Minority Genocide In Rwanda

Genocides happen when ethnic divisions become apparent. Many times, these ethnic divisions were due to colonization from people of different race. These cases are especially true in Africa when Europeans colonized their territory, with clear racial divisions between them (Gavin). These genocides go on because of nations acting on ignorance and refusing to help out the nations in turmoil, allowing the genocides to continue, without wasting their own resources. These nations purposefully ignoring the slaughter of people cause the nations to also be guilty of the genocide underway (“The Heart”). The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa during 1994. The decades of Tutsi oppression of Hutus and the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994 led to the genocide in Rwanda.

In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient

April 7, 1994 marked the beginning of one hundred days of massacre that left over 800,000 thousand dead and Rwanda divided by a scare that to this day they are trying to heal. The source of this internal struggle can be traced back to the segregation and favoritism established by Belgium when they received Rwanda after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918. At the time the Rwandan population was 14% Tutsi, 1%Twa, and 85% Hutus; the Belgian’s showed preferential treatment to the Tutsi, who were seen as socially elite, by giving them access to higher educations and better employment. This treatment causes the uprising of the Hutus in 1959 overthrowing the Tutsi government forcing many to flee the country, sparking even greater resentment between the two ethic groups. Without the interference and preferential treatment by the Belgian’s this atrocity could have likely been avoided.

War never changes, it will always be around for as long as we are here, with it, it brings genocide. Every day we are in a constant battle with each other, whether it be at home or across the oceans. We have invented weapons solely to cause mass destruction across entire continents. This has led to limitations being placed on warfare, but sometimes it's not enough. "We have to protect our Earth, so our children and grandchildren will never suffer like that"

The Tutsi are a people who live in Rwanda, Burundi, and the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The location, size, and history, most importantly, is why the Tutsi tribe the second largest population division among the three largest groups in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa. Although the Tutsi tribe is one of the most known tribes in Africa, it comes from a long way of fighting for its' rights and independence.

Twenty-three years ago, in a small, central African country identified as Rwanda, approximately 1,000,000 individuals belonging to the Tutsi tribe were massacred by a rival tribe, known as the Hutus. The hatred that resulted in the Hutus slaughtering the Tutsis originated from a rivalry that was created centuries before the infamous massacre. Living in an agricultural community, the Hutus were traditionally peasant cultivators, while the Tutsis were cattle lopers. Through their work, the Tutsis gained wealth and, consequently, political power. The divide between the Hutus and the Tutsis was only made more dangerous as Europeans traveled to Rwanda, favoring the Tutsis. As the inferior race, the Hutus were denied government positions, higher education, and were forced into slave labor. In retaliation, the Hutus gained political power through a democratic vote put on by Belgian missionaries from the Tutsis through the 8:1 majority ratio. The Tutsi power was completely reversed into total Hutu power, as “the oppressed became the oppressor.”

The Rwandan Genocide was one of the most horrific acts of genocide since the Holocaust during World War II.  Lasting only one hundred days it claimed the lives of over 800,000 people and had lasting effects on global civilization to this day. Even though the world had been consumed by many travesties before, the Rwandan Genocide exposed that violent human injustices on a grand scale could still happen regardless of the advancements made within “global society”. Decades of internal conflict within Rwanda because of colonialism, class, and clan played a great role in marring cultural identity and thusly created a foundation for the genocide.  The homogeny of cultures evolved, separating the population of Rwanda into three distinct groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and a marginal group of Twa that made up one percent of the population. Hutu ultimately came into power and with the help of the Interahamwe (a Hutu militia group) and the Rwandan Armed Forces committed atrocities towards Tutsi peoples under the ideal of 'social revolution ' and extermination of perceived 'enemies ' of the Hutu race. The planning and execution to erase and exterminate the culture and identity of Tutsi people is a classic and legal example of Genocide.

According to Michael P. Scharf, over 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in just 4 months. To put that in perspective, that is two times more people than everyone in Atlanta, and every single one of their lives were taken in a third of the year. Such a terrible atrocity and no one accepted the blame. A small group of African leaders came together and blamed other countries such as the United States and the members of the United Nation’s for not intervening on the genocide that was occurring. Others, however, stated that it was not their place to get in the middle of a civil war. Looking deeper into this matter, some even say that the Rwandan government shares a portion of the blame for putting the two groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, against each other. There has been a long, thick tension between the two for many years going back to when Belgium owned a colonial state known as Rwanda-Burundi.

Before watching this documentary from Frontline, I had never realized about the atrocities that had occurred in Rwanda in 1994. I had been naive in not realizing that mass genocidal killings like the ones shown were happening in our modern world. It was my assumption that international organizations like the United Nations or the United States would take action to prevent these horrendous acts from occurring. It was deeply shocking and overwhelming to see the horrendous acts humans were doing to each other. The murderers in Rwanda acted like savage animals without society or government to stop them from killing 800,000 innocent people. The most interesting aspect of the documentary was learning that the international community failed on purpose and let hundreds of thousands of people die.

War is a necessary part of human nature. War has always been a part of countries and nations history. Militarism in countries , people who are nationalist extremist showing their aggression towards other countries. War is a necessary part of humanity because people naturally view others as ‘Us and them’, people being patriotic,nationalist or extremist causing tension between nations of the world.

The genocide started with the assassination of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, when the their plane was shot down on April 6, 1994. The current President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, was suspected to have influenced this assassination because he was the leader of a rebel Tutsi group and Habyarimana was a Hutu. Due to his death the Hutu rebel groups, such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), arose because they had felt threatened by their past violent history. The Hutu and the Tutsi lived within the precolonial Kingdom of Burundi in 1972 which was ruled by the Tutsi. The government became increasingly dangerous for the Hutu people, “In 1929, the Belgians decided to merge

There is a genocide that is happening and there is nothing that we did about it. There are nations like the United States that are seen as leaders though they don’t seem to do anything to intervene in this situation. Every minute that passed in the Rwanda genocide there was someone who was killed and during the span of 100 days there were more than 800,000 (Mostly Tutsis) deaths. The United Nation sent peace keepers to Rwanda but that didn’t resolve anything but just monitor cease-fire. No force was allowed to be used and Rwanda had to resolve their own problem.

One reason this is considered to be one of the worst genocides cause of the countless deaths that happened the estimated deaths that occured during the genocide is 800,000.the hutus show no care to the tutsi while they slaughtered them.

The last and most important similarity is that these events still require our attention and help. The infrastructure has been rebuilt, Hutus and Tutsis live together as neighbors and there have been no major outbreaks of violence. In the years since the genocide, Rwandans have worked hard to overcome that legacy. It is considered a safe country with little to no corruption and a burgeoning economy (O’Donnell 4). Remains of victims are still being found. Here is a quotation that might better help you understand the recovery process from the prospective of a first hand witness in Rwanda:

Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, political, or cultural group”. In Rwanda for example, the Hutu-led government embraced a new program that called for the country’s Hutu people to murder anyone that was a Tutsi (Gourevitch, 6). This new policy of one ethnic group (Hutu) that was called upon to murder another ethnic group (Tutsi) occurred during April through June of 1994 and resulted in the genocide of approximately 800,000 innocent people that even included women and children of all ages. In this paper I will first analyze the origins/historical context regarding the discontent amongst the Hutu and Tutsi people as well as the historical context as to why major players in the international