The war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been going on for decades, with ups and downs. An offensive by a Rwandan-backed armed group threatens to degenerate into a regional war. A forgotten war while the world looks away.
Tag: tutsi
GOMA — “They realized he wasn’t one of them because he didn’t speak Swahili. Then they pulled him off the bus he was traveling on, stoned him to death, opened his chest and ate his heart.” Hearing this story from a high-ranking United Nations official, one immediately asks if this is just a legend of […]
BUJUMBURA — When she goes out alone of Burundi’s capital, Valerie has started wearing trousers in case she has to run or is dragged to the ground. On this day, Bujumbura is sunny with a light breeze coming off Lake Tanganyika — still her heart is beating fast. Valerie (not her real name) is always […]
-OpEd- PARIS — From Vichy France to the Algerian War, the demand that France “open the archives” resonates every time the country struggles with one of its “pasts that don’t pass.” Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi people, researchers are once again singing this refrain, especially in light of the provocative declarations […]
KIGALI — The shocking thought is said out loud, and repeated. “I can only be relieved when I kill my father.” The 19-year-old who calls himself DG seethes with rage when talking about his father. “He’s a coward, a torturer who doesn’t deserve anything but death,” he insists. The truth about his conception, birth and […]
KIGALI — As the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide approaches, a “flame of hope” is being carried across the entire country, a symbol of reconciliation and faith in a better future. “I want to make sure that everything’s in order,” says the president of the Tutsi genocide survivors group in northern Rwanda. “The flame […]
KAYANZA – It seemed like such a small thing when it began nearly a year ago here in northern Burundi: Pygmies would share their unique weaving techniques to the ethnic Hutus and Tutsis of the Kayanza province. But learning to weave carpets, nets, handbags, even tables and chairs…and for free…has earned unexpected waves of good […]