Reflecting on our failure: The Rwandan Genocide

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s today marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide, the United States reflects on its failure to react to the tragic conflict. Over the course of 100 days in 1994, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi people suffered and were killed by machetes, grenades, clubs and rape; all brought on by the Hutus. Fueled by the tensions growing between the two ethnic groups over dominance and suffering economy, the Hutu people began to blame the Tutsis for all of their problems and the pressure finally boiled over into a full out massacre.
In 1918, 600 years of harmony between the Hutu and Tutsi people was ruined when the Belgians arrived. By assigning ID cards the two groups were now easier to tell apart with out studying physical features; the Tutsi had longer noses and were taller and thinner than the Hutu. The Belgians also set up a caste system and classified the Tutsis as the higher class. This identification led to two civil wars between the ethnic groups. The first occurred in 1959 when the Belgians sided with the Tutsi. To avoid Hutu inflicted turmoil, around 300,000 Tutsi fled the country, making them an even smaller minority. In 1962, Rwanda gained their independence and a government was set up where little agreement was made. To avoid strife in the government 100,000 Hutu were killed by the Tutsi. The second civil war occurred in 1990 after the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda. In result of the war, the UN issued the Arusha Accords in 1993, which input a Hutu-Tutsi government and a cease-fire. The cease-fire didn't last long, however.
On April 6,1994 the plane carrying president Juvenal Habyariamna was shot down. This plane crash not only caused death of all of those on the plane, but spurred the killing of around 1...

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...the world failed the people of Rwanda." Looking back, the UN now sees the genocide as one of its greatest failures. At the time they denied the fact that it was a genocide and avoided using the word 'Genocide' so they wouldn't be obligated to intervene. Many say that if the US could have gotten involved sooner it may have stopped the widespread terror the Hutu inflicted on the Tutsi people.

Works Cited

"Aftermath." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, n.d. Web. 7 May 2014.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Rwanda Genocide Timeline." About.com 20th Century History. About.com, n.d. Web. 07 May 2014.

"Rwanda: The Genocide and Its Aftermath." Rwanda: The Genocide and Its Aftermath. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2014

"Kofi Annan." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2014. 13 May 2014. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/k/kofiannan383923.htm

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