Subject: Agony for Africa Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 19:45:50 -0600 From: the guardian (by way of Scott Marshall ) To: worldlst@rednet.org (World List for Rednet) Agony for Africa (The following article is to be published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, November 20th, 1996. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: Subscription rates on request) ****************************** The world's "great and powerful" nations have "in principle" agreed to send military missions into eastern Zaire to help provide humanitarian aid to the million or so refugees there. These refugees are the victims of the deliberate policies pursued by French and Belgium colonial governments in the past. The Central African nations of Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire have been the playthings of western European governments for centuries. Every attempt by the people of these countries to achieve independence has been met by brutality and by stirring up racial animosity. The mass media of the capitalist countries continue to present the conflict as one between Hutus and Tutsis or even as a "tribal" conflict. "The Australian" (15/11/96) writes about "tribal fighting". Never once does the mass media refer to the real culprits. In 1994, when hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were massacred, the French military forces intervened and created a "safe zone" in which those responsible for the massacres were protected and allowed to escape. Local radio was used to stampede the Hutu population with false claims that they would, in turn, be massacred if they stayed. When the present Rwandan Government was militarily successful, the French military assisted to move them across the border into eastern Zaire, a country ruled by a military dictator who was put in power and protected by Belgium, the former colonial master of what was known as the Belgium Congo. In the safe sanctuary created by the French the aid agencies played a part by feeding and housing these refugees. Nothing was done to disarm the terrorists among the refugees -- those who had carried out the massacres in Rwanda. In the east Zairean refugee camps those who wanted to return to their Rwandan homeland were threatened with being killed. It is in this complicated situation that the new crisis has erupted as the citizens of eastern Zaire have revolted against both the military dictatorship of Zaire and the presence of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees who are prevented from returning to Rwanda by a reign of terror. Wrangling The weeks of wrangling between the major powers is a result of the clash of interests between the French, British and the USA, in particular. Faced with hostility to the presence of French troops, the other major powers, now pretend to be concerned with the "humanitarian" situation, and have "reluctantly" agreed to send troops to oversee the delivery of food aid. The US has made it clear that it will not concern itself with disarming those responsible for the Rwandan massacre of 1994. This contrasts sharply with their insistence that alleged "war criminals" in Bosnia should be handed over to the War Crimes Tribunal. The spokesperson for US President Clinton went so far as to declare that the US was "not the world's super-policeman to address each and every condition that exists anywhere in the world." On other occasions that is what the US leaders claim to be. "Not Wanted" sign Slowly, and with enormous loss of life and human tragedy, the imperialist powers are being forced out of central Africa. The Rwandan Government has made it clear that it would not accept the presence of French troops in the region. The African people and governments are hanging out the "Not Wanted" sign to the European imperialist powers. Racism and nationalism are being deliberately provoked, as in Yugoslavia, as the means by which people can be divided so that outside powers can either maintain or re-establish their control over the lives and resources of other countries. This policy is beginning to fail in central Africa, but there will be many more deaths before the people of Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire finally end the colonial era. Update Since this article was written a dramatic turn has taken place in eastern Zaire. Hundreds of thousands of former refugees are returning to their homes in Rwanda. The grip of the terrorist militias which imposed fear and terror on the refugees has been broken. The collapse of the power of the terrorist militias is also the collapse of the influence of the imperialist powers -- the French and Belgiums in particular. It was they who financed and armed these terrorist gangs. This is a significant victory in the long struggle of the African people for their independence from imperialism. The Guardian | Phone: (02) 9212.6855 65 Campbell Street | Fax: (02) 9281.5795 Surry Hills. 2010 | Email:guardian@peg.apc.org