“The Rwandan tragedy was not a lesson. We know the value of the human being…” says activist

Monique Mujawamariva

Por Natalia da Luz

Rio, Brasil – Born in Rwanda, she witnessed one of the greatest genocides in recent History. Amid the conflict saw the so-called “peacekeepers” turned their backs leaving people being slaughtered. Beside mutilated bodies, which still gave their last breath, breathed air filled with hatred in the country where she was born and by which fought in defense of human rights. Monique Mujawamariva did not join the sad statistic that in just 100 days, 800,000 people lost their lives to the bullet or stab. Children, women and elderly were condemned to the brutal death penalty because they belong to different ethnic group that had taken power in the streets. Rwandans who lifted the flag of peace, regardless of their ethnicity, were targeted as well. Monique was on the side of peace and therefore almost lost her life. She survived, but remains with her, the memories of the incidence and scars today.

In April 1994 , the country bordered by Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire ) and Tanzania witnessed Africa’s largest genocide in the 90s. The trigger was the attack on the private jet, on April 6, 1994, the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu. He and the president of Burundi were on board when a missile hit them. Even today, the actual attack is not known. In investigation, many suspects were listed as possible, for example, Col. Paul Kagame, leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, but no one was pronounced guilty.

In the year before the start of the conflict, the Rwandan activist lived and acted to minimize the tension between Hutus and Tutsis. Amid the growth of hatred, she saw a war every day closer. The same war that the United States and the United Nations, even in possession of endless reports and evidence of what was to come, didnt look… In an exclusive interview to Por dentro da África, Monique, who was with former president Bill Clinton four months of April 6, 1994, says that thousands of Rwandans could have been saved, if, indeed, those who call themselves “defenders of peace ” wanted peace.

Por dentro da África – What is the reason that led to President Bill Clinton ?

Monique Mujawamariva – I met former President Clinton on December 10, 1993, at the White House. He decided to do a ceremony to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights. On this occasion , the American organization for the defense of human rights activists awarded the best and I won one of these awards. Out of 11 colleagues who had come from all parts of the world, I was chosen to shake hands with former President Clinton and exchange a few words with him .

MM – As of that time, the United Nations were creating the Commissioner for Human Rights, but the United States vetoed the resolution and it was not passed. I told the president to help provide support for the creation of the High Commissioner because it would be a great incentive for activists on the ground. He promised me and 10 days later, on December 20, he kept his promise. Then the creation the High Commissioner .

PDA – In your opinion, how was the situation in Kigali (the capital ) at that exact moment?

MM – The situation in Rwanda was total insecurity. The Arusha negotiations had begun with the Hutu government. Anyone who tried to oppose his rule would have serious problems. They (pro- government group) selected assassinations of opponents and human rights activists . Many Tutsis were mistaken for rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front ( group of rebels who acted in opposition to the Hutu government) and constantly were singled out as traitors. I myself escaped being murdered and bring to today scars on my face .

PDA – Did you show some document to alert the then President of the United States?

Kigali – Picture: Douglas Oliveira

MM – Yes, I spoke to former President about the situation in Rwanda alright, but I had learned that everything that happened in Rwanda was not unknown for him. I wrote a lot about it, Human Rights Watch also did, and the U.S. intelligence service was in possession of all these documents .

PDA – How did the population felt about the failure of international aid?

MM – The people who suffered the brutality did not expect anything from anyone, but the intellectuals who were at the arrival of peacekeepers saw it as a guarantee of survival. So despaired to be abandoned when faced with murderers and violence . They felt betrayed and were encouraged by the pressure that surrounded the negotiations of the Arusha Agreement. They were surprised to see how everyone seemed interested in the case of Rwanda simply disappeared when the blood started gushing . Since then, it has been proved that when people are confronted by a bloody regime, they will be saved just for their own institutions. Institutions with peacekeepers are the worst joke.

PDA – What kind of help would be needed to minimize the result of the conflict started on April 6?

MM – I know there’s an African proverb that says “when the guns speak, people are not recognize anymore”. We could have saved more if the Rwandan army had been taken to stop the carnage between victims and murderers. If the “peacekeepers” had decided to stop the killers, we could have put it into practice. A young Senegalese captain, for example, alone saved them 600 people.

When the Belgian soldiers turned their backs no one else was alive after two minutes. We should have saved Rwandan victims, if someone really wanted to do so. After seeing everything in Rwanda, we are not talking about guns, we are not acting today with Syria …

PDA – Do you think that the genocide was a lesson for the United States and the United Nations?

MM – United States do not learn lessons from the tragedies of the world. They always know what to do, but were humiliated and traumatized by the “adventure” in Somalia, for example. Therefore, they have decided not to intervene when their interests are not threatened . The United Nations has learned nothing from all these. Following all these conflicts, the United Nations tried to intervene, we see a sad record of corpses. The UN is a very expensive and not widely used institution. I wonder why it still exists after so many proven ineffective .

MM – The tragedy in Rwanda was not lesson to anyone. Now, we know the value of the human being, rated according to the amount of oil your country or any other features of interest to the major powers. Life, unfortunately, has no value, and poor people do not even want their own government. It makes me very sad …

PDA – What would you have done if you were in charge?

MM – If I had control, I would change the United Nations, with decision-making power, and have a professional army that was not afraid to intervene and stand between civilians and armed rebels. Civilians must be protected. Now, the peacekeepers are nothing more than a pathetic farce.

MM – Yes I admired the work of other activists, but being an activist on the ground, an activist and an activist in the office before the media are very different things. Sometimes we take the activist ashore as a tool, not as a human being. This is a theme to be developed in parts, because it touches on sensitive moments of my life as an activist.

Article was published in Portuguese in Por dentro da África