Rwandans will never be forced to negotiate with genocidaires

Rwandans from all spheres of life, from those in the Disapora to those within the country, from genocide survivors to members of the media have voiced their outrage over Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete’s suggestion that the Government should negotiate with the FDLR. To the layperson this outrage might seem disproportionate to the statement he made. After all, they might ask, wont these talks bring peace? Such thinking is naïve and misguided. Would Kikwete dare advise the American government to negotiate with the people who planned the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington DC? So, why would he ask us to do the same bearing in mind that these people are among those responsible for not only deaths during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, but attacks against Kinyarwanda speakers in the DR Congo and continued attacks on Rwanda? Such negotiations would render their reign of terror legitimate. Giving the FDLR legitimacy would be a slap on the face of those whose lives were lost due to the group’s campaign of terror. How can a government negotiate with a group whose main raison d’etre is seizing control and finishing the ‘job’ that they started in 1994? It would be the height of irresponsibility. Rwandans will never allow that to happen.

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Rwandans will never be forced to negotiate with genocidaires