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210฀ |฀฀ ฀ CHAPTER 7 Resurrecting a Country I t฀might฀be฀a฀new฀year,฀but฀it฀was฀still฀Rwanda฀and฀the฀troubles฀ ฀ were฀not฀over.฀David฀and฀I฀had฀stated฀that฀the฀goal฀of฀policy฀making฀in฀ ฀ Rwanda฀had฀to฀be฀reducing฀the฀killing.฀Stopping฀the฀killing฀was฀ impossible.฀Although฀the฀refugee฀camps฀across฀the฀border฀remained฀ the฀most฀serious฀threat฀to฀stability,฀there฀were฀internal฀parallels.฀ When฀the฀French฀had฀established฀their฀security฀zone฀in฀the฀southwest ,฀the฀fleeing฀Hutus฀were฀soon฀gathered฀in฀displaced฀persons฀(DP)฀ camps฀inside฀the฀area฀under฀French฀control.฀There฀were฀DP฀camps฀ near฀every฀large฀Rwandan฀town฀in฀the฀southwest.฀Attended฀by฀the฀ U.N.฀High฀Commission฀for฀Refugees฀(UNHCR),฀they฀soon฀began฀to฀ take฀on฀the฀same฀aspects฀of฀permanence฀that฀were฀appearing฀in฀the฀ camps฀in฀Zaire.฀Worse฀still,฀there฀were฀a฀number฀of฀smaller฀camps฀ closer฀to฀the฀border฀with฀Burundi,฀populated฀by฀a฀mix฀of฀Burundians฀ and฀Rwandans. Help from Burundi These฀camps฀were฀a฀natural฀staging฀base฀and฀refuge฀for฀hard-core฀ militia฀determined฀to฀carry฀on฀the฀fight฀against฀the฀Rwandan฀Patriotic ฀Front฀(RPF)฀in฀the฀countryside.฀They฀also฀served฀as฀staging฀bases฀ for฀Burundians฀doing฀the฀same฀against฀the฀rampaging฀Tutsi฀army฀in฀ Burundi.฀As฀one฀would฀expect,฀the฀Rwandan฀Patriotic฀Army฀(RPA)฀ established฀ambushes฀and฀roving฀patrols฀to฀intercept฀these฀groups฀as฀ they฀moved฀across฀the฀border.฀The฀inevitable฀happened:฀an฀RPA฀unit฀ intercepted฀one฀of฀these฀militia฀groups฀and฀pursued฀it฀into฀one฀of฀the฀ smaller฀DP฀camps฀on฀the฀Rwandan฀side฀of฀the฀border.฀Summoning฀ reinforcements฀from฀the฀sector฀commander,฀the฀RPA฀platoon฀moved฀ into฀the฀camp.฀The฀leader฀soon฀lost฀control,฀and฀his฀troops฀killed฀a฀ number฀of฀civilians฀before฀the฀reinforcing฀RPA฀commander฀arrived฀ resurrecting฀a฀country฀ ฀ |฀ ฀ 211 and฀stopped฀the฀action.฀The฀U.N.฀Assistance฀Mission฀in฀Rwanda฀ (UNAMIR)฀was฀notified,฀and฀the฀blue฀berets฀soon฀arrived฀as฀well.฀ The฀RPA฀commander฀actively฀cooperated฀with฀the฀UNAMIR฀force฀ and฀soon฀UNAMIR฀helicopters฀were฀ferrying฀wounded฀to฀the฀U.N.฀ hospital฀in฀Kigali.฀The฀cooperation฀continued฀after฀the฀melee฀was฀ over.฀RPA฀and฀U.N.฀Human฀Rights฀Officers฀investigated฀the฀incident฀ in฀tandem.฀The฀RPA฀platoon฀leader฀was฀relieved฀and฀disciplined.฀The฀ unit฀was฀moved฀out฀of฀the฀sector฀altogether.฀All฀things฀considered,฀the฀ incident฀was฀just฀that,฀an฀incident฀hardly฀noteworthy฀in฀the฀context฀ of฀Rwanda’s฀killing฀grounds.฀What฀made฀it฀remarkable฀was฀the฀cooperation ฀between฀the฀RPA฀and฀the฀United฀Nations.฀I฀reported฀it฀as฀a฀ matter฀of฀course฀within฀the฀UNAMIR฀situation฀report฀I฀transmitted฀ almost฀daily฀back฀to฀Washington. ฀ Enter฀our฀ambassador฀in฀Burundi,฀a฀vehement฀spokesman฀against฀ the฀depredations฀of฀the฀Tutsi-controlled฀military฀inside฀Burundi.฀Often ฀he฀was฀too฀outspoken฀and฀so฀alienated฀the฀government฀they฀shut฀ him฀out.฀Later฀that฀year,฀the฀Burundian฀army฀or฀its฀militia฀supporters฀ tried฀to฀kill฀him฀in฀an฀ambush฀in฀northern฀Burundi.฀They฀failed,฀and฀ State฀attempted฀to฀tone฀him฀down฀to฀no฀avail.฀David฀and฀I฀were฀about฀ to฀get฀a฀taste฀of฀his฀vitriolic฀reporting.฀The฀ambassador฀in฀Bujumbura฀ got฀wind฀of฀the฀camp฀incident฀inside฀Rwanda฀and฀headed฀north฀to฀ interview฀survivors฀who฀had฀fled฀back฀into฀Burundi.฀One฀supposed฀ survivor฀spun฀a฀tale฀worthy฀of฀Oliver฀Stone. ฀ According฀to฀this฀source,฀the฀militias฀who฀were฀attacked฀in฀the฀ countryside฀by฀the฀vicious฀RPA฀were฀no฀more฀than฀peaceful฀farmers฀ moving฀back฀in฀from฀the฀fields.฀The฀RPA฀chased฀them฀into฀the฀camp฀ and฀then฀summoned฀more฀RPA฀and฀UNAMIR฀troops฀to฀finish฀the฀ job.฀According฀to฀him,฀U.N.฀helicopter฀gunships฀led฀the฀combined฀ RPA-UNAMIR฀attack.฀They฀fired฀rockets฀and฀machine฀gun฀fire฀into฀ the฀area,฀and฀the฀ground฀forces฀then฀mopped฀up.฀The฀village฀was฀supposedly ฀leveled.฀The฀U.N.฀and฀RPA฀troops฀then฀hid฀all฀the฀bodies฀by฀ throwing฀them฀down฀wells฀in฀the฀area.฀The฀death฀toll฀was฀supposedly฀ in฀the฀“hundreds฀or฀thousands.” ฀ Without฀any฀corroboration,฀our฀neighboring฀ambassador฀put฀all฀ this฀into฀a฀cable฀and฀fired฀it฀off฀to฀Washington.฀David฀called฀me฀in฀ and฀showed฀me฀the฀report.฀I฀read฀it฀and฀was฀torn฀between฀laughter฀ and฀rage.฀This฀sort฀of฀thing฀gets฀ambassadors฀relieved.฀I฀told฀David฀ I฀would฀put฀out฀a฀full฀report฀on฀the฀matter.฀I฀made฀a฀special฀trip฀out฀ to฀UNAMIR฀to฀verify฀what฀they฀had฀said฀before,฀and฀I฀checked฀with฀ Colonel฀Karenzi฀on฀the฀matter.฀I฀related฀the฀full฀story฀in฀a฀separate฀ [3.140.242.165] Project...

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