WASHINGTON�Even as African issues gain more and more attention from government officials, Congressional Black Caucus members and non-governmental organizations (NGO) in this country, there is virtually one, lone voice�that of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.)�crying out for solutions to the problems in poverty-stricken, AIDS-afflicted eastern and central Africa.

When extremist Hutu militia-members and army units in Rwanda murdered as many as 1 million Rwandan Tutsis in 1994, United Nations troops not only failed to prevent the genocide, but were also directly involved in the murder of prominent Rwandan citizens, according members of two families who approached Rep. McKinney to help them tell their stories of  loved ones lost in the carnage.

Rep. McKinney has sounded the alarm regarding those atrocities for more than a year.

When Atlanta Hawks basketball star Dikembe Mutumbo wanted to build a state-of-the-art hospital in his native Democratic Republic of Congo�formerly Zaire, which saw a bloody revolution led by President Laurent Kabila topple longtime strong-man Mobuto Sese Seko in 1997�Mr. Mutumbo approached Rep. McKinney, who accompanied him to his homeland last August to distribute donated pharmaceuticals, to give polio shots to children, and to lay the groundwork for the 300-bed hospital.

Rep. McKinney was the first U.S. government official to visit the Congo and meet with President Kabila. Hers remains an almost solitary voice of authority on the tragic 100-days of slaughter in 1994, in which 800,000 to 1 million Rwandans were murdered.

"In the five years since the Rwandan genocide, the evidence has slowly mounted before us of the UN�s callous indifference, cowardice and complete abject failure" in its handling of the tragedy, Rep. McKinney said, concerning fresh evidence linking UN troops with actual complicity in several murders, which her office uncovered after a year-long investigation.

"The UN has an appalling record of betraying its charter and breaching the laws of nations," Rep. McKinney continued. "By its own admission the United Nations concedes that in Rwanda and in Srebrenica (Serbia), it turned its back on mass murder and allowed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children to perish.

The House International Relations Committee member�s efforts to "champion the cause" for as much accountability for the "ethnic cleansing" in Rwanda as there was for the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Serbia is "pretty much a holy crusade," a source in her congressional office admits. "It�s not a very popular issue and there hasn�t been much interest in it," the source added.

Independent observers agree. "In my own view she has zeroed in" on the issues surrounding Rwanda, and the Congo all by herself, Melvin Foote, president of the Constituency for Africa, told The Final Call.

"She�s definitely focusing some attention on (the region) now. Attention is important. I only wish there were other (Congressional Black) Caucus members involved. We need a multi-pronged dialogue on (the region), and I�m not hearing it yet."

"Today, after more than five years, I get a chance to speak to the UN about their failures to protect my family, through the independent inquiry headed by Ingvar Carlsson," Louise Mushikiwabo told reporters Dec. 8�Ms. McKinney at her side�prior to testifying later that day before the "Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the UN during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda (The Carlsson Inquiry)."

The UN high command ignored numerous warnings from the UN field commander in Rwanda of a coming genocide, Rep. McKinney charges. They also "construct(ed) reasons not to prevent genocide," "obfuscate(d) the fact of genocide," and "cover(ed) up the aftermath of genocide," in bloody fighting that began April 7, 1994, the day after a plane was shot down carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana (a moderate Hutu who headed a transition government), along with President Cyprien Ntaryamira of neighboring Burundi, and eight others.

On Feb. 17, 1994, the UN Force Commander in Rwanda received a secret intelligence report detailing a plot by known extremists who were planning to murder Joseph Kavaruganda, the chief justice, and Landoald Ndasingwa, the minister of labor and social affairs, according to a document released by Rep. McKinney from the "UNAMIR Military Division" which was sent to the world body�s secretary general.

The UN took no action on the information, and both men were murdered the morning of April 7 by presidential guard troops. In the case of Mr. Ndasingwa, his mother Bibiane; his wife Helen; and two children, Malaika and Patrick also perished with him.

What is startling, according to Ms. McKinney, ranking member of the House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, is that armed UN troops on guard at the Ndasingwa home to protect them, deserted their posts and abandoned the family to the killers.

"Worse still, armed UN troops at the Kavaruganda home not only failed to protect the family, they actually physically surrendered Judge Kavaruganda to the presidential guard who promptly murdered him," she said.

"My family (and) the Kavaruganda family, are not unique cases in Rwanda. What we lived is what many Rwandan families lived. (But) we are fortunate because we can sit here today, through the support of our friends and families, with the help of Congresswoman McKinney, (we can) start doing what we think is right and appropriate," Ms. Mushikiwabo, sister of the slain Labor Minister.

Tharcisse Ntamakemwa was the gardener at the Hotel Chez Lando in 1994, where Mr. Ndasingwa was staying in Kigali, the capital city. After being forced to watch the murder of the government official and his family, Mr. Ntamakemwa was beaten within an inch of his life, after the gun that was used to kill Mr. Ndasingwa failed to fire twice when pointed at his head.

Rep. McKinney wants full disclosure of the UN role in the Rwandan genocide and financial compensation for the two families who testified at the UN inquiry. She has also conceded to a request from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to withhold her final judgment until the UN completes its internal review.