AP Interview: US envoy to mark Rwanda genocide on Africa, spotlight new violence
Article by: EDITH M. LEDERER , Associated Press Updated: April 4, 2014 - 7:30 PM
UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said Friday she's
going to Africa not just to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the
Rwanda genocide but to spotlight ethnic killings in Central African
Republic and the potential for violence in Burundi.
Power, a strong human rights advocate, is leading the U.S. delegation
to the commemoration, starting Sunday evening, of the genocide in
Rwanda in 1994. More than 500,000 minority Tutsis and moderate members
of the Hutu majority -- over one million by Rwanda's count -- were
killed by Hutu extremists in the 100-day slaughter.
"We're trying to ensure that our vigil for those killed in Rwanda is
also a commitment to remain vigilant and engaged as the potential for
atrocities emerges elsewhere," she said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
Power said remembering Rwanda isn't enough. The international
community must act "whenever, wherever and however we can to prevent
similar atrocities from happening elsewhere," she said.
"In the world today, we're seeing far too many victims of ethnic and
religiously motivated violence and hate," Power said.
The best example today is in the Central African Republic which has
been wracked by sectarian killings, "and there's also the great
potential for people in Burundi to become victims in the near future,"
Power said.
From Rwanda, Power said she will visit neighboring Burundi on Tuesday
where there are "very worrying signs of ethnic exclusion and
oppression emerging."
Burundi's 16-year civil war, which ended in 2009, had been fought
mainly between Hutu rebels and a Tutsi-dominated army, and resulted in
the deaths of more than 250,000 people. President Pierre Nkurunziza,
who is seeking a third term despite a constitutional limit of two
terms, has been cracking down on the opposition and the media.
"The Burundian president has taken a set of moves internally that
we're very worried about," Power said. "We're very concerned that some
of the political steps that he's taking really jeopardize much of what
Burundi has built since it endured its own spate of mass killings 20
years ago, then again more recently."
On Wednesday, Power will head to the Central African Republic, her
second trip in less than four months.
The country has been in chaos since a March 2013 coup, and the
violence has been splitting the country into Muslim and Christian
areas.
Power said the situation "is extremely alarming" with most Muslims in
the capital, Bangui, forced to flee their homes and many killed by
armed Christian militants.
The United Nations will be taking over peacekeeping duties in the
Central African Republic from the African Union but not until Sept.
15, she said.
Until then, Power said, there's a huge amount to be done to protect
the Muslims still in Bangui who feel very vulnerable, to mobilize
funding for desperately needed humanitarian aid, and to support
transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza's efforts to get the
police and civil service back to work.
She said the 20 years since the Rwanda genocide has changed the way
the international community deals with atrocities.
In Rwanda, the international community pulled out U.N. peacekeepers
and there was very little high-level engagement with Rwandan
authorities who were perpetrating the genocide, Power said.
By contrast, in the Central African Republic there have been visits by
many leaders, and the deployment of French and African Union forces
with the United States helping to fly in troops and supply equipment,
she said.
"The tragedy is that people are still being targeted on the basis of
their identity," in Central African Republic as well as South Sudan,
she said.
Power said the international community "can't wave a magic wand" and
prevent identity-motivated killings, "but what we can do is explore
the whole host of diplomatic, economic and military tools and put as
many of them as appropriate in play far more quickly than we could in
the past."
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