Stop the African Genocides

You may have heard of invisible children before, or the annual organization, Displace Me, but you may not know any truths behind it.

During 1994, the Rwandan genocide took place. Belgian colonists came to Rwanda and separated the country into two groups: Hutu, and Tutsi. The Hutus were characterized by their wider noses and no as tall stature compared to the Tutsis, who had skinnier noses and were generally tall and pretty. Both the Hutus and the Tutsis had no distinct religious conflicts; it was only by their appearance they were separated. The Belgian put the Tutsis in charge over the Hutus, because the Tutsis looked dominant. Before the Belgian left Rwanda, they decided to switch the power because they thought the Tutsis didn’t use the power of the Hutus well. After the Belgians left, and the angry Hutus in charge, they wanted revenge on the Tutsis for discriminating against them. This began the 1994 Rwanda genocide. During the 100 day genocide, between 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were murdered. During this time, France, Belgium, and even the United States declined to help the Rwandan people or even speak out against the massacres. This genocide finally ended when an army of Tutsi rebels overthrew the Hutu government and seized power once more.

After the extremity of the Rwandan genocide, it seems impossible that anything of that magnitude could ever happen again, but it did, twice. Both the Ugandan and the Darfur genocides continue today, and there seems to be little to be done about it.

“Since early 2003, the government of Sudan has been waging a campaign of genocide against targeted African communities in Darfur, west Sudan.” Darfur, about the size of Texas, is home to two feuding groups: The racially mixed tribes, identified as African, and the nomadic herders, identified as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim. These African farmers and others are being systematically displaced and murdered in the hands of government-supported Arab tribes. Over 450,000 civilians have been murdered during the genocide, and over 2.5 million people have been displaced. It is clear that only and international intervention can stop the genocide in Darfur, but only the U.S. has fully recognized that a genocide is taking place in Darfur. This in itself “brings with it a particular obligation to act.” Although the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed in May of 2006, the government remains to sponsor violence in Darfur.

In Darfur’s neighboring countries lies Uganda. “Since 1962, Ugandans have suffered gross violation of human rights, including genocide.” 1.6 million civilians in Northern Uganda are being forced to live in “government controlled international displacement camps”, also known as concentration camps. These camps were created to try to protect the people of Uganda; on the other hand, they are just made easier targets for mass killings. The danger in Uganda is a result of “the war between Museveni’s Ugandan Peoples’ Defense Forces (UPDF) and the northern ‘rebel’ group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).” “Over the past 19 years, over 500,000 civilians have been murdered and over 25,000 children have been abducted” by both the LRA and the UPDF. Instead of trying to end the war, Museveni is using a technique known as “ethnic cleansing” to kill of the LRA population. This same technique was used by another man in charge of a genocide, Adolf Hitler.

Both the Darfur and the Ugandan genocides have yet to be stopped, and only we can help them.

In the 2004 film, Hotel Rwanda, a character is filming footage of the mass killings occurring in Rwanda. After viewing the footage, another character, Jack, responds, “I think if people see this footage they'll say, ‘oh my God that's horrible,’ and then go on eating their dinners.” This quote alone made me passionate about helping the Africans involved in the genocides. Don’t tell me you haven’t done it, seen footage of the Iraq war even and thought, “that sucks for them”, then you go on living you’re life.
When there are hundreds of people being systemically being murdered every day, you can’t just go on eating you’re dinner. You have to save them.