The Rwandan Genocide: The UN Must Act Now To Prevent Future Genocides

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The Rwandan genocide took place in 1994 and in the span of 100 days about 800,000 Tutsis and “Tutsi sympathizers” were slaughtered by Hutu militia and Hutu civilians. (History of Rwanda, 2010) The conflict in Rwanda started a very long time ago, and there were many aspects of human geography and some physical geography patterns which affected the issue. The genocide did not only affect Rwanda, but it had some affects on many of its surrounding countries as well as the rest of the world. The results of the genocide are still clearly visible now, sixteen years later. The Rwandan genocide was a meticulously planned attempt by the Hutus to wipe the Tutsis off the earth, and was effective because of the exclusive planning and because of the failure of the UN`s Security Counsel to do anything, there are steps which must be taken to ensure that this will never happen again.

Defining the Issue

Genocide is defined by the United Nations Convention as “acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” (Spalding, pg. 2) This is exactly what happened in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis. The Hutus made up about 90% of the Rwandan population, and are generally darker and stockier than the Tutsis. The Tutsis made up about 10% and were more slender, and their skin was a little lighter. Although there were some minor differences in their appearances, “the Hutu and the Tutsi cannot properly be defined as two ethnic groups because they spoke the same language, respected the same traditions and taboos.” (Destexhe, 1995) This basically means they lived together, in the same way, and were still quite a bit the same. Another small difference between the two People is that the Tutsis were...

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"United Nations." Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2008. Vol. 2. 2008 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 2224-2234. Global Issues In Context. Gale. K12 Trial Site. 26 Apr. 2010

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