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Rwandan genocide research paper
What were 2 causes of the the rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
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In today’s world, it is of the utmost importance to learn from mistakes of the past. Certain events, especially tragedies that could have been avoided, hold within them the lessons and wisdom that should be used to prevent similar disasters. The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in over 800, 000 deaths of the Tutsi people, at the hands of the Hutu; the genocide, and the international response to it, is a lesson about the humanitarian responsibilities, successes, and shortcomings of the United Nations. The events leading up to the Rwandan genocide began decades earlier. There has been a long history of “ethnic” tensions, though it is really a matter of social class. The classification began with the German and Belgian colonizers in the early 1900’s. These colonizers created the social classes of “Hutu” and “Tutsi”, and distributed identification cards with such information (Johnson). The genocide was set off when the president’s plane was shot down (Genocide in Rwanda). Though it was never determined who shot the plane down, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, who were Tutsi rebels, have been blamed (The Rwandan Genocide). Immediately following the assassination, violence erupted in the capital city, Kigali. (Genocide in Rwanda) During the 100-day period after April 6, 1994, between 800, 000 and one million Tutsi people were slaughtered. (Genocide in the 20th Century: Rwanda 1994) On April 7, roadblocks began to appear and soldiers began scouring the country for any person whose identification card read “Tutsi”. Entire families were murdered, often by their own neighbors and friends, and occasionally by relatives through marriage. Eleven year-old Hamis Kamuhanda recounted his experience in an interview with a reporter from the British Broadc... ... middle of paper ... ...erience necessary to strive to prevent the massive loss of life seen in Rwanda. Works Cited "Genocide in Rwanda." United Human Rights Council. N.p. N.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012 "Genocide in the 20th Century: Rwanda 1994." The History Place. N.p. N.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 Johnson, Bridget. "Why is there conflict between Tutsis and Hutus?" About.com World News. N.p. N.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012 Lauria, Joe. "U.S. says it failed to stop Rwanda Genocide." The Wall Street Journal 8 Apr. 2009. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 9 Nov. 2012 "Rwanda 1994." Ppu.org.uk. Peace Pledge Union. N.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012 "Rwanda Genocide Eyewitness." HistoryWiz. N.p. N.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012 "The Rwandan Genocide." History.com. N.p. N.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012 "Thematic Areas: Protection." OCHA. N.d. 9 Nov. 2012 Welsh, Paul. "Darfur: A Repeat of Rwanda?" BBC News. Web. 23 Aug. 2004. BBC. 25 Oct. 2012
It is impossible to even imagine the scale of hate, destruction, and massacre that occurred in Rwanda during those 100 days. Linda Melvern, on the International Development Research Centere website, describes in an article the Gikondo Massacre, one of the bloodiest mass-killings during the genocide. On the third day of the turmoil, about 500 Tutsi, many of them children, gathered at a church in the middle of Kigali, having stepped over the bodies of their neighbors to get there. They pleaded the clergy for protection. The priest did his best, but presidential guard soldiers arrived and accused the church of harboring evil. He then left, telling soldiers not to waste bullets; the Interahamwe, he said, would arrive with...
The genocide began because on April 6th 1994 a plane that was carrying President Habyarimana a Hutu native was hit and struck down violence between the two tribes began almost instantly. The Hutu people planned to kill all Tutsis. The struggle in this genocide was that the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes were so close. If one tribe tried to hurt the other tribe they may end up hurting themselves. This is a unique and complicated issue because in other genocides such as the Holocaust the groups of people that were fighting were very far apart usually. In the Rwandan Genocide however the two rivals were very close together. According to, (unitedhumanrights), “American officials h...
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.
One of the major causes of the Rwandan Genocide was tensions brought about by the Belgian rule from 1922 to 1962(Appendix A). Before World War I, Rwanda was a German territory. During the German colonial rule Tutsis were deemed as natural leaders due to their more European features, including slimmer bodies and lighter skin (Baker). Then after the World War I and the German defeat, Rwanda went under Belgian rule.
The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was not only one of the most remarkable tragedies in Rwanda, but is often recalled as one of the most gruesome massacres in all of history. The Rwandan Genocide was an attack on the Tutsi minority from the Hutu majority, the two major ethnic groups of Rwanda. According to the Survivors Fund (SURF), an estimated eight hundred thousand to one million Tutsis, along with some moderate Hutus, were slaughtered over the course of the one hundred day genocide ("Statistics"). The Huffington Post states, "If we follow the U.N. 's estimate, that means that nearly six men, women and children were murdered every minute of every hour of every day," ("5 Staggering Statistics"). Nevertheless, little assistance was provided for the Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide. The lack of empathy from other nations during the massacre was remarkable. The entire world watched the genocide play out, yet almost all of the observers turned a blind eye and waited for the United Nations to intervene. Although the Tutsis longed for a savior, the U.N. did not intervene until it was far too late.
April 7th 1994 marks the start of on of the worst things ever to happen to human beings, The Rwandan Genocide. It is known that over 800’000 Rwandans were massacred, 800’000 is 20% of the countries population, over 70% of the tutsis were brutally murdered within the 100 day genocide of Rwanda. Both Hutus and tutsis were killed and murdered at the hands of their neighbours machetes. During this compare and contrast essay I will discuss the long and short term causes of both the Rwandan and Congolese Conflicts. I will also discuss how the natives of these two countries were forced to leave their homes and migrate in seek of aid. The genocide was between April 7th and July 15th 1994, therefore it is known as the 100 day war. The genocide or in context the Rwandan Civil War was fought between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Ongoing conflicts began in 1990 between the hutu-led government and the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front). The RPF was created in 1987 by the Tutsi refugee diaspora in Uganda. The first Tutsi refugees fled to Uganda to escape ethnic purges in the beginning of 1959.
When the Belgian colonizers entered Rwanda in 1924, they created an ethnic classification between the Hutu and the Tutsi, two tribes who used to live together as one. After independence in 1962, there was a constant power struggle between the two tribes. Former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Chrétien described the situation as “tribalism without tribes.” (Destexhe, 1995) There were many signs leading towards genocide, yet the nations in power chose to ignore them. From April 6, 1994 until mid-July, a time spanning approximately of 100 days, 800,000 people were murdered when the Hutu attacked the Tutsi. No foreign aid came to the rescue until it was too late. Ten years after the genocide the United Nations was still involved in Rwanda, cleaning up the mess that was left behind because of man’s sinful nature. Could the Rwandan Genocide have been prevented, or is it simply a fact of life? Even though the international community is monitoring every country and race, such an event as the Rwandan Genocide could occur again because the European colonizers introduced ethnic classification where it did not exist and the nations in power chose to ignore the blatant signs of genocide.
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...
"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.
Jones, Adam. "Gendercide Watch: Rwanda." Gendercide Watch: Rwanda. Gendercide Watch, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
For years, Rwanda has been a hotbed of racial tension. The majority of the Rwandan population is made up of Hutu's, with Tutsi's making up the rest of it. Ever since European colonial powers entered the country and favoured the Tutsi ethnic group over the Hutu by putting Tutsi people in all important positions in society, there has been a decisive political divide between the two groups. This favouring of the Tutsi over the Hutu, and the Hutu subjugation as an ethnic lower class resulted in the civil war and revolution of 1959, where the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi dominated government, and resulted in Rwanda gaining their independence in 1962.
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”.
Between the months of April and July in 1994 approximately one million people were killed in Rwanda. There are three ethnic groups in Rwanda, Hutu, Tutsi, and Aboriginal Twa. The genocide occurred between two different groups, the Hutu and Tutsi people. The Hutu composed close to 85% of the population while the minority Tutsi people make up approximately 14% with the Twa people composing the remaining 1%. The Republic of Rwanda like most African nations has a history of colonization from different European countries with different and conflicting ideas of governance and how a colony should be developed and used. It can be argued that many of the problems occurring in all African nations stem from previous colonization and subsequent exploitation. “ A Brief history” UN.org n.p. n.d. Web. 16 April 2014.
Genocide is the destruction of a cultural, racial or political group through the use of “..one-sided mass killings..(Hintjens 267).” The April of 1994, “Rwandan subjects and citizens were the main actors in the genocide (Hintjens 244).” The establishment of colonial rule by the Europeans impacted the conflict in Rwanda due to the creation of ethnic boundaries between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Hierarchies were established based upon European racial theories. Throughout the colonization and independence of Rwanda, the tension generated by European intervention only magnified thus leading to quotas and ineffective regulations. Aside from the assassination of the Rwandan President Habyarimana, propaganda through the news and media openly broadcasted the planned genocide as an open secret (Hintjens 246).
Web. The Web. The Web. 9 Mar. 2011. The. http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/center/rwanda/lesson.cfm>. Middleton, John.