A MOVIE AND REALITY
Decade-old memories: Remember Rwanda knowing…
You are your brothers' keeper!

By Kaburi Kariuki in San Francisco, CA

Every so often you see or hear something that stops you dead on your tracks and forces you to search deep within your soul and psyche. Recently, I had one of those experiences and after some thoughtful contemplation I have decided to share it with you. The analysis I provide below will help you understand how I arrived at the conclusion that, "You are your brothers' keeper."

Ten years ago, some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda. A militia group known as the Interahamwe, which was comprised of the Hutu Majority descended upon the Tutsi's with machetes and within 100 days killed almost 1million of their fellow countrymen.

To this day I remember vividly and with shock that summer day in 1994, when as a college freshman I saw a man with a machete hack a woman to death. She was carrying a basket on her head and seemed to be minding her own business as she walked down what seemed to be a typical public street, a man blandishing a machete confronted her and moments later delivered a fatal blow. She fell to the ground.

I turned away from the television set and flinched for her pain, I saw her arms go up as she tried to shield her head but the man kept hacking away until her body lay motionless on the ground. These were the horrors the Hutus perpetrated on their fellow countrymen as I witnessed on CNN albeit for just a while on that summer day.

I ran out of my dorm room hoping to run into others who had witnessed the same but no one was there. Later that evening in the cafeteria everyone I spoke with was unperturbed by what they had seen on CNN apart from a casual concern here and there. Why was I so concerned yet everybody else was seemed not to care?

During that same summer, I sat in a packed theater and watched the movie "Schindlers List" and I kid you not, I have never seen so many white people sob as I saw on that day. Not a single eye was dry as we walked out of that theater after the conclusion of the movie - which depicted the holocaust.

Two weeks ago I sat in a similarly packed theater and watched the movie, "Hotel Rwanda" depicting the genocide that took place in 1994 and again I kid you not, you could count on one hand the people who were sobbing in that theater. How does one explain the great disparity or indifference towards the African holocaust?

The movie is called "Hotel Rwanda," I implore you to go and watch it. It is a brilliant performance by Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo. The director Terry George spares you the grim reality of the actual carnage that took place but shows you enough for you to connect the dots.

Go see it with your friends and family, Go see it with your neighbors and workmates, Go see it with anyone and everyone. See it, so that together we can relive this evil, see it so that together we can see the consequences of our failure to act, and then collectively we can say, "Never Again." Never again my African brother, will we sit idly by while atrocities are committed on our people. The West does not give a flip about Africa.

They saw it coming and they turned and looked away. When many of our brothers and sisters had been slaughtered they sent in just enough of their troops to extract their own and left the poor Africans to be butchered. There was no strategic interest in Rwanda for the West, there are no oil fields, and no blonde-blue eyed children to force the West to empathize like in the case of Yugoslavia. You are your brothers' keeper!

The UN Charter says in Article One that the purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security but in 1994 they failed Rwandans miserably and to that end failed Africans in general.

To further complicate the genocide, two of Africa's leading sons were heading the UN, (1) Boutros Boutros Ghali the Egyptian was the Secretary General, and (2) Kofi Annan the Ghanaian and current Secretary General was the Director of Peace Keeping. So what did they do to stop the slaughter? Nada! This begs the question, is the UN a front for Western interests?

Well, we would relegate ourselves if we just blame the West and the UN for not stopping us from butchering one another without taking some responsibility. Oh yes, no matter how you slice it, we as Africans played a major role in this genocide. We allowed the West to indoctrinate us to hate some of our own people because of their physical appearance or just the mere fact that they spoke a different language or belonged to a different ethnic group. This inter-ethnic hatred coupled with malicious and hateful rhetoric turned neighbor against neighbor and before 100 days were over 1 million people had been butchered in Rwanda.

So why are we so insensitive towards one another? Why do we stand aside and watch? Why is it that only in Africa do people have to die like flies before anyone speaks out? Are our leaders too busy trying to implement IMF and World Bank stringent impositions that we forget to notice ethnic skirmishes in our backyard? When is enough, enough? For the most part Africans have been indoctrinated and miseducated so much so that we have relegated the needs of our people to those of the rest of the world. We need to re-educate ourselves afresh and learn to give ourselves priority. Then and only then will the rest of the world start to recognize and treat us like equals.

Our leaders should promote dialogue amongst the people. The diversity that exists in Africa or even within the Kenyan context should not be the source of our weakness but a pillar of our strength. Diversity of thought is a beautiful thing and when properly nurtured breeds democracy and if neglected it can lead to genocide.

Recently, Kenyan newspapers reported that 16 people were killed in ethnic violence between the Maasai and Kikuyu at Mai Mahiu. These reports are saddening and worrisome. It was just a few years ago when ethnic clashes in Molo and Mombassa left hundreds dead and thousands displaced and homeless.

Yes, leaders in the former regime instigated the clashes and yet many of them walked scott-free. We all by now should know how dangerous it is to allow hateful rhetoric to go unchecked. No matter your ethnicity, hateful rhetoric is unacceptable.

Shame on our current leaders who continue to use hateful rhetoric to sow discord and for political mileage. The government's first duty is to guarantee and protect the life of its citizens. Failure to do so is to abscond from its duty. Where are these leaders when we need them most? Human rights are at stake, and we can no longer stand by and watch. You are your brothers' keeper!

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