COLUMNISTS : A break from genocide
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sam Totten belongs to what’s been called “the
curious universe of those who study genocides in
order to prevent them.” For years, the professor from the University of Arkansas has been a renowned scholar of genocide, which can be defined as the systematic killing of a racial or cultural group. The topic can depress, even disturb, since it must look into the darkest places of the human heart. But the main reason for studying past genocides is still to learn how those of the future might be prevented. There’s salvation in that. Those who do this grim work deserve our thanks. They aim to give us back our humanity. Readers may be familiar with Sam Totten’s efforts to call attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, the western region of the African country of Sudan. Professor Totten has traveled to neighboring Chad. There, he’s interviewed survivors of the genocide aimed at Darfur by the Sudanese government and their militia allies.
He remains committed to Darfur. In fact, he plans to make another trip to the Chad / Darfur border to gather more information about what’s happening there. This time, the trip would be a side venture from another project he’s been working on in Africa. He’s been in Rwanda since January. He’s on a Fulbright grant to establish a master’s program in genocide studies at a Rwandan university.
He’s been back in Fayetteville for a week, having taken a break from his work in Rwanda to give a lecture in the States. When we spoke by phone a few days ago, it was mostly about Rwanda.
Some will remember that the country of Rwanda was the scene of another horrific genocide, this one in 1994. Over a period of about 100 days, extremist Hutus killed 500, 000 to 1 million members of the rival Tutsis. (The numbers are always imprecise when murder reaches such a vast scale. ) As happens so often, the rest of the world stood by, vaguely aware of what was happening, but lacking the will to stop it.
Rwanda has spent the last 14 years trying to come to terms with what some of its citizens did to their fellow Rwandans. A process of reconciliation has been under way. Trials of some accused of killings continue to be held. But the reconciliation has had limited success. In fact, Sam Totten says, he’s seen an increase of tension between the two groups. Many resent that fellow Hutus remain jailed without ever having been brought to trial. Tutsis say too many of the guilty have been let go without punishment. Some of those who have been jailed for their crimes have been set free after serving brief sentences. They’ve even returned to live among friends and relatives of their victims, unrepentant reminders of the crimes that had been committed.
There’s also been a resurgence of outright hostility. Survivors of the genocide in Rwanda have been taunted, even beaten. Teachers in some schools have denied that the genocide ever happened.
The government’s response has been mixed. A new law has been passed making it a crime to promote any ideology that supports / celebrates the genocide. Speakers have been sent to schools to counter the claims that the genocide was a myth. There are plans to write a history of what took place in 1994, although how truthful the account will be remains to be seen.
But the government also is ready to move on. Sam Totten says the government of Rwanda would prefer to concentrate on economic development, rather than focusing on the unhappy past. The problem is that the surviving victims must live with their memories. In many cases, the survivors continue to suffer a form of post-traumatic stress. The resources available to help them get on with their lives are meager to non-existent. In all those ways, the genocide of 1994 continues to claim more victims. Which is even more unsettling evidence of how a genocide, once committed, keeps spreading its evil down through the years. Sam Totten wants to study a “post-genocide” period, such as Rwanda is now experiencing. But what to make of it ? In looking at Rwanda today, he says he’s wondered just what’s the point of it all. The Rwandans suffered in 1994. Now they’re suffering all over again. Many in Rwanda would like to move on. But too many have been scarred by what they lived through. It’s something Sam Totten’s still working out: “I don’t know how they’re going to solve it. I really don’t.”
—––––– • –––––—George Arnold is opinion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s northwest edition.
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