The Justice

A genocide memorial museum in Murambi, Rwanda contains skeletons and skulls from thousands of victims of the 1994 genocide.

Having been born into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I welcomed the opportunity to learn about another conflict zone. In fact, some could say I welcomed the break. It was my curiosity about the history of other cultures, therefore, that led me to an internship this summer with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.

My first few weeks in Arusha were marked by the frustrations of not being able to find housing and having many expensive belongings stolen. It was only after I found housing and slowly began to embrace the easygoing Tanzanian culture that I could begin to appreciate and think about the tragedies that have shaped this East African culture.

Over the course of 100 days during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, it is estimated that nearly a million Tutsis, Rwanda's national minority, and Hutu moderates were killed-nearly 1,000 people per day. In many cases, it was neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member. The United Nations failed to stop this genocide and only later decided to build the ICTR to try the government that planned and executed the genocide.

Throughout my internship, I wondered how my coworkers, especially U.N. employees on my floor, were able to remain so laid-back and emotionally stable while dealing with the consequences of insurmountable tragedy. Even those people responsible for defending victims of the genocide seemed almost indifferent to the mass murder that took place only 14 years ago.

My work at the ITCR was a combination of research and direct involvement in decisions regarding prisoner cases. I conducted an investigation into the penal legislation of the national governments willing to allow ICTR-convicted criminals to serve their time in their respective countries. My research was supplemented by a review of each prisoner's request to transfer to another country,

In order to get a better understanding of the Rwandan genocide, I decided to take a tour of Rwanda's cities with my friends for two days. In light of the tragedies that occurred there less than two decades ago, I was astonished by the country's beauty. On the first day, I visited Kigali, Rwanda's capital, which looks like any other modern city in the world, only much more beautiful because of its magnificent green and hilly scenery. Unlike Arusha, Kigali is very safe, even at night (Rwanda is a police state, after all). We spent most of our time in the city of Murambi at an institution initially built as a technical school but that was a genocide memorial museum.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools