Chris Van Hollen: “10 years ago, as bloated corpses floated down Rwanda's rivers, the international community debated whether the…”

“10 years ago, as bloated corpses floated down Rwanda's rivers, the international community debated whether the atrocities being committed in Rwanda fit the legal definition of ``genocide.'' By the time the world stopped debating, it was too late. Over 800,000 men, women, and children had been killed. The failure of the world to act in Rwanda remains a stain on our collective conscience. We must learn from the tragic mistakes of the past. Today, just 1,000 miles north of Rwanda in the Darfur region of Sudan, more than 30,000 people have already been killed by the Sudanese military's aerial bombardments and the atrocities being committed by their ruthless proxies, the Jangaweed militia. Gang rapes, the branding of raped women, amputations, and summary killings are widespread as we speak. More than a million people have been driven from their homes as villages have been burned and crops destroyed. The Sudanese government has deliberately blocked the delivery of food, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance. More than 160,000 Darfurians have become refugees in neighboring Chad. Conditions are ripe for the spread of fatal diseases such as measles, cholera, dysentery, meningitis and malaria.”