Still learning lessons of April 1994

This Monday, April 6, Rwanda marks 15th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that left such a tragic mark on that country, and a shameful one on the rest of the world that looked on as an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were massacred by the vicious Interahamwe militia in a mere 100 days.

Each anniversary since then has been marked in Rwanda with painful memories, but, to its leadership’s credit, the country has emerged stronger out of this horrific experience.

Its resurrection from the ruins augurs well for the healing process that Rwanda embarked on after 1994.

The infrastructure has improved and the economy is being fixed.

For the onlooker, Rwanda has moved on, although the emotional damage will linger among its citizens for many years.

But the denial of the West that there was a genocide happening in Rwanda at the time was as shocking as it was an eye-opener.

Unfortunately, the world does not seem to learn much, judging by what is going down in Darfur, where a state-sponsored killing machinery has been at work for years now. Same play, different cast.

Subsequent apologies by world leaders like former US president Bill Clinton and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan underscore the failure to act when the machine was in full swing.

Does it always have to take a holocaust to get the West to act or does the killing have to be happening in the West to deserve prompt action?

International response to conflict situations remains sluggish, half-hearted and when it does take place, is usually too thinly spread.

The record is even more appalling in Africa’s hot spots: Darfur is one example.

The world has refused to acknowledge that there is a genocide going on there, in which case the UN Security Council would have to move in and take action.

Somalia is the other conflict spot that calls for the world’s attention, and from time to time, eastern Congo boils over and becomes a killing field, even though the UN has a force in that country.

Perhaps Susan Rice — another US official on whose watch Rwanda slipped into hell — will this time round do the right thing. Whether that will happen, Rwanda and the world wait to see.