Rwandan genocide survivors denied AIDS treatment

On 20 April the London based Survivors' Fund (SURF) is to launch a campaign for free antiretroviral treatment for survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Ten years after the genocide, in which 800 000 people were murdered, thousands of survivors are dying of AIDS. The Rwandan Widows' Association says that an estimated 70% of its 25 000 members are HIV positive, mainly because they were gang-raped during the massacres. “We have women who were raped the whole three months of the genocide,” said Esther Mujawayo, a survivor and founder member of the Widows' Association. In April 1994, extremists from Rwanda's Hutu majority …