[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3275-S3276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            RWANDAN GENOCIDE

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today marks the 11th anniversary 
of the start of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Eleven years ago, a 
deliberate, centrally planned, and organized campaign of mass murder 
and rape was set in motion in Rwanda, and eventually it took the lives 
of some 800,000 men, women, and children. The victims were ethnic 
Tutsis and also moderate ethnic Hutus who believed in tolerance and 
resisted the call to participate in madness. In many ways, the entire 
country was victimized. Millions were displaced, and shattered state 
institutions are still recovering from the devastating loss of skilled 
personnel. Survivors have struggled to cope with their memories, and 
orphans have had to assume adult responsibilities in the wake of 
tragedy. The entire central African region has been violently unstable 
ever since.
  As this horror unfolded, the international community, including the 
United States, failed the people of Rwanda, and failed to act in the 
face of true evil. The world had said ``never again'' to genocide. And 
then we abandoned the people of Rwanda to an unspeakable national 
nightmare.

[[Page S3276]]

  Even as the world marks this solemn anniversary, we read ongoing 
reports of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan--a crisis that our President and 
this Congress has called a genocide. Once more, we confront a reality 
that exposes the inadequacy of our pledges of ``never again.'' And many 
will seize the anniversary of the Rwandan tragedy to rally support for 
more effective action in Darfur, where the international response has 
too often been sluggish and inadequate.
  In the case of Darfur, the United States has spoken boldly. Our 
humanitarian response, though slow to gear up, is significant and 
commendable. The efforts of the African Union are laudable. But the 
bottom line is that neither the African Union nor the U.S. has taken 
effective action to protect the people of Darfur. While last week the 
United Nations Security Council made some progress on Darfur, much more 
remains to be done, and I do not believe that the United States has 
exerted adequate diplomatic and political effort on behalf of the 
people of Darfur. We ought to be able to do more--to be more forceful, 
more focused, more innovative, and more persuasive--to stop genocide.
  So I applaud those who will work to refocus American attention on 
Darfur today, and I stand with them in their urgent call for a more 
effective response. But today, of all days, we must not forget Rwanda. 
We cannot pretend that Rwanda's struggles are simply in the past, or 
that the country exists simply to serve as a cautionary tale. The 
people of Rwanda still struggle today with efforts to rebuild their 
country, with the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic, with the need for 
justice and accountability, and broadly, with fear. And though it is 
true that even the most conscientious policy will never erase the 
failures of the past, it is also true that we only compound our 
mistakes when we ignore the realities of Rwanda today.
  Frankly, some of these realities are deeply disturbing. Crushing 
poverty characterizes the economic situation of far too many Rwandans, 
and serious repression is a dominant feature of the country's political 
life. The most recent State Department Human Rights Report on Rwanda 
cites instances of political disappearances, arbitrary arrest of 
opposition supporters, and harassment of independent journalists. 
According to the report, last year the government of Rwanda 
``effectively dismantled independent human rights organizations'' and 
the Government declined to use its considerable influence with the RCD-
G faction in Eastern Congo to effectively curtail that group's practice 
of killing, raping, and robbing the people of Eastern Congo on a 
massive scale.
  Of course the government of Rwanda and the Rwandan people value order 
and are extremely sensitive to ethnically divisive forces. Rwanda 
remains a traumatized society. But not all dissent is dangerous or 
divisive, and history teaches us that imposing order alone is not 
enough to guarantee stability and security. Over the long run, 
suppression and intimidation can undermine security rather than 
protecting it, forcing healthy debates into illicit channels, and 
casting doubt on the legitimacy of the prevailing order. We fail to be 
true friends to the people of Rwanda when we fail to be honest about 
these issues, and to raise our voices in support of the civil and 
political rights of the Rwandan people.
  As we remember the past today, we should resolve to pay close 
attention to the present. The people of Rwanda deserve more than our 
regret. They deserve our support for their efforts to build a more 
just, more free, and more secure future.

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