20: Rwanda

From Wikipedia:

"Rwandan Genocide"

The Rwandan Genocide was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority. During the approximate 100 day period from April 7, 1994 to mid-July, an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Rwandans were killed, constituting as much as 20% of the country's total population and 70% of the Tutsi then living in Rwanda. The genocide was planned by members of the core political elite known as the akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. Perpetrators came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, the National Police (gendarmerie), government-backed militias including the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, and the Hutu civilian population. The genocide took place in the context of the Rwandan Civil War, an ongoing conflict beginning in 1990 between the Hutu-led government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which was largely composed of Tutsi refugees whose families had fled to Uganda following earlier waves of Hutu violence against the Tutsi. International pressure on the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana resulted in a cease-fire in 1993 with a roadmap to implement the Arusha Accords that would create a power-sharing government with the RPF. This agreement displeased many conservative Hutu, including members of the Akazu, who viewed it as conceding to enemy demands. Among the broader Hutu populace, the RPF military campaign had also intensified support for the so-called "Hutu Power" ideology, which portrayed the RPF as an alien force intent on reinstating the Tutsi monarchy and enslaving the Hutus, a prospect met with extreme opposition. On April 6, 1994, an airplane carrying Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down on its descent into Kigali, killing all on board. Genocidal killings began the following day: soldiers, police and militia quickly executed key Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders, then erected checkpoints and barricades and used Rwandans' national identity cards to systematically verify their ethnicity and kill Tutsi. These forces recruited or pressured Hutu civilians to arm themselves with machetes, clubs, blunt objects and other weapons to rape, maim and kill their Tutsi neighbors and destroy or steal their property. The breach of the peace agreement led the RPF to restart their offensive and rapidly seize control of the northern part of the country before capturing Kigali in mid-July, bringing an end to the genocide. During these events and in their aftermath, the United Nations (UN) and countries including the United States, Great Britain and Belgium were criticized for their inaction, including failure to strengthen the force and mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) peacekeepers, while observers criticized the government of France for actively supporting the genocidal regime. The genocide had a lasting and profound impact on Rwanda and its neighboring countries.  Today, Rwanda has two public holidays commemorating the genocide. The national commemoration period begins with Genocide Memorial Day on April 7 and concludes with Liberation Day on July 4. The week following April 7 is designated an official week of mourning. The Rwandan Genocide served as the impetus for creating the International Criminal Court to eliminate the need for ad hoc tribunals to prosecute those accused in future incidents of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

^ I was looking for a decent article about the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, but couldn't find anything so I included this which gives a brief summary of what happened. One thing that surprises me is that Rwanda officially calls for the victims and the killers to live openly and together in society. That is just absurd. If someone has killed or wounded someone else then they should be tried and punished and not let to live side-by-side ordinary citizens. It seems that Rwanda cares more about keeping plastic bags out of their country than bringing killers to justice. The main quote for the 20th anniversary is the all-too familiar "Never Again." It is the call of the majority of people and countries around the world and yet it seems to do little, if anything, to actually stop the violence. There are some countries (France, Belgium and the US) that "looked" on and did little to nothing to stop the killings. Belgium was the former colonizer power that created the ethnic division. France is believed to have helped trained the Hutus. The US because it is the world's sole Super Power. The UN also needs to be included in this list, despite not being a single country. The UN did the same, basic things that it did during the Yugoslav Wars. The UN soldiers literally stood-by and watched/allowed thousands of innocent men, women and children to be butchered. It seems that even though 20 years have past since Rwanda not much as changed in the world since it continues to allow the same genocide to occur that started with the Holocaust 70+ years ago. ^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda_genocide