Holocaust and Rwanda Assignment - Essay Example

Holocaust and Rwanda Accountability is a strong way for the perpetrators to accept their mistake and the wrong they carried out through killing people or commissioning their killing or participation in any way to the genocide or holocaust. This is usually considered the first step towards not only acceptance but reconciliation as well among the communities in order to dissipate the hatred that continues to brew years after the actual genocide took place. This aspect of accountability is why the perpetrators of the violence are taken to court and sentenced if found guilty as explained in Des Forges, (1999).

Witnessing is the aspect of stating the events as one observed or was directly involved in. Witnessing is very tricky as a lot of influence may affect the witnesses credibility hence leaving the perpetrator to walk away free or incriminate an otherwise innocent individual. When it comes to human rights, both the witnesses and the perpetrators are offered protection as their accounts of the genocide events also greatly matter and contribute to the final ruling of the court. The International Criminal Court has legal clauses on the safety for he witnesses elaborated and the same is the case for Rwanda.

This does not mean that both courts are in favor of the genocide perpetrators but are trying to protect them in order to even get their own account of the events that took place during the genocide as well as the holocaust if any justice is to be achieved. The accounts of the Rwandan genocide indicate that the United Nations which is mandated by the world to promote peace and be on the forefront during violence in nations did nothing to alleviate this genocide. When it was evident that a lot of killings were taking place day and night, it sent in its troops to rescue its employees and their families in that nation and then stood aside watching as the country came crumbling down just like the rest of the world.

This raised and to date continues to raise questions on the aspect of human rights and whom they govern if not Rwanda when they needed it the most.UN is trying to make up for its lack of involvement in the genocide as well as holocaust through being on the forefront to bring to accountability those involved but it is the case of a little too late. If only they had come in when needed, many people would not have lost their lives and maybe even a little faith in the institution as well. All in all, I agree that accountability should be taken very seriously in order to avoid such a traumatic event from taking place in the future in any country not only in those countries that have witnessed genocide and holocaust.

Legal precedence as well as incorporating human rights should go hand in hand wherever these criminal proceeding are taking place and should be made public as well. This is the only way ethnic forgiveness and differences will be solved as peace and justice will prevail in the end (Veil, Geoffrey and Alex 40). Work CitedDes Forges, Alison. “"Leave None to Tell the Story": Genocide in Rwanda.” Michigan: Human Rights Watch, 1999. Veil, Simone, Geoffrey Nice and Alex Boraine. “Genocide and Accountability: Three Public Lectures by Simone Veil, Geoffrey Nice and Alex Boraine.

” Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2004.