Dear Editor,

In 1994, one of the most despicable acts against humans occurred in Rwanda, Africa. This event, however, is still not widely known, nor understood. Over half of a million people senselessly killed. Women were raped, children stood in the role of soldiers and slaves. The public must remember and reflect upon this horrible tragedy that the human race let take place. That way, we can prevent it from happening now in areas like Darfur, as well as in the future as well.

The expression “numbers don’t lie” is no exception in Rwanda. The murder count rose to 500,000. At least 4 million fled or were displaced from their homes. In total, the genocide in Rwanda affected nearly 5 million people. This widespread violence hurt men, women, and children. They were targets that had no choice in their future. Killing is always terrible, but it’s appalling when the intention is only to kill for the sake of killing.

The Hutus genocide upon Tutsis continued while the rest of the world watched. Many people, High-up government officials want to quiet the talks of Rwanda and forget what happened there. They want to disregard the 5 million victimized by the Hutu acts. Could any human being simply ignore the men, women and children murdered for no reason?

The onlookers of this genocide have already tried to turn their heads at this extreme form of violence. Now, another genocide is happening again, and we need to act immediately. Since 2003, at least 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur from violence between military and rebel groups. Darfur is following in the exact steps of Rwanda, yet once again no action has taken place to stop it. You, the reader, can help right away. I encourage people to visit the website www.genocidewatch.org. This website contains information on both past and present genocides in human history, as well as details on how you can contribute to the cause. History will repeat itself without our help. Will we let it happen again?