Photograph by Sabastiao SalgadoA part of the description that Salgado gives for this photo is how I would like to begin my post: "For 120 miles, the highway was scattered with the corpses of Tutsi killed by the Hutu militia..."
(Salgado 170).
The Rwandan Civil War of 1994 resulted in genocide that left close to 1 million Rwandan civilians of Tutsi decent dead. Extremist Rwandan militants called the Interahamwe were responsible for the slaughter of men, women, and children. However, even in the aftermath of the genocide, the spread of death did not cease. The Interahamwe, living as outcast gangs, in Rwanda, continued to spread their Tutsi hate propaganda ("Rwanda Civil War"). Disturbing to me is that enough is never enough for these people. 1 million Tutsis dead, yet the killing must continue? How do they feel justified in the killing of even one human? Be they different race or not, how does one look into the eyes of another soul and kill?
(globalsecurity.org)
"Rwanda Civil War." Military. GlobalSecurity.org, April 2005. Web. 17 February 2010.
"Rwanda Civil War." Military. GlobalSecurity.org, April 2005. Web. 17 February 2010.
Such an intense picture. But as intense as it is, it's perfect for the purpose of this blog post. When you asked "how does one look into the eyes of another soul and kill?", I couldn't come up with an answer as hard as I tried. It's amazing how terrible our world's reality can be at times, and this post does a good job demonstrating this.
ReplyDeleteThat picture is so sad. It is as if so many people in the world have become so evil and they have so much hate inside of them. I agree that there is no justification in any of the killings and no one has the right to kill another human being. The people in the picture were viciously murdered and inhumanely left in the road with their belongings looted. It really is unimaginable that people could do this type of thing and even when I look at the picture it still seems hard to believe.
ReplyDeletePowerful ending statement. I'm glad you end there and leave the reader to reflect on your last question. After reading about the Rwandan Genocide in "Left to Tell," I am heartbroken to see these pictures of the murdered Tutsis. They each had families and communities whom they loved and were loved by, disregarding tribes. Every time I am filled with anger for the Hutus, I remember how Immaculee' learned to love and forgive all the Hutus. I can't imagine seeing what is portrayed in this photo in real life, and still forgiving and loving all those murderers, especially if my family was lying there on that road.
ReplyDelete