The Rwanda Genocide

Genocide in Rwanda The definition of genocide as given in the Webster's College Dictionary is "The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. " This definition depicts the situation in 1994 of Rwanda, a small, poor, central African country. The Rwandan genocide was the systematic extermination of over eight hundred thousand Tutsi, an ethnic group in Rwanda, by the Hutu, another ethnic group in Rwanda.

The Rwandan Genocide was a time of ruthless slaughter in the African state of Rwanda. This time of murder would drastically symbolize the long standing racial discrimination against the Hutu. The years of segregation of the Hutu would lead to a dramatic, devastating, and deadly revolt carried out by the Hutu. The Rwandan Genocide occurred during the year of 1994 caused by years of inequality against the Hutu from the Tutsi.

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.

Throughout history the region of Africa, presently known as Rwanda has seen a major rivalry and political instability. From the early 14th century to the 20th century the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s were foraged into the perfect ingredients for a ticking time bomb. The political structures set up along the way by the earliest settlers and the German and Belgian colonists ultimately lead to a divide and hatred between the two groups. This hatred built up and eventually caused a massive genocide. This genocide could have been prevented if the political structures didn’t bring on favoritism and political divide.

In order to understand the Rwandan genocide’s cause, it is important to have an understanding of the history of ethnic tension between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. The Rwandan Kingdom, which lasted from the 11th to 20th century, was traditionally led by a Tutsi king, or mwami. While the Hutus had some power, a majority of them were poor peasants. The end of the kingdom came when Belgium colonized Rwanda and identified the separate tribes with identity cards. The Tutsis were favored by the Belgians becaus...

“Beginning on April 6, 1994, Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda. As the brutal killings continued, the world stood idly by and just watched the slaughter. Lasting 100 days, the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead” (Rosenberg 1). When Rwanda’s President, Habyrimana, was killed in a plane crash, turmoil and massacres began. A series of events escalated violence until two ethic groups were engaged in bloody battle: The Hutus and the Tutsis. Throughout the Rwandan Genocide, the Tutsis were targeted because the death of President Habyrimana and problems in social and economic life was blamed in them, thus resulting in the 100-day genocide.

“Governments are mandated by international law to protect people from genocide,” said human rights activist, Bianca Jagger, referring to the law that the United Nations failed to uphold during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The United Nations refused to send aid to the citizens of Rwanda claiming that the atrocities were a civil war. However, this was clearly not a civil war, because only one ethnic group was armed and prepared to exterminate the other ethnic group. The Tutsi ethnic group was defined as being superior to the Hutu ethnic group by early colonists because they possessed more caucasian like features. Over time, the Hutu grew hateful of the Tutsi, because they controlled more governmental power, had prefered access to education, and received higher social status. Out of jealousy and a sense of injustice, the Hutu people became the perpetrators in the Rwandan genocide. A genocide is the intent to destroy a group by killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to the group, and transferring children of the group to another group (Stanton). The United Nations needs to recognize the killing and near extermination of the Tutsi people as a genocide, in order to prevent future genocides from being mishandled the same way. Unsupported by the United Nations, it took the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a group of escaped Tutsis, 100 days to stop the genocide. If the U.N. had acted as soon as the first signs of the genocide appeared they could have prevented a tragic loss of lives. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 should be classified as a genocide by the United Nations because the actions of the perpetrators reflect the stages of polarization and extermination in Stanton’s theory of the eight stages of genocide.

Murder is never a good way to solve a problem, especially when a dictator murders people for no reason or for just a rumor or idea. That’s exactly what happened with the Rwandan Genocide. The Hutus slaughtered the Tutsi tribe of East Africa because the Tutsis had most of the leadership roles when the Europeans took control over Rwanda (Rosenburg). And of course, the Hutus didn’t like that at all, so they started to mass slaughter the Tutsi tribe of Rwanda. The Tutsis were just humble cattle herders who were chosen at random to take leadership roles instead of the Hutus (Rosenburg). The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in our world history. Throughout the course of 100 days from April 6 to July 16 1994, approximately 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and some moderate Hutus were massacred in the Rwandan genocide (United Human Rights Council).

There had always been tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis but, certain events increased tensions between the two groups. Rules, appearances, and opportunities were never the same for any of the groups therefore hate begin to build upon the two groups. This tension would continue for years until the genocide in 1994.

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...