The Rwandan Genocide “It is our responsibility to empower the powerless while giving voice to the voiceless” -(Irwin Cotler “Six Lessons from the Rwandan Genocide”) When the Rwandan Hutu majority betrayed the Tutsi minority, a destructive mass murdering broke out where neighbor turned on neighbor and teachers killed their students; this was the start of a genocide. In this paper I will tell you about the horrors the people of Rwanda had to face while genocide destroyed their homes, and I will also tell you about the mental trauma they still face today. Hutu and Tutsi Origins When Rwanda was first settled, the people there raised cattle, the ones with the most cattle were considered “Tutsi” and everyone else was ‘Hutu”. Before the Europeans came and settled Rwandan, Hutu could easily change to Tutsi through marriage or by gaining cattle and Tutsi could change to Hutu by lost of cattle. It wasn’t until Belgium took control after Germany lost most of it’s colonies during World War One (and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles) that the names took on a racial role. They (the Belgians) required everyone to have an identity card that labeled them Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa- the small group of hunter-gathers who made up 1% of Rwanda’s population. The Belgians and German both thought the Tutsi minority had more European characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller build, and gave the Tutsi all the roles of responsibility. This angered the Hutu. Later, in 1959, when Paddock 2 face with a rebellion instigated by the Hutu, Belgium switched the Hutu and Tutsi roles, giving the Hutu all the power in the new government. This angered the Tutsi and the animosity between the two groups has grown since then. What Caused the... ... middle of paper ... ...d trauma healing groups have been working in Rwanda to help people with PTSD and other disorders but have only reach a small portion of the targeted group. Conclusion In the years after the genocide, we as people had questioned our past decisions and our countries decision to stay out of the genocide until it was too late. I too have question my countries decision. Why didn’t the US interfere with the genocide and be the hero my favorite historical anime, Hetalia, made it out to be? I believe not helping the innocent people being murdered in Rwanda was wrong of all the countries of the world but now it is too late to change the past and we can only look to the future. We can look to the future and hope and pray that another genocide never occurs but it’s useless. As long as there are people, there will be hate and as long as there is hate there will be murder.
The ethnic division within the Rwandan culture played an integral role during the genocide. In 1918, Belgium is given the authority to govern the territory of Rwanda-Urundi under the Treaty of Versailles. Under Belgian rule, the traditional Hutu-Tutsi relationship was morphed into a class system favouring the Tutsis over the Hutus. The Belgians eventually created a system of ethnic identity cards differentiating Hutus from Tutsis. This would become a central driver of the Rwandan genocide. In the movie there are many instances where Rwandan citizens are asked to show their identity cards. In most cases, those who were not Hutu would be punished. Another example of the geopolitical struggle between these two ethnicities was illustrated through the media. Media is used as a platform to convey a message that influences the thoughts and actions of individuals around the world. Since Hutus are the majority in Rwanda, they were able to exert their influence over the Tutsis through mechanisms such as the media. Throughout the country, local Hutu power radio stations were aired calling for the extermination of Tutsis. The station would often find ways to dehumanize the Tutsis. In most cases they would refer to Tutsis as ‘cockroaches’. In order to create an accurate portrayal of the genocide, the film used the exact recordings from the Hutu power radio.
In the Early 1960s, Belgium started to replace many Tutsi chiefs with Hutu, causing a unfair balance of chiefs inside Rwand...
Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power than Hutus. The RPF decided to create a government consisting of a Hutu and a Tutsi holding the highest government positions. As the RPF took control of the government, “some two million Hutus – both civilians and some of those involved in the genocide – then fled across the border into DR Congo.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
This was a devastating event and it's near impossible just to forget about what happened. If you were to walk into Rwanda right now it would look as so that nothing went on. There’s communities with Hutus and Tutsis in it and living peacefully, even helping each other. The country started to come back together and look identical to what it once had been. The people who were the leaders of this mass genocide now getting convicted or already have been put to justice in the Gacaca courts. In gacaca courts they tried almost everyone. The courts had different levels, meaning if you admitted your guilt and showed remorse for what you did, you would be let free if you prove you have done so can prove the if there was an alternative you would do it then you were let free. there were some countries that helped. Places like Tanzania let the immigrants that fled Rwanda live in there country. However that’s the only countries that did help. After the Holocaust the whole world said never again. Never again will i let a mass killing happen like Hitler and his Nazi soldiers did to the Jews. The question being how did this happen. The claim that the United States made was they simply did not know. America genuinely felt bad, in 1998 President Clinton gave a formal apology which would later be known as the “Clinton apology”. In the apology Clinton tell Rwanda that he knows the U.S and the world did not do enough. The world sat there while Rwanda was in crisis. Lots of countries claim “they didn't know” but I don’t know if I am settled on that answer. So let's say they did know why would they not help. Was it because we did not want to start a war from intervening? Or because it was not our problem? Whatever the reason, we did not help and we owe the biggest of apologies to the people who were affected. The Origins of Conflicts
Don’t look back at this time and once again feel shamed for not acting, feel proud that we stopped the annihilation of our brothers and sisters. Don’t allow another Rwanda. Its up to you. Act now and save lives.
Percival, Valerie, and Thomas Homer-Dixon. "Getting Rwanda wrong. (genocide in Rwanda)." Saturday Night. v110. n7 (Sept 1995): p47(3). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. K12 Trial Site. 12 Apr. 2010 .
The assassination of President Habyrimana sparked political unrest in Rwanda. While flying in a plane, an unknown killer shot the plane down. There were no survivors of the crash. On that day, violence broke out in Rwanda, for the Hutus believed that the Tutsis were the cause of the death of their president. Originally, the terms ‘Tutsi and Hutu’ was based on the amount of cattle a person owned. Tutsi were the people who owned cattle while the rest were Hutus. These social groups were not set in stone, for they can change through marriage or buying cattle. Afterwards, when the Germans took over Rwanda, the terms began to identify a racial group. Since the Tutsi looked more Europeans, having lighter skin and a taller look to them. Because of this, they were given a larger amount of responsibility, upsetting the Hutus. Then, World War I happened, giving Belgium control of Rwanda. The country forced everyone to have an identity card, explaining if someone is Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa (hunters) (Rosenberg 4). Therefore, t...
As the news reported that Islamic State committed genocide against Christians and other minorities had suffered serious defeats from recent battles against the allied forces, the images of piles of dead bodies shown to the world in Rwanda about a couple decades ago emerge once again and triggers an interesting puzzle: why did the Rwandan Genocide happen in one of the smallest nations in the African Continent? The documentary film, Rwanda-Do Scars Ever Fade?, upon which this film analysis is based provides an answer to the puzzle.
"Rwanda Genocide 20 Years On: 'We Live with Those Who Killed Our Families. We Are Told They're Sorry, but Are They?'" The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
Genocide is a reality that no one can ever conquer or vanish if they are working alone or do not look at the consequences upon taking choices of action. We as Americans feel it is our duty to only take a course of action if we know and are fully aware of the actions being made against the people, or if we are being affected directly. If it does not affect us and we do not know about it then obviously we cannot do anything about it.
The Belgians initially favored the Tutsis due to their obstructed views of race. According to the Belgians, “ The Tutsi were supposedly a Hamitic” (Encyclopedia), which indicates that Tutsi were “more Caucasian” therefore “more European”. These findings were concluded by skull measuring, and nose analysis (Gourevitch 55). As time passed, the Belgians began to emphasize the division of the two tribes.“From 1933 everyone in Ruanda-Urundi is issued with a racial identity card, defining them as Hutu (85%) or Tutsi (14%)” (HISTORY). As observed in the previous quotation, it is noteworthy that the aristocratic class (the Tutsi) were a quite large minority. This did evidently did not factor into the Belgians decision to make the Tutsi the ruling class. It also displays that race science trumps all other metrics in the imperialist eyes. The Belgians also possessed unrelenting political power within Rwanda as they were able to dispose of “a Mwami they considered overly independent and installed a new one, Mutara Rudahigwa, who had been carefully selected for his compliance”( Gourevitch
The Rwandan genocide occurred due to the extreme divide between two main groups that were prevalent in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi. When Rwanda was first settled, the term Tutsi was used to describe those people who owned the most livestock. After the Germans lost control over their colonies after World War I, the Belgians took over and the terms Hutu and Tutsi took on a racial role (Desforges). It soon became mandatory to have an identification card that specified whether or not an individual was a Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa (a minority group in Rwanda). The Tutsi soon gained power through the grant of leadership positions by the Belgians. Later on when Rwanda was tying to gain indepe...
The three ethnic groups found within Rwanda come from a combination of a vast amount of immigration and several economic and social differences. Traditionally it is known that the Twa groups were the original inhabitants; the Hutu migrated from the west, and the Tutsi followed much later from the northeast. Each group naturally took on the language and most cultural practices found in Rwanda, although they implemented some of their own practices as well. The differentiation amongst the groups occurred only during the colonial period and stemmed mainly from European ideas about race and identity than from historic cultural patterns. Colonial administrators attempted to organize power in Rwanda along ethnic lines, and began instituting policies that made the Hutu pariahs and favored the Tuts...
...ause the colonial masters believed that they resembled them. It was unethical for the Belgians to interfere with the peaceful coexistence that the two communities had enjoyed in the past. As a result, the Hutus acquired negative misconceptions about the Tutsis’ origin, what they stood for, and what they had done for them in the past. The Hutus expertly planned and organized the Rwandan genocide as a result of such historical distortions created by their country’s colonial masters.