Catholic nun jailed for 30 years for her part in Rwandan genocide

[Cerridwen]

NAIROBI, Kenya: A Catholic nun has been sentenced to 30 years for helping militia kill hundreds of people hiding in a hospital during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, an official said Friday.

<snip>

"She was responsible for selecting Tutsis and would throw them out of the hospital and the militia would then kill them," said Jean Baptiste Ndahumba, president of the local gacaca court in Butare town. "This nun was organizing people to be killed."

<snip>

A number of Hutu Catholic and Protestant church leaders are alleged to have played significant roles in the east African nation's 100-day massacre. More than half a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by the militia, orchestrated by the extremist Hutu government then in power. The genocide ended when Tutsi rebels toppled the government.

<snip>

In 2001, two Rwandan Catholic nuns were convicted by a Belgian court of aiding and abetting the mass murders. A Roman Catholic priest is on trial before Tanzania-based U.N. tribunal, accused of ordering the slaughter of 2,000 people who sought refuge in his church.

link to article
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-10-rwanda-nun_x.htm">more links to more articles for details

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Yah, that was SO Christlike of them

[javelina]

2. pure evil

This makes me ashamed to be a Christian :( There is no excuse for this, and I only hope that she asks God for her forgiveness for her actions in the afterlife. As far as this world, she is not worthy of forgiveness.

[hedgehog]

4. Judge not lest ye be judged.

[nodehopper]

10. oh please

[Name removed]

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[The Stranger]

22. So if we haven't ordered someone massacred, it is okay to comment?

Comment away.

[northernsoul]

36. We can't judge genocide?

Christendom has never hesitated to pass judgment on others, but other can never judge it? I guess I'm not understanding what you're trying to say here.

[redqueen]

13. You're a Christian...

but you think it's your place to determine who deserves forgiveness?

Interesting...

[javelina]

14. True...

I am, at times, a hypocrite :(

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. As are we all, at times.

It's a human thing.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[aquart]

3. She can think of it as a very strict cloister.

It will give her lots of time to pray.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

5. Gee, and it only took 13 years. n/t

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[uppityperson]

8. Not willing to pass judgement 'til read article. Here is the telling line in the article for me...

"She would also hold regular meetings with Hutu extremist groups and denied food to Tutsis hiding in the hospital,"

Sentenced by a traditional gacaca court, good, this is by the people there. "The gacaca courts are intended to speed up the genocide trials and are separate from Rwanda's conventional judicial system and an international genocide court. With nine judges from the local community, the traditional courts were also established to help heal divisions. They can impose life sentences."

I am glad that they are still holding trials for these people and glad they are still getting sentenced. Some have been walking around free since it happened, need to be held responsible.

[Suburban_Iconoclast]

9. Don't tell Mel Gibson, he'll make a movie about it.

I'm still waiting for his 3 hour epic "The Apology"

[ozone_man]

11. See Hotel Rwanda.

Starring Don Cheadle and Nick Nolte.

[chefgirl]

16. Excellent movie

I was really impressed with 'Hotel Rwanda' for attempting to tell the unvarnished truth.

My only disappointment with the film was that, even though it did make some subtle references to the influence that hate radio had in the lead up to the whole situation, it didnt go far enough.

Watching a documentary about Rwanda, before I saw the film, I was chilled to the bone listening to the people describe how hate radio kept hammering and hammering away, rabble rousing, calling them 'cockroaches', etc.. They were even instrumental in distributing the infamous machetes that were used to hack people to death.

All I could think about was Rush Limbaugh, Howie Carr, Sean Hannity, and on and on. I will never forget them explaining how helpless they were in the face of that constant barrage of hate speech. It showed how easily something like that really could happen here.

Hopefully, what we did, as a country, on election day, is only the beginning of a larger, deeper awareness dawning on the American people.

-chef-

[ozone_man]

25. They might have explained more background

leading up to that genocide, including religious issues mentioned above, perhaps more on the French history in Rwanda. There's a balance between keeping things moving along (a movie) and a documentary, which tend to draw smaller audiences. We were immersed fairly quickly into this graphically horrifying situation. It's also disturbing that it took a decade to create a film like this to make it real, yet when it happened, it was just something distant, out of sight.

[donco6]

20. Oh that was hard to watch.

I've seen horror movies that scared me LESS than that one.

[Tight_rope]

12. The punishment doesn't fit the crime...Jail is too good for her!

:spank: :argh:

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[barb162]

24. same here

[Name removed]

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[barb162]

27. here's a link from wikipedia for which I forgot to copy the link

"Once in control, these Hutus then began to kill thousands of Tutsis. <10> However, Tutsis remained in control of Burundi.

During the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, United Nations peacekeepers stepped back as Hutu extremists killed <11> hundreds of thousands of Tutsis <12>, as well as moderate Hutu politicans. Many Twa also died in the fighting."


Thing is , the UN peacekeepers stood aside as the Hutus did the killing. I understand the Hutus have several religions. I seriosuly wonder if the Hutus weren't threatening everyone who didn't go along with these massacres.

[redqueen]

29. Well that wouldn't fit with the script so well, would it?

I mean, Catholic bashing is easy... actually looking into the situation, that's hard.

[barb162]

31. Exactly.

There were thousands of Hutus slashing, shooting and killing thousands of Tutsis and others.

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[Cessna Invesco Palin]

37. They most certainly did threaten them.

The astonishing and frightening thing about the Rwandan genocide is how much of the killing was carried out by ordinary people, neighbours killing neighbours, rather than some military organisation.

Moderate Hutus were killed as well as Tutsis. The policy was that every Hutu must contribute to the killing, or risk being killed themselves. Fear was a huge motivating factor in why so many "ordinary" people became murderers.

[Name removed]

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[Bridget Burke]

28. Many Rwandans are converting to Islam.

Since some Catholic & Protestant leaders played roles in the genocide.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53018-2002Sep22.html

[Greyhound]

30. "Since the genocide, Rwandans have converted to Islam in huge numbers. Muslims now make up 14%

...of the 8.2 million people here in Africa's most Catholic nation, twice as many as before the killings began."

The fruits of their actions...

[Codeine]

33. I find it interesting

how many DUers are willing to condemn Catholicism vociferously but would never have a negative word to say about Islam. May all religions wither and die.

[bleedingheart]

35. Apparently she felt she was a Hutu first and a nun second

what a sick sick woman...

[tammywammy]

38. I know, it's very sad

I can't imagine send people out to known death, and that she was a nun and should have been even more protective of them, is just sick. :(