Rwanda & Darfur a Failed History Lesson

The genocide in Rwanda took 100 days, and the world watched and did nothing. There was an estimated 800,000 citizens of Rwanda killed. The people of Rwanda were killed and those that survived temporarily later died in refugee camps. The history of Rwanda is tragic enough, but the fact that we didn’t learn makes it even more tragic. The conditions in Darfur have lasted four years, and there is still no end in site.

"... The world must deeply repent this failure. Rwanda's tragedy was the world's tragedy. All of us who cared about Rwanda, all of us who witnessed its suffering, fervently wish that we could have prevented the genocide. Looking back now, we see the signs, which then were not recognized. Now we know that what we did was not nearly enough--not enough to save Rwanda from itself, not enough to honor the ideals for which the United Nations exists. We will not deny that, in their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda ..." (U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan speech)

"... the international community, together with nations in Africa, must bear its share of responsibility for this tragedy, as well. We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe havens for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide. We cannot change the past. But we can and must do everything in our power to help you build a future without fear, and full of hope ..." (President Bill Clinton speech)



Watch the PBS special tonight at 9pm Frontline: A story of Darfur