An Article from Steve Backiel - Very Good Read

Steven M. Backiel is the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County

The Non-Prosecuted Crimes of Our Century

Our history books tell us of the great conflicts of mankind and the role our nation has played in each. Children in history classes can tell you the dates and countries involved in each World War and can show you a map of what nations stood and which fell. Today, those in school will be able to pinpoint Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan and give details on each conflict. The question, however, remains to be asked and answers are not forthcoming from our current or future leaders when it comes to the issue of Genocide on the continent of Africa.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide- to which the United States is a signatory- obliges the United Nations to act to prevent genocide. The convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy a national, racial or religious group by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”

Investigating the twentieth century, there would be many examples of genocide that our history books and professors fail to cover with the same determination that they would, say WWI or II. Examples are the 1915 Armenian Genocide one million dead, Russian Civil War 1918-1922 over twelve million killed, and China’s Mao Tse-Tung murdered forty nine million people during the eight year period of the “Great Leap Forward” and “Cultural Revolution”.

If you’re wondering if our leaders are informed about the crime of genocide simply take these “acts” of genocide publicized by the movie Hotel Rwanda as a case in point.

April 6 Rwandan Armed Forces and Hutu Militia set up roadblocks and go house to house killing Tutsis and moderate Hutu politicians. Thousands die on the first day. The UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda stands by while the slaughter occurs.
April 7 Belgian soldiers with the UN assigned to guard the Hutu Prime Minister are captured and tortured to death. President Clinton issues a statement expressing “his concern and condolences”.
April 9 France and Belgium send troops to rescue their citizens. American civilians are also rescued. The Red Cross estimates that tens of thousands of Rwandans have been murdered.
April 14 the UN Security Council votes unanimously to withdraw most of the UNAMIR troops, cutting the force deployment from 2500 to 270.
April 21 The Red Cross estimates hundreds of thousands of Rwandans are now dead.
The UN Security Council passes a resolution condemning the killings but omits the word “genocide” had the term been used, the UN would have been legally obligated to act to “prevent and punish the perpetrators”.
May 2 White House starts holding daily confidential briefings on Rwanda.
May 3 President Clinton signs a Presidential Decision Directive (PDD25), created after a review of the nations peacekeeping policies. PDD 25 aims to limit U.S. Military involvement in international peacekeeping operations.
May 13 U.N. votes on restoring UNAMIR’s strength in Rwanda; however the US Representative Madeline Albright, delays the vote for four days.

May 17 the UN agrees to send 5500 troops and acknowledges that “acts of genocide may have been committed” however deployment is delayed over arguments of who will pay the bill and provide equipment.
The Red Cross estimates 500,000 Rwandans have been killed.

June 22 no sign of UN deployment, the Security Council authorizes the deployment of French forces to south-west Rwanda “Operation Turquoise” creates “safe areas”.
Mid-July although disease claims many lives in the refugee camps, the genocide is over- 800,000 Rwandans have been murdered in 100 days.

The crimes of genocide continue today in Sudan, Chad and the Congo, they are driven by Islamic religious extremists and financed by Africa’s corrupt governments. Yet there is no national outcry for peace in these African nations, the US, even after a unanimous Congressional vote (422-0) in July 2006 calling the human rights abuses by their rightful name of genocide, isn’t sending troops to aid the people from losing generations of their citizenry.

We disregard the fact that 3 million lives have been extinguished in the Sudan, over 3.5 million have been killed in Eastern Congo, and there are 2.5 million people displaced from Darfur alone that now face death from starvation and disease as the Sudanese government and Janjaweed militias attempt to block all humanitarian aid from reaching them. To bring the Sudan and Congo numbers into a clear focus you would be talking about the murder of everyone living in the states of Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island and to bring the refugee numbers from Darfur into focus, imagine the entire population of the state of Nevada being displaced. All the warning signs of Rwanda have been seen time and time again and yet here we are, the worlds last super power, still debating what is an “act of genocide” and what constitutes the “crime of genocide” and while we struggle with definitions more and more people are terrorized, maimed and murdered and it appears no one will ever be held responsible for the death of a continent.