Rwanda - between April and July 1994, at least 800,000 people were killed when the Hutu regime and Tutsi rebels kicked off the Rwandan Civil War. Some, including Francophone African Nations, believed arming people with machettés was cheaper than AK-47s. Because the UNs mandate forbiding intervention in the internal politics of any country unless the crime of genocide is being committed, and The United States government's did not recognize the estimnates of 800,000 - 1,000,000 butcherings, mass rape and mutilation as genocide. Although the governments of Belgium, the People's Republic of China, and France in particular still receive negative attention for their perceived complacency towards the Hutu regime's activities, they still do not recognize it.
A friend of mine, a battle hardened warrior, was there in the aftermath as an aid worker. He said he stopped driving because the dirt road was so bumpy. When the morning mist began to clear it revealed he had been driving over dead bodies for miles, not bumps.
Liberia - Liberians have known little but warfare over the last 20 or more years. Conflict and civil war have devastated the country and taken an enormous toll on the lives of its citizens, especially children. United Nations (U.N.) agencies estimate that approximately 15,000 children were involved in the fighting. Thousands of children have been victims of killings, rape and sexual assault, abduction, torture, forced labor and displacement at the hands of the warring factions. Children who fought with the warring parties are among the most affected by the war. Not only did they witness numerous human rights violations, they were additionally forced to commit abuses themselves. Boy and girl fighters typically received limited training in operating automatic weapons, mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Taught to maneuver in combat, to march, and to take cover, children were often the first sent out to the front lines where they faced heavy combat. In addition to their military duties, girls with the armed groups were raped and sexually enslaved by the fighters. Girl fighters were collectively known as ‘wives’, whether attached to a particular soldier or not. Some older girls were able to avoid sexual abuse, sometimes by capturing other girls for sexual servitude.
Children described beatings, torture and other punishments inflicted on them by commanders for alleged infractions of rules. Nevertheless, child soldiers were complicit in abuses against civilians—including murder, rape and widespread looting—often committed with the involvement of their adult superiors. Boy soldiers were often drugged prior to facing combat by commanders handing out pills. Boys described these drugs as making them feel fearless during fighting.
Mianmar - Leaving the forced labor of all age groups out of the discussion, you still have a lot to consider. Between 1996 and 2000: "the Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnic peoples of Shan State. The report illustrates there is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the form of sexual violence, have occurred and continue to occur in Shan State. The report gives clear evidence that rape is officially condoned as a 'weapon of war' against the civilian populations in Shan State." Furthermore, the report states that "25% of the rapes resulted in death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to local communities. 61% were gang-rapes; women were raped within military bases, and in some cases women were detained and raped repeatedly for periods of up to 4 months." AND, According to Human Rights Watch, recruiting and kidnapping of children to the military is commonplace. An estimated 70,000 of the country’s 350,000-400,000 soldiers are children.
Can you Imagine a nation in fear of Butterflies? The seperation of Yugoslavia - Aided by Serbian guerrillas in Croatia, a Serbian named Slobodan Milosevic's forces invaded in July 1991 to 'protect' the Serbian minority. In the city of Vukovar, they bombarded the outgunned Croats for 86 consecutive days and reduced it to rubble. After Vukovar fell, the Serbs began the first mass executions of the conflict, killing hundreds of Croat men and burying them in mass graves.
The response of the international community was limited. The U.S. under President George Bush chose not to get involved militarily, but instead recognized the independence of both Slovenia and Croatia. An arms embargo was imposed for all of the former Yugoslavia by the United Nations. However, the Serbs under Milosevic were already the best armed force and thus maintained a big military advantage.
The end of 1991 brokered a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire agreement between the Serbs and Croats fighting in Croatia.
In April 1992, the U.S. and European Community chose to recognize the independence of Bosnia, a mostly Muslim country where the Serb minority made up 32 percent of the population. Milosevic responded to Bosnia's declaration of independence by attacking Sarajevo.
Later in In Srebrenica, a Safe Haven, Published reports say "U.N. peacekeepers stood by helplessly as the Serbs under the command of General Ratko Mladic systematically selected and then slaughtered nearly 8,000 men and boys between the ages of twelve and sixty - the worst mass murder in Europe since World War II. In addition, the Serbs continued to engage in mass rapes of Muslim females." However what really happened is the UN peacekeepers traded 40 captured Dutch UN Peacekeepers, for the not attacking Mladic.
40 UN Peacekeepers = 8000 Bosnian boys and men?
There is a certain wildflower, that atttracts a certain Butterfly. Easiest way to find a mass grave, and why the nation fears the Butterfly.
Ethiopia - http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=231
Darfur- http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=Darfur
Human trafiking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
I guess you can say I just could not write it anymore, I had to stop crying!
Peace and Love to all
LeePsycho
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