UN Condemns Massacre of Tutsi Refugees in Burundi

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

This is what happens when the UN protects you. Their idea of protection is to comdemn the people who murder you...after the fact. Unless of course you are the US or Israel...then they comdemn you and blame you for causing your own murder.

UN Condemns Massacre of Tutsi Refugees in Burundi

Aug 15, 7:53 PM (ET)

By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council condemned on Sunday the massacre of more than 160 Tutsi Congolese refugees in western Burundi and urged the authorities in Burundi and neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo to work together to quickly bring those responsible to justice.

Separately, a "shocked and outraged" U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the governments of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda to set up a joint verification mechanism to help crack down on armed groups operating in the area of their shared borders, a spokesman said.

"The secretary-general offers all support to these governments to help them to restore peace and stability and to put an end to the tensions that have caused so much suffering to innocent people in the region," the U.N. spokesman said.

Most of the victims of the massacre, which took place during the night on Friday, were women, children and babies, shot dead and burned as they slept in shelters at the Gatumba refugee transit camp, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the strife-torn central African nation of 6 million people.

The camp is located some 10 miles northwest of the capital city of Bujumbura, near Burundi's border with Congo.

A statement adopted at the close of an emergency meeting of the 15-nation Security Council, called at the request of France, directed U.N. officials in Burundi and Congo to investigate the slayings and quickly report their findings.

The council statement also asked the U.N. peacekeeping missions in Congo and Burundi "to offer their assistance to the Burundian and Congolese authorities with a view to facilitating the investigation and to strengthening the security of vulnerable populations."

The statement asked the governments of Burundi and Congo to protect civilians, help the United Nations investigate the killings and do all they can to ensure the perpetrators are "brought to justice without delay."

The Forces for National Liberation (FNL), a Hutu rebel group, took responsibility for the attack, saying they were aiming to hit a military camp nearby.

Up to 20,000 Congolese Tutsi refugees have taken shelter in U.N. camps in Burundi after fleeing neighboring Congo, terrified of being targeted by government troops, local militia and civilians in eastern Congo.

The nearly 3,500-strong FNL is the only rebel group refusing to join a power-sharing government to end a decade-long civil war that pits Burundi's politically dominant Tutsi minority against rebels from the Hutu majority.

An estimated 300,000 people have been killed, mostly through hunger and disease, in the fighting to date.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Burundi, due to have 5,650 soldiers when it reaches full strength, was authorized by the Security Council in May to ensure the implementation of peace promises among the rival factions.

A statement issued by the 25-nation European Union urged the FNL to enter talks aimed at reaching a "real and enduring peace."

"An immediate cease-fire between the FNL and the government is the first step in this direction," the EU statement said.

CamB · CamB's Garage

Ummm, what should they have done? I'm clearly missing something.

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

The Tutsis have been slaughtered for at least 10 years while the UN has looked on and whined....just like in Iraq. The condemnation only insults the dead that the UN "protects."

CamB · CamB's Garage

Yeah, but how should they have prevented this SPECIFIC incident. It is all very well to criticise, but I'm not sure that this was something that was specifically preventable in the circumstances.

It's a bit like criticising the US forces in Iraq for not preventing a suicide bombing there.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

does that mean the US is going to finally go in and put a stop to all the senseless slaughter? We're off to Africa?

crickets chirping...

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

It does prove that if you are waiting for action from the UN..........

crickets chirping.....

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

But my point would be, if the US is so concerned about human rights, evil dictators, lack of democracy, etc, why haven't we gone there (or any number of other African nations)?

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

Because, of course....the UN is "solving" the problem.

Perhaps if the Clinton administration had started the rumor that they had WMD as they did with Iraq.....

speeder · speeder's Garage

That operation is still stuck in the *Slogan Planning Dept.* of the Bush Admin. I mean, come on, what to call it? Operation Africa Freedom? Sounds too derivative. And you need a good slogan and some good made-up reasons to sell an invasion to congress and the parents of the soldiers who will die.

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

Perhaps we plan to wait til almost a million Tutsis die (like in Rwanda during the Clinton administration) before helping out. Maybe Bush is waiting on the French (as the liberals claim he should have) before going into Iraq.

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

Perhaps we are using the "more sensitive" war tactics called for by Kerry.

Mulholland · 08-15-2004, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fintstone
Perhaps we plan to wait til almost a million Tutsis die (like in Rwanda during the Clinton administration) before helping out. Maybe Bush is waiting on the French (as the liberals claim he should have) before going into Iraq.

Clinton was too busy bombing Serbian civilians and manufacturing justification to support KLA Islamic heroin trafficking terrorists..."It depends on what your definition of the word genocide is."....No genocide found in Serbia, over 800,000 murdered in Rwanda...hacked to death, shot, raped...but they were mostly Christians and we all know how liberals feel about Christianity.

Moneyguy1 · 08-15-2004, 10:46 PM

I am still looking for evidence of compassionate conservatism.

That would indeed show a degree of sensitivity.

I share the outrage, but how many "fronts" can we handle at once? And who prioritizes them? Would this have been a better humanitarian cause than Iraq? Why are the countries neighboring Burundi not getting involved?

I really do not understand the actions of human beings in such circumstances. Even animals generally do not kill out of anger; mostly for food or self preservation.

Civilization is a thin veneer indeed.....

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

All I can say is that this has been in the hands of the UN for over ten years...you see what that has done. Why would anyone expected better in Iraq...when the UN had done nothing in 14 years except be a laughingstock...especially since Saddam had paid off several members of the Security Council?

Whether or not we should intercede is irrelevant to the obvious fact that the UN is ineffective other than as an impediment to the US and a vehicle for liberals to attack their own country by asking that we cede power to it.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Your attempt to equate Iraq in 2002 w/ an ethnic slaughter taking place in present time is intelectually facile. But of course you know this. Do you propose that we attack all countries that committed atrocities in the last 20 years but are now living in relative peace? Just trying to understand.