A few days ago, the New York Times buried a news item about the release of an explosive Rwandan Government Commission report that charged the French government, specifically high-ranking officials in the French army as well as former (now late) president, Francois Mitterand and former prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, with complicity in the 1994 genocide in that country.
During a 100-day period, armed and trained Hutu extremist forces murdered up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in what is considered “the last full-scale genocide of the 20th century.” Rwanda wants the French officials to be tried at The Hague.
The New York Times quoted a French government spokesperson that “officials were reviewing the accusations” and left it at that. The public radio network, NPR, also reported on the report’s release from Paris (they could not do it from Rwanda?) The NPR piece ended with an agry sounding French government minister that “this is absolutely ridiculous” (listen here). No surprises at that response since the West operates by a different set of criteria than the rest [It is comical, for example, watching US politicians, including the White House, trying to lecture Russia about military aggression].
An informed friend — he heads up a major research institute in the US — wondered aloud some of the larger issues at stake here: “I hope that The Hague tribunal will finally indict Europeans for crimes against humanity committed in Africa.”
For a better piece of what’s at stake, see this news report in the Christian Science Monitor. (BTW, what’s with the CSM doing the best reporting of US media outlets).
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Regarding the French, and Africa: let’s keep all eyes peeled on Angola and France in the form of Angolagate. Sarkozy has been falling over himself to make Mr Dos Santos happy… all that oil’s got the Frenchie dizzy.
“An informed friend — he heads up a major research institute in the US — wondered aloud some of the larger issues at stake here: “I hope that The Hague tribunal will finally indict Europeans for crimes against humanity committed in Africa.”
Wonder if he feels the same way about Americans being tried….