I make no secret of the fact that I neither trust nor like Paul Kagame. At one point, I thought he was the hero of the story. That’s the narrative he likes to promote. It is the only narrative he will allow in Rwanda where you can be convicted of treason if you say anything against him. Let that sit in. If you have any issue, any issue at all, with Kagame’s policies or positions it is considered treason. If you still think Rwanda is a free country, you may want to leave this page now.

Yesterday, CNN has this…

For many people, especially in the United States and Europe, Myanmar may feel like a very far away place. You may ask yourself, What can I do to help? A lot!

Last week, people all around the United States signed petitions, took to the street to protest and spent time communicating with their reps in Congress and with President Joe Biden. These actions were successful! The U.S. announced that it will impose sanctions on the Burmese military. If you need proof that you can make a difference, that is it!

While this is an important victory, it is not the…

What is happening in Rwanda? Apparently, nothing good. This week, Genocide Watch sent out an alert for the country. They sent out a “genocide watch” for Rwanda and noted “there are signs of continued discrimination, polarization and denial between the main ethnic groups, the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority. Ethnic distrust continues despite significant progress in Rwanda’s post-genocide peacebuilding.”

According to the report:

Rwanda’s National Unity law severely restricts free speech. Allegations of genocide denial, ‘genocide ideology,’ and ‘divisionism’ are used to clamp down on criticism of the Rwandan government. Reference to ethnicity is illegal. People are only allowed to…

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has broken the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. The commandment was first issued by Ronald Reagan in his 1966 gubernatorial campaign in California. Well, as sacred as Reagan’s words are for Republicans. Mitch broke that rule, indirectly, yesterday when he told the Hill this:

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” McConnell said in a statement first shared with The Hill. …

My favorite part of American history is the revolution. After thousands of years of rule by monarchies, people decided they had enough and developed their own form of government. These were not perfect people and the government they created was set up to become “a more perfect union.” They had no illusions that they were creating perfection.

I live in a part of the country that was central to the forming of the new nation. Fans of Turn: Washington’s Spies, which chronicled the work of the Culper Spy ring in Setauket, Long Island (the next town over) have seen the…

Genocide may not be the topic on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days but it should be. Genocide Watch lists 18 countries as being vulnerable to or in the middle of an active genocide. After the Allies discovered the extermination camps set up by the Germans in World War II, they pronounced, “Never again,” but the world has yet to live up to that promise. It seems like as much as the world dislikes genocide, it dislikes dealing with it even more.

Many people think of genocide as something that happened a long time ago in a country far…

On December 10, the world recognizes International Human Rights Day. This is the perfect time to release human rights activist and humanitarian, Paul Rusesabagina. His heroism was documented in the film, “Hotel Rwanda.” He has been credited with saving 1,268 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom “remarkable courage and compassion in the face of genocidal terror.”

On August 27, Rusesabagina was kidnapped, bound, tortured, and taken to Kigali, Rwanda, where he was arrested and initially charged with “criminal mischief.” …

It’s International Genocide Prevention Day; Why is Rwanda Hero Rusesabagina still in jail?

Today marks the “International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime” or “Genocide Prevention Day.” It is also the 72nd anniversary of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”). On the United Nations’ (UN) official website dedicated to this day, one conflict is highlighted above others. It is the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

While the world looked on and did nothing, a few people inside Rwanda…