Final Paper:
Genocide
in Rwanda
Among all the crimes committed against the humanity
that the world has known, the genocide in Rwanda is one of the most sadly
popular in Africa and the globe. During the 20th century, the genocide in
Rwanda is considered the most shocking and horrible atrocities in the in the
history of the human kind. This genocide resulted to the death of approximately
800000 Rwandese or as 20% of the total population of the country in just one
hundred days.
Rwanda is a landlocked country which is located in the east-central Africa bordered to the north by Uganda, to the east by Tanzania, to the south by Burundi, and to the south east by Republic democratic of Congo. The three major ethnic groups are Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. These three ethnics groups are actually similar. They speak the same language and share the same traditions. What is genocide and when do we talk about genocide? Genocide is the attempting of extermination of a cultural group or racial group in a country or certain region. Why did this genocide happen? Could it be avoided? What are the consequences of this genocide? These are the questions that I am intending to answer in my paper. My focus will be on two major reasons why this genocide happens.
First of all, the major reason to the genocide in Rwanda is due to some historical events that occurred in this country. Ethnic tension is nothing new in Rwanda. Before the colonial time, there have always been disagreements between the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi. However, these disagreements were not serious as it is presently. The Tutsi were the one at the head of the monarchy and Hutus were from wealthy group servant and they were working for the Tutsi. After the conference of Berlin in 1884, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire which is the actual republic democratic of Congo were first handed to Germany. After the end of World War I in 1919, Germany lost his colonies which were put under Belgium protectorate. Under the Belgium colonial time, the ethnic tension in Rwanda became more serious. When the Belgians came in Rwanda, they add new features on the two ethnics groups based on their physical appearance. They created this features in order to make difference between Hutu and Tutsi. Hutu were defined as being medium height and dark skin with flat nose whereas Tutsi were defined as tall, thin, and light skin with a sharp nose. Belgians politics had for purpose to create division between Hutu and Tutsi. Furthermore, they wanted to put an end to the harmony in which Tutsi and Hutu were living before their arrival. The aspiration of the Belgians was to push their colonies ethnical groups believe that they were different and also to put confusion between them. The Belgians lifted up the awareness of superior race among Hutu and Tutsi as a mechanism to divide and rule Rwanda.
According to Forges Alison: “Europeans thought that the Tutsi looked more like themselves than did other Rwandans, they found it reasonable to suppose them closer to Europeans in the evolutionary hierarchy and hence closer to them in ability. Believing the Tutsi to be more capable, they found it logical for the Tutsi to rule Hutu and Twa just as it was reasonable for Europeans to rule Africans” (Forges p.108-130). Tutsi welcomed this idea which coincided with their beliefs. The Belgians supported the Tutsi and gave them more responsibility. Collecting taxes and administers justice were Tutsi tasks. Meanwhile, Hutu were excluded from power and they were oppressed by Tutsi and Belgian. However in 1950, Tutsi managed to break the colonial rule. Belgian started to favor Hutu because they thought that it would be easier to control them and they replaced Tutsi chiefs with Hutu. The Belgians thought that Hutu would not seek their independency once they will be in power. Furthermore, Belgians allowed the Hutu elite to engineer a coup, and independence was granted to Rwanda on July 1, 1962. Following the independency 10 000 to 100000 Tutsi were killed and some of them fled the country to the neighboring countries. Since that time, the ethnic tensions became worst than it had been before the colonial time. These historical events are among the reasons why the genocide in Rwanda occurred.
Finally, the last reasons why the genocide in Rwanda occurred are the political events or situation. Since the independency of Rwanda in 1962, the political situation became worst because Hutu in power started to oppress Tutsi. Tutsi had a limited access to education and government employment. In 1973, a militia coup d’état put Juvenal Habyarimana at the head of the country by promising to restore order and national unity. During his presidency, Juvenal Habyarimana tried to establish many reforms such as modernizing the civil service, making clean water available for everyone, raising the per capita income and seeing an inflow of money from Western donors. Under Habyarimana presidency, Tutsi had a tolerable life if they were staying away from politic, government and military. Rwanda became a dictatorial government. In 1978, Habyarimana introduced a new constitution making the MRND as the only political party. Although, he made the life of Tutsi a little bit easier, Tutsi wanted to be treated equally to Hutu and get the same opportunity of job as Hutu. Consequently, in 1979 the Tutsi created the RPF (Rwandese patriotic front) led by Paul Kagame which wanted to establish genuine democracy and guarantee of participation in the national affairs. Hutu were opposed to the RPF‘s claims because they did not want to share the power with Tutsi. In 1990, The RPF invaded Rwanda from the Uganda causing a new civil war. In order to find a remedy for this crisis, Juvenal Habyarimana asked for help from UN. Habyarimana had to negotiate with the Tutsi, because of the pressure from the international community, in order to find a settlement). While Habyarimana was trying to solve this crisis, some member of his government did not approve the path he was taking. During that time, act of violence against Tutsi increased because of the death of the Burundian president. He had been killed by the Tutsi. In 1993, Habyarimana signed with the RPF “The Arusha accord” which was never put into practice. Finally, the shooting down of the plane of Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994 was the Kick off of the genocide in Rwanda. The death of the Rwandan president was used as an excuse to unleash the ethnic violence in Rwanda.
The genocide in Rwanda resulted to the killing of approximately 8000000 Tutsi including men, women and children in just one hundred days. It is definitely true that this act of barbarism that has been committed at that time have had some crucial and harmful consequences on Rwanda. Today the population is still suffering from these unforgettable and eternal wounds. The consequences of this war are poverty, destruction of infrastructure, problems orphans meet, increasing number of AIDS victims, mental problems and Trauma. People who suffered the most from this genocide are women and children because of the way they were treated. During this conflict, sexual violence was committed by Hutu towards Tutsi women and young girls in order to humiliate them. Furthermore, children who saw and experienced the lost of their parent have trauma problem and they have problems living normal life (http://effectsofthegenocide.blogspot.com/, 2007). According to UNICEF “thousands of children were victims of brutality and rape, and thousands of children – some as young as seven – were forced into military operations and forced to commit violent acts against their will. After the genocide in 1994, Rwanda developed a new politics based on reconciliation and forgiveness in order to rebuild his country” (www.unicef.org). They also created a tribunal called “Gacca court” which has for purpose to prosecute people who committed the genocide. The international community is actually helping in to rebuild Rwanda by providing financial aids each year.
Rwanda is a landlocked country which is located in the east-central Africa bordered to the north by Uganda, to the east by Tanzania, to the south by Burundi, and to the south east by Republic democratic of Congo. The three major ethnic groups are Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. These three ethnics groups are actually similar. They speak the same language and share the same traditions. What is genocide and when do we talk about genocide? Genocide is the attempting of extermination of a cultural group or racial group in a country or certain region. Why did this genocide happen? Could it be avoided? What are the consequences of this genocide? These are the questions that I am intending to answer in my paper. My focus will be on two major reasons why this genocide happens.
First of all, the major reason to the genocide in Rwanda is due to some historical events that occurred in this country. Ethnic tension is nothing new in Rwanda. Before the colonial time, there have always been disagreements between the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi. However, these disagreements were not serious as it is presently. The Tutsi were the one at the head of the monarchy and Hutus were from wealthy group servant and they were working for the Tutsi. After the conference of Berlin in 1884, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire which is the actual republic democratic of Congo were first handed to Germany. After the end of World War I in 1919, Germany lost his colonies which were put under Belgium protectorate. Under the Belgium colonial time, the ethnic tension in Rwanda became more serious. When the Belgians came in Rwanda, they add new features on the two ethnics groups based on their physical appearance. They created this features in order to make difference between Hutu and Tutsi. Hutu were defined as being medium height and dark skin with flat nose whereas Tutsi were defined as tall, thin, and light skin with a sharp nose. Belgians politics had for purpose to create division between Hutu and Tutsi. Furthermore, they wanted to put an end to the harmony in which Tutsi and Hutu were living before their arrival. The aspiration of the Belgians was to push their colonies ethnical groups believe that they were different and also to put confusion between them. The Belgians lifted up the awareness of superior race among Hutu and Tutsi as a mechanism to divide and rule Rwanda.
According to Forges Alison: “Europeans thought that the Tutsi looked more like themselves than did other Rwandans, they found it reasonable to suppose them closer to Europeans in the evolutionary hierarchy and hence closer to them in ability. Believing the Tutsi to be more capable, they found it logical for the Tutsi to rule Hutu and Twa just as it was reasonable for Europeans to rule Africans” (Forges p.108-130). Tutsi welcomed this idea which coincided with their beliefs. The Belgians supported the Tutsi and gave them more responsibility. Collecting taxes and administers justice were Tutsi tasks. Meanwhile, Hutu were excluded from power and they were oppressed by Tutsi and Belgian. However in 1950, Tutsi managed to break the colonial rule. Belgian started to favor Hutu because they thought that it would be easier to control them and they replaced Tutsi chiefs with Hutu. The Belgians thought that Hutu would not seek their independency once they will be in power. Furthermore, Belgians allowed the Hutu elite to engineer a coup, and independence was granted to Rwanda on July 1, 1962. Following the independency 10 000 to 100000 Tutsi were killed and some of them fled the country to the neighboring countries. Since that time, the ethnic tensions became worst than it had been before the colonial time. These historical events are among the reasons why the genocide in Rwanda occurred.
Finally, the last reasons why the genocide in Rwanda occurred are the political events or situation. Since the independency of Rwanda in 1962, the political situation became worst because Hutu in power started to oppress Tutsi. Tutsi had a limited access to education and government employment. In 1973, a militia coup d’état put Juvenal Habyarimana at the head of the country by promising to restore order and national unity. During his presidency, Juvenal Habyarimana tried to establish many reforms such as modernizing the civil service, making clean water available for everyone, raising the per capita income and seeing an inflow of money from Western donors. Under Habyarimana presidency, Tutsi had a tolerable life if they were staying away from politic, government and military. Rwanda became a dictatorial government. In 1978, Habyarimana introduced a new constitution making the MRND as the only political party. Although, he made the life of Tutsi a little bit easier, Tutsi wanted to be treated equally to Hutu and get the same opportunity of job as Hutu. Consequently, in 1979 the Tutsi created the RPF (Rwandese patriotic front) led by Paul Kagame which wanted to establish genuine democracy and guarantee of participation in the national affairs. Hutu were opposed to the RPF‘s claims because they did not want to share the power with Tutsi. In 1990, The RPF invaded Rwanda from the Uganda causing a new civil war. In order to find a remedy for this crisis, Juvenal Habyarimana asked for help from UN. Habyarimana had to negotiate with the Tutsi, because of the pressure from the international community, in order to find a settlement). While Habyarimana was trying to solve this crisis, some member of his government did not approve the path he was taking. During that time, act of violence against Tutsi increased because of the death of the Burundian president. He had been killed by the Tutsi. In 1993, Habyarimana signed with the RPF “The Arusha accord” which was never put into practice. Finally, the shooting down of the plane of Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994 was the Kick off of the genocide in Rwanda. The death of the Rwandan president was used as an excuse to unleash the ethnic violence in Rwanda.
The genocide in Rwanda resulted to the killing of approximately 8000000 Tutsi including men, women and children in just one hundred days. It is definitely true that this act of barbarism that has been committed at that time have had some crucial and harmful consequences on Rwanda. Today the population is still suffering from these unforgettable and eternal wounds. The consequences of this war are poverty, destruction of infrastructure, problems orphans meet, increasing number of AIDS victims, mental problems and Trauma. People who suffered the most from this genocide are women and children because of the way they were treated. During this conflict, sexual violence was committed by Hutu towards Tutsi women and young girls in order to humiliate them. Furthermore, children who saw and experienced the lost of their parent have trauma problem and they have problems living normal life (http://effectsofthegenocide.blogspot.com/, 2007). According to UNICEF “thousands of children were victims of brutality and rape, and thousands of children – some as young as seven – were forced into military operations and forced to commit violent acts against their will. After the genocide in 1994, Rwanda developed a new politics based on reconciliation and forgiveness in order to rebuild his country” (www.unicef.org). They also created a tribunal called “Gacca court” which has for purpose to prosecute people who committed the genocide. The international community is actually helping in to rebuild Rwanda by providing financial aids each year.
Actually, the process of rebuilding Rwanda is going
well but the wounds caused by genocide would never be healed.
One question everyone is asking is that “could this genocide be avoided?”According to different sources the genocide of Rwanda would have been avoided by international community if they wanted. In fact, some countries such as France are accused by the Rwanda’s government to be involved in this genocide because they were aware of the preparation of the genocide and they helped train the militia Hutu. However, France denied all these accusation. It would be unfair to say that France is the only country which is involve because all the other countries watched the killing of innocent people and they did not do anything to stop it. The international community did not act fast enough because they didn’t recognize the atrocities committed in Rwanda as genocide. During the genocide, UN troops were in Rwanda but they were given order to not intervene. They considered it as civil war. According to Gerard Prunier, “the international community did not intervene because Rwanda was small and strategically unimportant country” he also said that “There was no economic interest involved and for many of the ordinary men in the street, Africans were savages from whom one could expect nothing better anyway.”(Prunier, p.29-34) After seeing the immensity of the horror committed in Rwanda, the international community rushed into humanitarian aid with guiltiness. They felt that they had failed to their duty and they decided to help rebuilding Rwanda. Some countries, such as the U.S. is actually providing financial aid hoping that they could be forgiven to the way they acted.
In conclusion, the genocide in Rwanda is a horrible disaster in the history of human kind from which we should all learn. From the tension that were existing between the Hutus and Tutsi before the arrival of the Belgians to the massacre of the Tutsi population in 1994 there were many reasons. Despite the fact that many of these reasons were triggered by the Belgians, it is the Rwanda population that is suffering today. Over the years, the world has known many atrocities such as holocaust, Armenian genocide, Bangladesh genocide and other many disasters to which Rwanda has added its genocide. All these atrocities should serve as examples or mistakes from which every country should learn. Preventing atrocities such as genocide is not an easy thing to do but if we all work together, we can make it. Let us educate each other, family, friends, and relatives. After all “Variety is the spice of life” and so our differences should not matter. Instead let’s find in our differences a powerful way to learn about new cultures and new things. Finally, we should try to make the world a better place as Michael Jackson said it in his song We Are the World.
One question everyone is asking is that “could this genocide be avoided?”According to different sources the genocide of Rwanda would have been avoided by international community if they wanted. In fact, some countries such as France are accused by the Rwanda’s government to be involved in this genocide because they were aware of the preparation of the genocide and they helped train the militia Hutu. However, France denied all these accusation. It would be unfair to say that France is the only country which is involve because all the other countries watched the killing of innocent people and they did not do anything to stop it. The international community did not act fast enough because they didn’t recognize the atrocities committed in Rwanda as genocide. During the genocide, UN troops were in Rwanda but they were given order to not intervene. They considered it as civil war. According to Gerard Prunier, “the international community did not intervene because Rwanda was small and strategically unimportant country” he also said that “There was no economic interest involved and for many of the ordinary men in the street, Africans were savages from whom one could expect nothing better anyway.”(Prunier, p.29-34) After seeing the immensity of the horror committed in Rwanda, the international community rushed into humanitarian aid with guiltiness. They felt that they had failed to their duty and they decided to help rebuilding Rwanda. Some countries, such as the U.S. is actually providing financial aid hoping that they could be forgiven to the way they acted.
In conclusion, the genocide in Rwanda is a horrible disaster in the history of human kind from which we should all learn. From the tension that were existing between the Hutus and Tutsi before the arrival of the Belgians to the massacre of the Tutsi population in 1994 there were many reasons. Despite the fact that many of these reasons were triggered by the Belgians, it is the Rwanda population that is suffering today. Over the years, the world has known many atrocities such as holocaust, Armenian genocide, Bangladesh genocide and other many disasters to which Rwanda has added its genocide. All these atrocities should serve as examples or mistakes from which every country should learn. Preventing atrocities such as genocide is not an easy thing to do but if we all work together, we can make it. Let us educate each other, family, friends, and relatives. After all “Variety is the spice of life” and so our differences should not matter. Instead let’s find in our differences a powerful way to learn about new cultures and new things. Finally, we should try to make the world a better place as Michael Jackson said it in his song We Are the World.
Works Cited
Forges, Alison Des. "Leave no one to tell the story: Genocide in Rwanda." Leave no one to tell the story. Human Rights Watch, April 2001.
BBC News. France accused in Rwanda genocide. 23 September 2012. .
—. Rwanda: How the genocide happened. 13 Fevrier 2012. .
Prunier, Gerard. Africa's World War. Oxford University Press, 2009.
UNICEF. "Rwanda: Ten years after the genocide. 23 December 2004 . Unite for children.
The United Human Rights Council is a committee of the Armenian Youth Federation - Western United States.
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