On CNBC Meets, which aired on March 20th, 2013, the former United States President, Bill Clinton, publicly expressed regret, for the second time, for his administration’s failure to stop the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, also referred to as “the preventable genocide.”
President Clinton told CNBC that if the United States had intervened in Rwanda during the genocide, at least one-third or roughly 300,000 lives could have been saved. Clinton explained that the failure of his Administration to act during the genocide, which claimed the lives of around a million Rwandans, was one of the reasons behind the establishment of the Clinton Foundation. This follows Clinton’s historic apology in Kigali on March 25, 1998.
“It may seem strange to you here, especially to many of you who lost members of your family, but all over the world there were people like me sitting in offices, day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror,” said the US president 15 years ago on the tarmac of the Kigali International Airport.
Other leaders, such as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have issued similar apologies.
Clinton’s apology leaves several questions unanswered, especially for the more than 309,000 survivors of the 1994 genocide.
What exactly prevented Clinton and other international political leaders from intervening? Additionally, what type of work is the Clinton Foundation doing to mitigate the longstanding consequences of genocide in the lives of survivors?
Apologies are appreciated as symbols, but the people of Rwanda need action. These apologies do little to heal the wounds of survivors, many of whom are still in a desperate situation, without food and shelter, access to medicine, or means of a livelihood, and enduring acute trauma. President Clinton, like many in the international community, acknowledges responsibility for the genocide, but he needs to do more to turn words into action: to honor the memory of the one million people killed on his watch, and to help restore the welfare of those who survived.
Since 1995, survivors have been steadily claiming their right to reparation. Reparation would mean an acknowledgment of their suffering, and materially restoring their lives. The theme for the 19th commemoration of the genocide, just a few weeks ahead, is “kwigira” or self-reliance. This is one of the main objectives of reparation and should ultimately be the goal of the apologies offered. If that is ignored, apologies risk being seen as empty slogans. With the right support and the effective participation of survivors, the concept of kwigira will move beyond an abstract idea to a concrete reality.
This moment gives President Clinton and other international leaders a chance to honor the values the international community stands for and to make a difference in the lives of genocide survivors. One powerful avenue to do so is by supporting survivors’ ongoing international campaign for reparation leading up to the 20th commemoration of the 1994 genocide in 2014. This period will also mark the closure of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the only international vehicle for justice set up in the immediate aftermath of the Tutsi genocide to prosecute those most responsible for the genocide and render justice to victims.
Despite being in existence for close to two decades, the ICTR has never recognized the rights of victims to reparation and effective participation. This is despite several requests made by consecutive judges of the ICTR to set up a victims’ compensation fund.
By delivering reparation to victims or their families, governments and international political leaders like President Clinton can demonstrate that their apology is sincere.
By Albert Gasake, First appeared on SURF’s website: “Regret,” last modified March 20th, 2013, http://survivors-fund.org.uk/news/regret/.
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