World

There is little explanation of why the rebelssegregated British and American tourists from the rest.For example:Newscaster: As more information emerges about theway in which the victims died, it seems likely that most ofthem were murdered because they were British andAmerican, who the rebels regard as their enemies.Reporter: And tonight it’s emerged that these killers mayhave singled out British victims in particular. (3.3.99BBC1 1800-1830)Only BBC2 conducted an investigation of British andAmerican foreign policy in the region. This linkedwestern intervention to the attack. The report opens:Newscaster: Rebels murder four Britons in Uganda. Isthe cost of our foreign policy now to be counted in the livesof holiday makers?The newscaster continues:Newscaster: Good evening, the people who murderedeight tourists, four of them British, had singled them out,they said because they disliked the politics of theirgovernment. It’s not the first time that British holidaymakers have died as a consequence of our foreign policy.What’s to be done? The people responsible for killinginnocent tourists in cold blood are the Rwandan rebels,who fled the Tutsi regime in Rwanda which is backed byboth Britain and the United States.The newscaster sustained his examination of thisview, despite resistance from the Foreign Office minister.Six times he challenged Baroness Symons on the issuethat British tourists may have been ‘killed by people whodo not like some of the policies of our government.’ Apoint which he endorsed with a direct quote from theBritish High Commissioner in Kampala. The newscasterasked:Newscaster: Baroness Symons, this isn’t the first timethat British tourists have been killed by people who don’tlike some of the policies of our government. Are youplanning to change anything?Baroness Symons, Foreign Office Minister: Can Ijust say at the start that we don’t actually know why thesepeople were killed. I think until we are able to debriefeverybody and get a much fuller picture of exactly thecircumstances of what happened, eye-witness accountsand other accounts that may be available, it’s very easyto rush to judgement over what happened.Newscaster: I’m sorry, I’ve been quoting the BritishHigh Commissioner in Kampala, who says, quote ‘therebels tried to identify Britain and American touristsfrom the others, they claimed that it was revenge foralleged British and American support for Ugandan andRwandan intervention in the Congo.Baroness Symons: I have that, but I think we must alsotake into account the other reports that we are getting. Ivery much hope we will have a much fuller picturetomorrow. I understand that you’re quoting what’s beensaid and I understand as well that there have been otherpeople who have cast some doubt about exactly whathappened and they were there on the spot, I do think thatwe’ve got to be careful, but I do take your general pointthat it seems to be the case that more and more people, dofind themselves susceptible to this sort of appallingatrocity. (2.3.99 BBC2 2230-2315)There are references on other channels to how victimsmay have been targeted because they were British orAmerican. Against visuals of a mass grave in Rwanda, aBBC1 report states:Reporter: This is just one of the mass graves in Rwanda,ghastly legacy of the great terror unleashed by Hutus nowdirected against tourists. The Hutus did succeed then inkilling over half a million, but they lost control ofRwanda to their enemies, the Tutsis, who now rule.Certainly, Britain and the United States support the neworder, but so does most of the rest of the world. The Hutusdid get some active support from France, troops were sentby President Mitterand, apparently to promote peaceand create a safe-haven in south-west Rwanda, instead, itbecame a refuge for French-speaking Hutus whoregrouped there to go on killing. At the Foreign Office, hesays, Britain have been especially forceful denouncinggenocide, but he says, he’s trying to bring peace to theentire region.Tony Lloyd, MP, Foreign Office Minister: We’vemade it very clear that there can be no support for thosewho commit those evil crimes and I think that our reasonsfor taking that position have been borne out by theequally wicked crimes that we saw committed yesterday.(3.3.99 BBC1 2100-2130)We are told ‘officials stress there is nothing new aboutBritain’s policy in the region’ and that although ‘Britainand the United States support the new order...so doesmost of the rest of the world.’ Britain’s support ofUgandan troops in the Congo is described as ‘Britain’being ‘especially forceful in denouncing genocide’ wherethe Foreign Office minister, Tony Lloyd is ‘trying tobring peace to the entire region’. Only 15 of theexplanations dealt with the political and economicimplications of the attack on Uganda, most of whichDFID – July 2000 49