U.S. and Others Could Have Prevented Rwanda Genocide, Report Says

The United States and other nations and institutions should pay a “significant level of reparations” for their failure to stop genocide in Rwanda in 1994, reported an independent international panel. The seven-member group targeted the U.S., France, Belgium, and the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches for their apathy and inaction during the massacres that claimed the lives of up to 800,000 people. Thousands of women were raped and killed in this brutal period, but nations and institutions largely ignored these atrocities. Though President Clinton and Belgium’s government have apologized to Africa for the absence of international aid, neither France nor the Roman Catholic Church have accepted blame for their complicity in the genocide.