Auburn, Alabama

I’ve heard of that place. I even know people that go to school there. That’s what I was thinking when I heard it mentioned on the radio today. That’s weird, why would a Rwandan radio station be talking about Auburn, Alabama? It’s not exactly the booming metropolis of America. Well guess what Auburn Alabama, it has just been discovered that you’re living within a few miles of one of the most elusive conspirators to genocide!

A Washington Post reporter broke the news today that one of the most wanted men for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda has been found living in of all places, Alabama. Jean Damascene Bizimana was the Rwandan Ambassador to the UN in 1994, and held one of the temporary seats of the Security Council. Bizimana allegedly conspired with the perpetrators of the genocide to do whatever he could to keep the UN and other countries from responding to what was happening in Rwanda. He repeatedly misinformed the UN and its member nations about the mass violence in Rwanda and did so quite successfully. He also was able to make himself disappear until now.

To say the least, Rwandese are not so pleased. Tonight I had the pleasure of meeting my headmaster’s brother who is a captain in the Rwandese army (that means he fought with RPF in 1994). We started a nice little conversation, I was getting the normal round of questions like “what’s your name, how do you see Rwanda and where are you from?” Except this time, directly following my last answer of Atlanta, came a question that I had never heard before. “How far is that from Auburn, Alabama?” Thank God I caught the news on the bus earlier that day and was privy to the fact that this was a pretty big deal to Rwandans and knew what direction he wanted to head the conversation. I mentioned that I had heard the news earlier that day and concurred with him that Bizimana should be extradited to Rwanda sooner rather than later. It doesn’t make people so happy to learn that someone who helped orchestrate mass murder in your country has been doing fine, working for a plastics company in America and has actually managed to gain full citizenship to a country that millions are rejected from each year.

I know this probably wouldn’t make the news in America but it’s a pretty big deal over here in Rwanda. So tell America to do the right thing and ship Bizimana over so he can have a trial. Also, Auburn Alabama, if you want to meet someone who aided in the murder of a million people, head on down to the Capital Plastics Products office and introduce yourself. I think this will be your one chance to meet someone like that.