The Shameful Legacy of Rwandan Genocide

U-T San Diego -- Dustin Sharp is an assistant professor at the Kroc School of Peace Studies; Derrick Cartwright is director of University Galleries.

Twenty years ago this spring, as many as 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered in a little over 100 days while the world looked on in mute witness to genocide.

Nothing about this was inevitable. The Rwandan genocide, like all genocides, was planned and orchestrated at the highest levels of government. Major international powers, including the United States, were aware that something like this might take place. And when it did, they did nothing to stop it, or even to lessen it. During its initial phase, Clinton administration officials would not even use the word “genocide” to describe the ongoing mass slaughter. (Full Story)