Victims respond to Sacramento Bee's pre-emptive attack on basic human rights
[UPDATED]
In this article in the “Sacramento Bee”, a former US Ambassador to Burundi, Robert Krueger, urges that Burundi’s war criminals be awarded immunity from prosecution. Comments critical of this view have been posted in response, one of which has now been published. We reproduce it below:
My sister Charlotte Wilson was murdered in Burundi on December 28th 2000, with her fiancé Richard Ndereyimana and 19 others, including a number of children. The killers were Hutu-extremists seeking “retribution” for the atrocities of the Tutsi-dominated army - and seeking, of course, to advance their own power. The families of the dead, and the survivors, want those responsible to be prosecuted as war criminals, fairly and impartially under international standards. We want this because we want action to deter future killings and prevent others from suffering as we have; a TRC alone simply will not work. To characterise this as a desire for “retributive justice” is a cruel form of bullying, which seeks to create a moral equivalence between our cherished hope of justice and the killers' twisted desire for revenge. We want justice, not vengeance, and it is our basic human right under international law. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch support us. Please don't deny us our rights, Mr. Krueger
Take action - Fax your MP!
Take action - sign the Gatumba petition
Burundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa
In this article in the “Sacramento Bee”, a former US Ambassador to Burundi, Robert Krueger, urges that Burundi’s war criminals be awarded immunity from prosecution. Comments critical of this view have been posted in response, one of which has now been published. We reproduce it below:
My sister Charlotte Wilson was murdered in Burundi on December 28th 2000, with her fiancé Richard Ndereyimana and 19 others, including a number of children. The killers were Hutu-extremists seeking “retribution” for the atrocities of the Tutsi-dominated army - and seeking, of course, to advance their own power. The families of the dead, and the survivors, want those responsible to be prosecuted as war criminals, fairly and impartially under international standards. We want this because we want action to deter future killings and prevent others from suffering as we have; a TRC alone simply will not work. To characterise this as a desire for “retributive justice” is a cruel form of bullying, which seeks to create a moral equivalence between our cherished hope of justice and the killers' twisted desire for revenge. We want justice, not vengeance, and it is our basic human right under international law. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch support us. Please don't deny us our rights, Mr. Krueger
Take action - Fax your MP!
Take action - sign the Gatumba petition
Burundi, human rights, Current Affairs, Politics, Africa
posted by R | 6:56 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home