosora said the next time he saw the Canadian general, he would kill him.

In fact, the next time they saw each other in person was in tribunal's courtroom when Gen Dallaire testified for the prosecution against Bagosora.

The trial, which began in 2002, was expected to last two years.

The tribunal, which has made 33 convictions and five acquittals, due to wind up next year.

The effects of the genocide are still being felt in the region, in particular across the border in DR Congo.

Some of the Hutu militias involved in the genocide fled to DR Congo, where Tutsi rebels, allegedly with some Rwandan backing, refuse to lay down their arms, saying they are being attacked by the Hutu fighters.

Some 300,000 people have fled their homes in DR Congo this year because of this conflict.

Link

[CRDA-France]

Regarding the compared approach of Armenian/Rwandan Genocides, I found the English Version of the Testimony of the Arab Bedouin who was a direct witness in 1915.

http://www.armenews.com/IMG/martyredarmenia00ghusiala.pdf

In both cases we can see how European consulates in both countries knew that something terrible was getting prepared and did nothing to stop it :

"...In conclusion I would address myself to the Powers of Europe, and say that it is they themselves who have encouraged the Turkish Government to this deed, for they were aware of the evil administration of that Government, and its barbarous proceedings on many occasions in the past, but did not check it." Fa'iz el-Ghusein (Bombay 1916). Last page > p.56.

Nil
#1351