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. However, tension remained between the two ethnic groups, with a civil war raging between the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front and the Hutu Government of Rwanda, right up until August 4th, 1993, with the signing of the Arusha Accords. Previous to this, all UN intervention attempts were futile in trying to bring together a government with both Tutsi and Hutu in power. On April 6th, 1994, the President of Rwanda's plane was shot down, killing him and other chief members of staff when it crashed. This was the catalyst required for the Hutu to carry out their “final solution”, a plan for genocide against the ethnic Tutsi group they had been planning for years. This resulted in Hutu people taking up arms, mainly machetes, to openly attack and slaughter all Tutsi, the families of Tutsi, and even moderate Hutu people who weren't attacking the Tutsi. Over the period of around 100 days, with the death toll ranging somewhere between 800,000 to 1,100,000 the Rwandan genocide has become infamous for the high numbers of dead in such a short amount of time, and for the inadequate response of the UN an... ... middle of paper ... ... involved led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan people. The UN's involvement in Rwanda is considered to be a prime example of the ineffectiveness of international law and the UN's inability to deal with conflicts. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.ppu.org.uk/ Used for finding historical background regarding the Genocide. http://www.rwanda-genocide.org/index.html Good research base to find access to statistics and other sources. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/rwanda/ Great website with plenty of information regarding all aspects of the issue. http://www.warriordoc.com/rwanda/ For information regarding Australia's involvement in Rwanda http://www.unitedhumanrights.com/ Information regarding United Nations involvement http://www.idrc.ca/cp/ev-106013-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html The media's response to Rwanda.
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...
Belgian influence had shaped the government and environment for which caused the genocide. There has been always two main tribes tribes since the settlement of the land in Rwanda, the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsis tended to have a lighter complexion and be taller, unlike the Hutus who had a darker complexion and are shorter. The population of Rwanda was about 10 percent Tutsi and 90 percent Hutu. Both tribes shared the same religion and culture. In the late nineteenth century, German colonists arrived in Rwanda. After the defeat of the Germans in World War I, it lost control of Rwanda, which then fell into Belgian control. When arriving in Rwanda, the Belgians placed Tutsis in Rwanda’s government because the Tutsi’s had more “Caucasian” features than the Hutus. The Belgians had help from the Tutsis to run the government. In return, the Tutsis received great advantages, including better education and exemptions
Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power than Hutus. The RPF decided to create a government consisting of a Hutu and a Tutsi holding the highest government positions. As the RPF took control of the government, “some two million Hutus – both civilians and some of those involved in the genocide – then fled across the border into DR Congo.
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.
In 1994 in Rwanda UN peacekeepers stood by while the ethnic group Hutu slaughtered 800 000 Tutsis. Canadian General Romeo Dallaire led the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda and was informed of risk of this massacre days before it happened. He then requested troops to immediately assist the UN peacekeeping troops. Most governments did not offer any help. This meant their peacekeeping force was too small to deal with this issue and stop the massacre (Simon).
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.
"Rwanda Genocide." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
The Rwandan genocide was one of the most monstrous crimes against humanity. Driven by political issues, hunger for power and ethnic differences. The genocide is now over but remnants remain, showing the pain and suffering that
The Rwanda Genocide was the mass slaughter of ethnic Tutsis by ethnic Hutus located in Rwanda, Africa.
As the news reported that Islamic State committed genocide against Christians and other minorities had suffered serious defeats from recent battles against the allied forces, the images of piles of dead bodies shown to the world in Rwanda about a couple decades ago emerge once again and triggers an interesting puzzle: why did the Rwandan Genocide happen in one of the smallest nations in the African Continent? The documentary film, Rwanda-Do Scars Ever Fade?, upon which this film analysis is based provides an answer to the puzzle.
Many could say that the official spark of the genocide was the attack on the plane carrying the Rwanda and Burundi Presidents. The Rwandan president being part of the Hutu tribe. To this day the world does not know who shot down the plane. There has always been a power struggle in Rwanda, and each tribe feels repressed by the other. From when the Hutu took the power from the Belgium in the 60 's. There was now a rebel army of Tutsi that wanted to overthrow the government. Which is why the UN sent troops in initially, to help create peace between the Rwandan government, and this rebel army. As well as improve the military intelligence to help calm the refugee crisis that was happening in Rwanda. It wasn 't till after the general of the peace troops, General Dallaire, found out about another group of refugees, the Hutu extremists. How they wanted to create an "Armageddon for the Tutsi" (Ghost of Rwanda). Now bring it back to the plane crash, it is speculated that the extremists had caused the explosion, to start the genocide. Even though the Rwandan President was Hutu, he had ele...
On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s personal plane, a gift from French president Francois Mitterand, was shot down as it returned to Rwanda, killing Habyarimana, Burundian president Cyprien Ntarymira, and members of their entourages. In this tense climate, the assassination of Habyarimana was an act akin to throwing a match on kerosene. The events surrounding the assassination itself remain obscure, with theories abounding as to what party was responsible. The most likely scenario suggests that Hutu militants arranged the President's death, which they required as a pretext for mass murder. These two president’s were on their way back from Tanzania. In August 1993, at Arusha in Tanzania, a new comprehensive accord was concluded between Habyarimana and the RPF. A coalition government was promised, featuring a Hutu Prime Minister, and a 21 member cabinet with five Tutsis. Habyarimana was about to try to implement a power sharing, Arusha Accord in his government with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). . To do so, however, would mean the effective end of his 20-year, one-party rule over Rwandan politics and society.
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...
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.
In 1994 many people were murdered . From April to July of 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority .About 85% of the population was Hutu, the rest were Tutsi along with a small number of Twa. The Tutsis were favored and felt superior to the Hutu and Twa. This caused much tension and jealousy between the two groups.The greater half of Rwanda, known as the Hutu, are a big part of the social issues that took place in 1994 as they overthrew the Tutsi power. The Hutu were located in both Rwanda and Burundi and while they wanted to gain power in both countries, the Hutu of Rwanda forcefully took over the Tutsi ruler. The Rwandan Hutu were in command until 1994 when they were invaded by the Tutsi. Tutsi are people who live in Rwanda. The Tutsi people had dominance over the Hutu in