Still Raining

That's Ganga and Me at the market in Arusha (hope you can see it, we're under an umbrella [I H8 Blogger]). Have had a great time here; Ganga and her housemates, all of them volunteers in different capacities around Arusha, were incredible hosts. Some really good food has made up for the weather: Ganga makes a killer pasta, I spiced things up with some Indianish food, and I had one of my best meals at Kahn's, which was basic Tanzanian street-chicken and a huge selection of vegetarian curries and Indian/African fusion. Street food (small restaurants that set up grills on the sidewalk) is definitely the way to go for cuisine in Tanzania - second best meal was at a similar joint in Dar.

Took to the indoors yesterday with a full day of voyeurism at the UN-Rwanda Tribunal. Very interesting, and a real treat to have it in Arusha, which had previously been (in terms of tourism) a safari pit-stop where you organize your trip and basically get constantly hassled on the street. Seems like many tourists are taking advantage of the opportunity to sit-in on the public court and witness some history. After seeing it myself, I'm a little unsure of how said history will shape-up.

First off, it's down-right uncomfortable that the guy on the stand is being tried for crimes he allegedly committed over 12 years ago. Apparently I was lucky to catch one of the accused actually on the stand - he is one of six public officials (including his mother) who is accused of crimes constituting genocide in the Butare region of Southeast Rwanda. His testimony made for a decent overview of what I had missed from other witnesses who testified against him as he was basically given the chance to refute it case by case. The charges ranged from manning a road-block where people were known to have been killed or forced to bribe their way out of murder; to raping women he and his mother (that's right) pursued around town; to torturing witnesses who were lucky enough to escape his wrath.

Judging from my day's viewing though, it would appear a great many of these charges are unfounded. The defense dominated the day with key documents that were accepted by the court that suggested many of the witnesses had been encouraged to lie to authorities and that there testimony at the court in Arusha was inconsistent with that of previous trials (the accused had already spent time in prisons in Rwanda and Kenya).

It was interesting that the current politics of the tribunal itself came into play, as the defense was able to submit a letter from advocacy group that accused the UN of providing the accused better health care than that of the victims in Rwanda he allegedly infected with HIV. Meanwhile, they also submitted a certified HIV test that proved he does not actually have the virus and were able to argue that the group who wrote the letter and the false allegations had been working with witnesses who had previously took the stand, thus undermining their credibility.

In Arusha, the politics of the court are all about money. Many in the town, especially foreigners, view the court as a bit of a circus and play-ground for the UN employees. All here complain of the exorbitant costs of the trial which are constantly on display for the locals and wonder if the money wouldn't be better spent on survivors of the genocide. I came away with a similar sentiment after viewing the trial and am really at a loss for how we can properly prosecute such massive crimes. Granted, the UN has convicted 17 individuals via the Arusha court. However, based on what I saw yesterday and the more I learn about the events in Rwanda (check out the chapter in Jared Diamond's Collapse - thanks John) it just seems like an out of control situation that is impossible to police after the fact. (Pssst - did you hear about the demonstration over Darfur in DC? I did, and I'm in Africa). Furthermore, I don't know how much of a symbolic message the convictions convey from an Arusha courthouse with a bunch of tourists watching. Can anyone confirm the impact for Rwandans? This is obviously an issue that needs to be carefully addressed for any trial involving Charles Taylor.

Back on the bus this afternoon; will be in Kampala for a week or so before a long stay in Eldoret, Kenya. Hope everyone’s doing well and takes some time to enjoy the NBA playoffs for me - after such an awful college hoops tournament I knew there would be something astounding I would miss…other than all you wonderful people back home.