Agnes Ntamabyariro, 69, was captured in Zambia in 1997 and had been awaiting her trial on alleged links to the awfull masacres of over a million people in Rwanda during the 1994 Genocide. She's the highest ranking person of the former government to be tried in a local court as most of the cases are being tried in Arusha, in neighboring Tanzania.
As we commemorate World Refugee day, we should take the time to remember that millions of refugees fled the war torn country and even though some of them managed to come back as the country rebuilds itself, thousands are still scattered across the dense forest of eastern Kivu (modern day Democratic Republic of Congo) in horrible conditions. Images of suffering women and children, who often find themselves forcibly being enrolled in the rebelious armies surrounding them, make daily headlines but the international community has yet to act. Neighboring Burundi is currently living the same fate as its cousin to the north where horrific acts have been perpetrated over and over against innocent civilians for well over a decade now.
If it's not famine and diseases, women and children also have to worry about being gang raped either by the soldiers or the rebels. I remember watching an episode on Oprah where a young woman from Uganda recalled the horrors of being used as a human shield by one of the army officials. It was unbearable to watch so I had to imagine what she had been through.
Tonight on Anderson Cooper 360, Angelina Jolie is going to sit down with the famed broadcaster and talk about the plight of refugees in Africa and the rest of the World.
Hopefully enough people will tune in to watch.
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