Modern Genocide in Africa

Since Burundi’s independence in 1962, there have been two instances of genocide: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated government, and the 1993 mass killings of the Tutsis by the Hutu populace. Both of these events in Burundi received different levels of attention by the international community and the western media due to a lack of foreign governmental interest, political distraction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge the severity of these atrocities in Burundi. Interestingly, events of genocide occurring at times without these distractions received more foreign attention than those ignored due to these factors. Because of this, much of the western world is unaware of the Burundian genocide and events similar to it.

The state-sponsored massacres of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army in 1972 was one of the most significant post-Holocaust genocides and as such received appropriate levels of international attention due to a lack of political distractions within western nations. The genocide broke out as a Hutu-lead rebellion in which Hutu insurgents massacred Tutsis and resisting Hutus in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac. As many as 1200 people killed in this initial incident, the Tutsi-dominated government responded by declaring martial law and systematically proceeded to slaughter Hutus (Totten 325). After hundreds of thousands of Hutus had been massacred by the Burundian government, the neighboring nation of Zaire aided the Hutus in a counteroffensive attack on the Tutsi-controlled army. Having succeeded in their effort, the genocide was quickly brought to international attention within a few days. The United Nations invested $25,000 from the World Disaster Relief Account’s fund...

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...istraction received more foreign attention than those ignored due to the aforementioned factors. Due to this, much of the western world is unaware of the atrocities of the Burundian genocides in 1972 and 1993.

Works Cited

“Defense Intelligence Agency Report, ‘Soviet Military and Other Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa’” May, 1984, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive National Security Archive, SA01629. Included in “Southern Africa in the Cold War, Post-1974,” edited by Sue Onslow and Anna-Mart Van Wyk.

Gedda, George. "Burundi Genocide Ignored." Associated Press [Washington] 3 8 1996, n. page. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. .

“Rwandan Crisis.” World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Totten, Samuel. Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. 2004. 325. Print.