Letter to the Editor

I sent this letter to the Globe and Mail, The Tyee, The Vancouver Sun, and the Georgia Straight in hopes that it will be published. In any case, it is something for you to think about:


If I asked most Canadians what is special about April 7th, they would probably not have an answer. But in Rwanda, this April 7th commemorates 12 years since 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered over a period of just 100 days.

The international community has stated its mistake in not trying to prevent the massacres, yet today there continues a bloody conflict that has its origins in the Rwandan genocide.

When the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front took power in Rwanda, ending the genocide, Hutu genocidaires fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where Mobutu Sese Seko’s government protected them. Rwanda and Uganda backed a rebellion in DRC against the Congolese government, and Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia entered the war to back DRC. The conflict has already caused nearly 4 million deaths.

Canadians remain for the most part uninformed about the war in DRC, and the international community stands looking on.

This year will be decisive for the peace process, as elections in DRC are planned for March 2006. Unfortunately, there are well-based fears of electoral manipulation and of mass violence that would threaten the security of not only DRC but of much of Africa.

I encourage Canadians to press our government to demand that the transitional government of DRC take action to stop the suffering of the Congolese people. By doing all we can to end further bloodshed in DRC, we can prove that we have learned from our inaction during the Rwandan genocide 12 years ago.