When the Hills Ask for Your Blood by David Belton – review

David Belton's account of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath serve as a fitting tribute to the actions of a heroic Franciscan priestMy first reaction when confronted with David Belton's book was to ask what is to be gained from yet another book retelling the horrors of the Rwandan genocide? A part of me still feels that way, but what makes this one stand out is that it is not simply an account of the events of 1994. It brings the story right up to date, confronting the dilemmas and tensions that lie not far below the surface in that most tragic and beautiful of countries.Belton is a television journalist who was first dispatched to Rwanda at the time of the genocide and who has since been back several times. This elegantly written book is part personal odyssey, part history, but above all it is a tribute to one remarkable man, a Bosnian Croat Franciscan priest, Vjeko Curic, who, almost alone among foreigners, stayed throughout the slaughter and in so doing saved many lives.No recitation of bald statistics can do justice to the nightmare. It is enough to note that in the space of less than 100 days 800,000 men, women and children were murdered, many chopped to pieces with machetes. The victims were mainly from the minority Tutsi tribe. The killers were mainly Hutus, the majority ethnic group. The killers were not some alien species or invading army, they were the former friends and neighbours of those they slaughtered, goaded into an orgy of hatred by an evil, insane... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]

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