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leadership has been quietly liqui–
dated.
The reports are heartrending. Sto–
ríes are told of whole families hav–
ing been wiped out and of teachers
being executed before their horri–
fied students. Estimates of the num–
ber killed vary between 50,000 and
200,000. Belgian Prime Minister
Gaston Eyskens reported in 1972
that Burundi was not dealing with
"a tribal war, but with a veritable
genocide"
(American Fie/dstaff Re–
ports,
vol. XVI , no. 4).
However. an interesting sidelight
to the tragedy is that although the
Hutus comprise the vast majority of
the population (85%), they appeared
helpless agains t the Watusi , to
whom they feel inferior.
lndications are that Hutus are still
in the Burundian army and hold
govemment positions. It is therefore
possible that the government action
has been taken to suppress revolt
rather than to wipe out Hutu lead–
ership in general. The Hutus are not
helpless natives. In 1964 news
sources in the neighboring country
of Rwanda told of the Hutus killing
thousands of Watusi. But whether
this was strictly a tribal war or a
political expediency. the festering
sore of ethnic jealousy has infested
Africa for many years.
Genocide Nothing New
Ever since Caín slew Abel in an
outburst of jealous rage. men have
taken the Lives of those who op–
posed them. The ancient lsraelites
and Assyrians, the Tartars, and the
Mongols exterminated hundreds of
thousands. While sorne of the great–
est "civilizations" of ancient history
were built on the blood of oppressed
peoples, in more recent times, early
Australian settlers totally annihi–
lated the aborigines on the island of
Tasmania. North American lndians
were decimated by the white roan,
and the Inca leadership and civ–
ilization in Peru was destroyed by
Spain's conquistadors.
Unfortunately, as man's civ-
18
ilization evolves, the degree of
slaughter increases. In our genera–
tion, statisticians have lost count of
how many millions of men, women,
and children have been killed to as–
sure sorne despotic ruler supreme
control of his country. Hitler's reign
resulted in the death of twelve mil–
lion civil ians - including upwards
of six million Jews in an attempt to
eliminate an entire ethnic group.
The tragically efficient atomic
bombings of two Japanese cities by
the United States
is
another ex–
ample of mass slaughter.
Today, massive bloodbaths have
become so commonplace that they
are hardly recognized as news-wor–
thy. Approximately a million Biaf–
rans died, for example, in their
abortive war for independence in
1968-69. An estimated one million
people lost their lives in the Congo.
Tales of horror were reported of
frenzied mass murders during the
birth pangs of Bangladesh. But for
most people of the world, involved
in their own personal problems,
these wholesale massacres were
soon forgotten.
One does not have to be a mem–
ber of a minority group to be per–
secuted. Minorities theq1selves often
spawn reigns of terror. Look at the
examples of bloodletting by minor–
ity revolutionary groups in Vietnam
and Northern l reland, to name just
two.
Human nature, no matter how
"civilized" it appears, is actually
programmed to destroy what stands
in its way. The history of man is
punctuated by accounts of man's in–
humanity to man. Burundi is just
the latest victim of internal strife in
need of resolution, but no one seems
willing to listen to or help solve the
problem.
Who Will Help?
Why doesn't the United Nations
exert its power to bring such horror
toan end?
Cannot this world organization.
dedicated to peace, intervene and
save the lives of the murder
victims?
Sadly, the answer
is
no. The U.N.
is totally handicapped. It is pre–
vented
by
law
from interfering in
the internal affairs of any country,
unless that country has specifically
asked it to be involved. Also, any
plan to intervene can be easi ly ve–
toed by just one U.N. Security
Council member sympathetic to the
aggressors. These limiting factors
negate the action any of the U.N.
members might like to take.
Individual nations, even in Af–
rica, refuse to become involved in
Burundi's problem. Outside of a few
inoffensively worded statements by
concerned government officials or
committees, nothing constructive
has been done to end the strife. Un–
der present laws and governmental
policies, man is unable to intervene
in such a situation as that in Bu–
rundi. Why? Because man does not
know the way of peace!
Governments will intervene in the
affairs of another country only when
it is to their advantage to do so.
Burundi offers no such advantage.
Where ls God?
lf humans won't or can't interfere
to help their fellow men, then why
doesn' t God stop the slaughter?
Let's understand. God is not di–
rectly responsible for man's in–
humanity loman. He does not cause
it. He has given man the power of
free choice.
God placed man on the earth to
rule it. Man has the duty. the God–
given right and the God-assigned
responsibility to maintain peace on
earth. Notice the original instruc–
tions God gave in regard to man's
relationship to other men.
God told Adam and Eve to "be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it ..." (Gen–
esis 1:28). God intended that his
creation be subject to the laws of
God -laws which ensure peace and
harmony. By the word "subdue"
God means for man to
control
him-
PLAIN TRUTH July·August 1973