Rwandan Genocide - In the Aftermath of Genocide: the U.S. Role in Rwanda

Rwandan Genocide Revisited
What happened afterwards

(Washington, D.C.)— In his new book In the Aftermath of
Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda Ambassador Robert E.
Gribbin recalls standing in an eerily quiet overgrown church
court yard while a survivor described the methodical murder of
thousands, whose desiccated moldering bodies were stacked
like cordwood only feet away in Sunday school rooms. A crunch
underfoot revealed a human jawbone that was quickly and
reverently added to the macabre collection. Against this grim
background, Gribbin throws new light on why the U.S. (and the
West) failed to respond to Rwanda’s genocide. He goes on to
tell how guilt for inaction generated an outpouring of assistance
in years afterwards.

Stating that Rwanda’s saga did not end with the terrible genocide itself, Ambassador Gribbin said,
“Imagine the hatred, pain and guilt that Rwandans felt and the enormous difficulties the people faced in
putting their lives and their society back together. How to halt impunity for genocide crimes? How to
fairly reallocate land for returning refugees? How to structure a government so that it promoted peace
rather than threaten reconciliation?” Sent to Rwanda as U.S. ambassador just after the genocide,
Gribbin said, “These issues were the substance of my tenure in Kigali. I believe I had a unique
responsibility to write about them.”

In this gripping story, Gribbin takes us into claustrophobic prisons where tens of thousands of accused
patiently awaited trials on charges of genocide. Run by prisoners themselves, the mob of men
cautiously welcomed the U.S. ambassador and quietly parted like a sea before him as he made the
rounds. Outside the prison walls, an insurgency, still inspired by unrepentant genocidaires, operated
clandestinely to murder Tutsi survivors and Hutu officials of the new government. Yet the new
government’s heavy-handed response to such violence, risked renewing the cycle of conflict and
despair. Fears of renewed conflict, fueled by the looming destabilizing presence of over a million
uprooted Hutu refugees just across the borders, diminished when over a million people, once the
camps were broken up by Tutsi-backed rebels, trudged home to an uncertain future.

Drawing on inside information and conversations with policy makers, especially Rwandan military
genius (then-Vice President) General Paul Kagame, the author describes how the U.S. responded to
the unfolding crises in Rwanda and in the region. The ethnic conflict that began with the genocide,
spilled over into neighboring Zaire/Congo, not once, but twice. First, in a dramatic chase of the
remnants of the militia group responsible for genocide, that coincidently swelled into a grass roots
ouster of long-time dictator Mobutu; and secondly, when Kabila, Mobutu’s successor, failed to honor
his commitments regarding ethnic tolerance.

In the Aftermath of Genocide is essential reading for those seeking to understand the complexities,
agony and violence of contemporary Africa. Furthermore, it is crucial for those who ask what can we
Americans do about such problems?

Robert E. Gribbin lived and worked as a U.S. diplomat in Africa for thirty-five years. He served in
Rwanda twice, once before and once after the genocide. He was U.S. ambassador from 1995 to 1999.
Now retired, in addition to consulting, writing and teaching about Africa, he undertakes short-term
diplomatic postings to the continent he knows so well.

In the Aftermath of Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda, ISBN 0-595-34411-9, $23.95, is sponsored
by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (seven former Secretaries of State sit on the
board) as part of its “memoirs and occasional papers” series and was published in March 2005 by
iUniverse, Lincoln, Nebraska. It is available from ADST, www.iUniverse.com or on-line bookstores.

Acclaim

"Ambassador Gribbin applies the keen insight he developed over a long career in Africa to U.S. -
Rwandan relations. He outlines clearly the failure of the U.S. and the rest of the world to stop the
genocide, and places blame where it is deserved, yet manages to inject humor into this otherwise
unremittingly grim story. " H. Roberts Melone, former U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda.

"Not a traditional diplomatic memoir or a diary but a frank account of a life and career, centered on
service in a volatile Rwanda. Ambassador Gribbin doesn't mask his values, views, or mistakes. He lets
the record tell you about his successes. One of the least egotistical career retrospectives I have read
and a great contribution to African and diplomatic scholarship. A remarkable book by a distinguished
diplomat, who invites the reader to comprehend the challenge ad agony of decision-making by the
"man of the spot.'" Robert G. Houdek, former U.S. Ambassador to Uganda and Eritrea.

"Ambassador Robert Gribbin's book is a very welcome contribution to literature on Rwanda's recovery
after catastrophe. No previous publication has dealt with issues relating to Rwanda's efforts at
rebuilding and its relations with the international community in general. The author's account of the
period of his service in Rwanda leaves no doubt that he was and remains well versed with the critical
issues that faced the new government of Rwanda following the genocide: peace and security,
repatriation and resettlement of refugees, economic reconstruction, national unity and reconciliation,
human rights, justice and the rule of law, democratization, and regional peace and stability." Gerald
Gahima, former Attorney General of Rwanda.