Question for Rwandans?

I don't think this is a question for Rwandan people, but people in general. There have been mass killings throughout history, the holocaust being a prime example.

What you have to realise is that the people doing the killing would have been killed themselves if they'd refused. They'd also been brainwashed by the campaign of hate, not least the radio. They'd been told that anyone who wasn't with them was the enemy, they were cockroaches. Remember the scene just before the massacre in the school, where the teacher tries to appeal to the human side of the soldier by asking him to think of the girls like his daughters? He replies that his daughters are not cockroaches and winds the teacher. This shows how he had been made to think of 'the enemy' as a detestable, subhuman species. He was offended at the thought of his daughters being compared to such creatures.

Put yourself in the situation of the soldiers aiming a gun at a mass of unarmed women and children. At the beginning you feel that something is wrong with your country, so you join a group that is doing something about it. Anything wrong with that? You help improve the state of your country, but things escalate out of control and your group is being told that it must get rid of the enemy. At first this means poking a straw man with your gun, then shooting a man who is known to be very bad, then killing all of the enemy. Even if this includes women and children, they are still the enemy, and they need exterminating... you are simply following orders. It is for the greater good. If you don't do it then you will joing the crowd at the other end of the gun.

One of the main themes in this film is guilt. The brother is on trial, yet he didn't rape and possibly didn't kill. He realises his guilt after years of thinking about it. As the quote at the beginning says we remember the silence of our friends more than the words of our enemies. (See previous thread.) This is very true-have you ever been in a situation where you felt where someone should have stood up for you, but just stood by?

This is what happened to the Rwandan people. They were let down by themselves, (the brother, the people in control), but ultimately by the Western countries who could have helped, but had no intrest as it was not profitable. We are all guilty for not doing enough to stop such atrocities.

As for your question on forgiveness, that is a very personal thing. Do you think the main character forgave his brother? Do you think the brother forgave himself? Do you think the main character forgave himself for surviving, after putting his family in a car which took them to their deaths? Do you think the American woman who tried to pursuade the government to intereviene forgave herself for not doing more? How about the UN soldier who denied that the men in the car behind were part of the convoy, as a result, allowing the death of one?

I'm sorry for this extremely long reply, but I feel that you question was a little insensitive, and you need to think about the issues involved. I feel particularly strongly about it right now, as I have just watched the film for the first time, and found it incredibly moving. It is very sensitively done and asks some extremely important questions about war. As it says at the end of the film, no-one has been held responsible. But in my opinion, this isn't about blaming and punishing a few individuals who commited the crimes. It's about learning how this came about, how it could have been stopped, and why we should all take responsibility to make sure that such a thing never happens again.

Actually, I've got another idea: we could just have a 'war to end all wars' and kill all the bad guys...that would make for a perfect world...think i've got a nuclear bomb lying around here somewhere...

This genocide is so terrible and could have been prevented easily.
F.ck the USA, UN, France, Belgium all of us!
And yes I also have feelings for the belgium, all families affected.
RIP

I am haunted by this for over a decade now. Dont know what it is.
Cant even imagine how it is for the people directly involved.

I have read a lot, seen all the reports, movies, documentations...
And my reaction is always the same - F.ck us all for not doing anything!
And I hate the cockroaches Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Kofi Annan and Bill Clinton.
Cant help it. No matter how I look at it. They are mostly responsible.

What about the greatest nation on earth. Thats how they call themselves.
What did they do?

100 days
800.000 - 1 mio dead PEOPLE

What is wrong with us? We care about Paris Hilton, homeruns, the next movie and other stuff.......

And for those who believe in god - anybody seen him lately.

And to answer your question. Yes some of them are able to forgive. Dont know how they do that. I spoke with some. You know it is hard to look them in the eyes when they are telling you 15 family members murdered, 13 members slaughtered, wife raped 12 times etc..... Mostly children!
And still some can forgive. Yeah I know some will say - here you have it. It is good old god. F.ck it that is what I say. It should never ever come to such a debacle in the first place. Free will your asss.

Sorry but I am really struggling with this...

PEACE, over and out!

I think the two people above me have summed up it quite well.

I like the question on forgiveness because I feel it's plays a major role in avoiding future crisis. The families in Rhwanda have forgiven their killers for many reasons:

They are so gripped by the fear of the genocide that they dont want to indulge in any activity even remotely connected to it. All that they want is peace. The loss of lives is so overwhelming that they will no longer think about what is right and what is wrong. They want to be left in peace.

Rhwanda has a history of mass killings. If you go through their last hundred years or so, you'll find that such inhumane behavior did exist before. Unfortunately, Africa has not changed much in the last hundred years and their definition of life and death differs from ours. When I say "their", am talking about the mass population which played a major role in the killings. The Hutu leaders took advantage of this and used them as pawns. They couldnt have used a million bullets after all!

They know their past better and they know that their fellow countrymen are prone. Once you know the reasons and behavioral patterns, It becomes easy to forgive.

I want to add that I might be totally wrong because I strongly feel that such incidents cannot be generalized. It will be very interesting to note the opinion of a Rhwandan on the genocide.

Though I am not Rwandan by birth, and I don't yet live in Rwanda (I'm at university in the United States), I consider it my home. I was there most recently over the summer, and I can answer some of your questions that relate to the country itself.

There are not many who got away with what they did, though the punishment varies. The large courts in Arusha were mainly for the people who planned the Genocide, and those who held high position in its execution. There are many perpetrators who are in the jails, and many who have been released. Their trials are held at the Gacaca courts, the traditional Rwandan courts which were seen in "Sometimes in April." Almost daily more bodies of Genocide victims are found; many people in prison will repent of what they have done, after which they will say who they killed and where they hid the remains.

And yes, many Banyarwanda (that is, people of Rwanda) do know who took part in the Genocide--often, these people had been their neighbors. And it is extremely difficult to forgive--but it's happening. And it's happening a lot. I know a certain woman who lost her family and her house in the Genocide. She now has a house again, because the people who killed her family and destroyed her house helped her rebuild it. Things like this are not uncommon in Rwanda (I have other friends with similar experiences). Forgiveness is hard, but it is happening, and the effects are amazing.

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