Rwanda welcomes US task force on genocide prevention

BY GEORGE KAGAME

The U.S. Task Force on Genocide prevention report released this week in Washington has been welcomed by Jean de Dieu Mucyo the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide as a "a crucial initiative" in the fight against the inhuman crime and its ideology.

Speaking to journalists in his office on Airport Road on Thursday, Mucyo said that as a world super power, the US had a responsibility to stop crimes against humanity wherever they maybe before the crimes exploded into full blown atrocities; "the US task force on genocide is very important because it will ensure that the US government will be prepared to deal with the crime whenever it happens. Had they been prepared to react, the massive destruction of life and property should not have happened here IN 1994."

In 2007, the US launched a task force to draw up a list of practical recommendations for responding to threats of genocide and mass killings anywhere in the world. The task force is chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Defense Secretary William Cohen. Both leaders served in Bill Clinton's administration that failed to react with the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in the mid 1990s.

Rwanda lost over one million innocent civilians accused of being Tutsi and over 10,000 ethnic Albanians were murdered in the Balkans in a single day for being Moslem. The report titled "Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for US Policy-makers," will be presented to the next U.S administration under Barrack Obama in January 2009 to be used in dealing with genocide issues in the world. The task force was formed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy and the United States Institute of Peace.

Mucyo said that the report should not only focus on preventing genocide in the future but to help the victims that have suffered past genocides in the world: "it is important to help victims of Genocide where it has happened. In Rwanda's case the UN has passed several resolutions calling for assistance for the victims of 1994 especially children and widows, but till now most of these resolutions are just on paper. We hope that this example by the US is an example that Genocide does not happen anywhere else."


He also praised the US task force saying that will help speed up UN action in areas where atrocities are believed to be happening like Darfur; "the UN delays, procedures are very long, the US can speed up UN initiatives because of its huge influence there." Mucyo added that the US needed more partners in the developed world to show responsibility in leadership to help to end genocidal crimes. The UN has been accused for failing to stop the Rwandan Genocide because it was saddled by definitional issues, deferring a robust response to genocide to quibbling over the intricacies of its meaning.


Mucyo added that for now Rwanda is concerned and preoccupied with preventing the ideology that leads (led) to genocide in 1994: "We need to fight the ideology, we are advising local government institutions to organize visits to genocide memorials located in their own areas instead of ever coming to the capital in Kigali to tour the one based in Gisozi. In local memorials locals learn more about their own areas and how the hate propaganda and the genocide was rooted in all areas in the country. That way, fighting the ideology will have a nationwide approach instead of being focused in one area or institution."


Speaking at the launch of the report mid week Albright said genocide cannot be stopped by simply pledging "never again." She categorized three crucial dimensions of the task force's proposal: prevention of genocide as a top foreign policy priority; the creation of a high-level, inter-agency mechanism that is specifically focused on stopping genocide before it happens; and the appropriation of $250 million annually to finance "specially-tailored" projects in countries at risk. She added "preventing genocide is an obligation to past victims." In 2000 Albright was accused by African leaders for failing to act to stop the Genocide in Rwanda in 1994 as US ambassador to the UN, she was also accused of employing stalling tactics at the Security Council to prevent deployment of peacekeeping forces in the country.

Former US senator and ambassador to the UN John Danforth said the US had formed the task force because they were not entirely satisfied with UN reaction to the crime: "working through the UN is good and important, but i have just seen the UN not do anything."

The report notes in part; "preventing genocide is an achievable goal, genocide is not the inevitable result of ancient hatreds or irrational leaders. It requires planning and is carried out systematically. There are ways to recognize its signs and symptoms and viable options to prevent it at every turn if we are committed and prepared."