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In 1994 in Rwanda, in eastern Africa, there was an extremely effective genocide campaign in which the Hutu-Power majority practically exterminated the minority Tutsi population. What is even more disturbing is how the rest of the world decided to ignore this fact and take little to no action to stop it, even though doing so directly violated the UN Genocide Convention. The events of 1994, are the subject of Phillip Gourevitch’s book, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. Gourevitch explains in detail the roots of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict, the events that led up to the genocide, the participation of foreign countries who aided the murderers and those that tried to oppose them, and of course the gruesome event and its aftermath. He gives an objective account of history throughout most of the book, but at certain points allows his personal opinions to shine through. He argues that the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), that assumed control of the government after quelling the genocide later that year, was a well-organized regime that truly wanted to do good, but, like almost all governments, had its flaws. He also claims that the campaign to slaughter Tutsis went into full effect after the death of Hutu-Power leader, Habyarimana, with the help of radio and newspaper propaganda. Finally, Gourevitch cites the remarkable ability of the United States and other European countries to overlook the crisis in Rwanda. The last point that Gourevitch argues is a remarkable one. How could these countries, which had signed a convention stating their commitment to preventing genocide after the fall of Nazisim in Europe, allow such events to take place? Especially taking into account World War II, where these countries fought to end genocide, hesitancy to do the same in Rwanda suggests something unsettling. In 1994 Tutsis were being killed by family, doctors, teachers, neighbors and friends, mostly by machete and at a rate three times the rate of killing during the Holocaust. Yet, the Clinton administration was reluctant to call the atrocities genocide until after the damage had been done. After the fact, of course, both President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeline Albright issued apologetic statements acknowledging the fact that something horrible had really occurred in Rwanda. I can not fathom how our nation and so many others could stand idly by as so many innocent people were slaughtered.
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