Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Rwandan Hutus Declare End to Their Armed Struggle

Rwandan Hutus who participated in the killing of 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 have declared an end to their armed struggle after promises of safety from the Rwandan government.

This was achieved after the Hutus moved into the eastern part of Congo and began killing people there too after being driven from Rwanda by government military forces. They quickly wore out their welcome in Congo and had engaged in a guerilla war against the Congolese military.

This particular faction is referred to as the FLDR and has some 10,000 members. The FLDR was filmed killing Tutsis with machetes by international camera crews who were covering the genocide in 1994.

It should be noted that the Rwandan government did not promise amnesty, only safety from retaliation from their victims' families who survived the slaughter. Ethnic strife has plagued the region since before 1994 and the end of hostilities is a good start to rebuilding the region.

Having said all that, hopefully the U.N. war crimes tribunal will begin holding trials for the guilty and begin the long process of establishing the rule of law to make certain that something on this scale does not reoccur.

Since the U.N. failed to stop the killing in 1994, they should do their jobs now and make sure that it doesn't happen again.

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