Independence Day in Africa a time to take stock of America

No member states of the United Nations came to Rwanda's aid in any significant way during those 100 days of hell. The universality of our nation's values was tested, and we, as a people, failed to apply its principles beyond the borders of our nation. We failed not only the Rwandan people but also ourselves, and we failed America.

The United States and Rwanda will forever share the date of July 4, a date of joy but also a date for reflection. It is a date that reminds us of the necessity of ensuring a government that protects freedom and equality so as to guarantee the sanctity of human life and the possibility of justice and peace.

Rwanda is a tiny landlocked country in the heart of Africa. For me, it is far from home. But I know that as I celebrate the Fourth of July in Kigali, I will feel gratitude for America and identification with America's ideals with a special fervor. I will celebrate the holiday as I always do, with exuberance and hearty appreciation for the gifts that come with being American.

Although not all people have the privilege of living in America, the Statue of Liberty proclaims the same welcome and the same ideal to everyone, everywhere. To those who cannot reach our shores physically, we owe our promise that our shores will reach them: by dedicating ourselves to apply the transcendental claims and ethical convictions of our Declaration of Independence, its promise of freedom, democracy and equality - defending these convictions wherever and whenever they are threatened.

Nothing undermines America more than the violations of these principles. And nothing vindicates the American ideal and celebrates America more than their realization.

Noam Schimmel, a volunteer with the Survivors Fund in Rwanda and Plan Rwanda, is a former intern in the prosecutor's office of the U.N. International

Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. His e-mail is

[e-mail].