Discrimination Against The Pygmy Genocide In Rwanda

"They started killing people and eating them ... I saw them cutting up human flesh, then they were putting it on a fire to grill it. I got scared and ran away, not knowing what else happened behind me." a quote from Amuzati N, a Bambuti Pygmy who escaped a massacre by a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was just one of the many atrocities the African Pygmies has experienced in the past. Pygmies are the indigenous people of Africa. For millions of years they lived in the jungles of Congo, where they maintained their unique relationship with nature. But the mid-1970s, the Mobutu government, a government led by Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga who was the President of Republic of the Congo decided that many of the lush Congo forests were National Parks, and the pygmy people were evicted. The eviction wasn’t the genocide itself but it was a large contributor on how it will leave the people vulnerable in the open. The genocide was a mass killing including cannibalism since the local rebel thought that the Pygmy flesh had “magical powers” And also women were raped because it is said if you sleep with a woman it will relieve back pain.

The international community had a responsibility to stop the genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo by taking military action, not only because we should have learned from the holocaust but also over the years 40,000 women and children were

In 1994, Rwanda’s population was made up of three ethnic groups, the Hutus, the Tutsi, and the Twas. Hutu extremists blamed the Tutsi for their country’s social, economic, and political problems. Because of this, The Hutu extremists decided to kill the Tutsi and the Hutus who were opposed to the extremists. “In the early 1990s, hutu extremists within Rwanda’s political elite blamed the entire Tutsi minority population for the country’s increasing social, economic, and political pressures.” This shows that human rights are being violated because one ethnic group decided to blame a minority population for their country’s growing problems. The extremists decided they wanted control back and because of this they felt it was justified to kill as

Another issue that arose during the genocide that is important was the fact that during the genocide many women were raped while men were out on killing sprees. Many of those women who were raped contracted HIV/AIDS. The medicine to treat HIV/AIDS is too expensive for the people of Rwanda to afford, so many have died. Some of the women who were raped did not contract HIV/AIDS but still struggle due to having friends that contracted it or were impregnated and are now raising children of their rapists. Acquaro (2005) presents the example of Severa Mukakinani whose husband and seven children were murdered during the genocide. She was then raped and impregnated and is now raising a daughter named Marie Chantal Akimana meaning “child of God”. Even

INTRODUCTION After the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people at the hand of the Nazi regime, the United Nations formed the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG), dedicated to the understanding and prevention of future genocides. The UNCG defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Genocides have occurred on almost every continent and the UNCG has had little impact on prevention. Indeed, 2since its creation in 1951 the world has seen a rise in genocides beginning in 1975 in Cambodia, followed by the horrors in Yugoslavia in 1992, then Rwanda in 1994, and the on-again-off-again atrocities in Darfur since 2003 (Maddox). The causes of each of these genocides are as unique as the topography of the land they occur on and as varied as the languages and cultures of the people involved. The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa between April 6, 1994 and July 1994. The decades of unjust treatment by Belgium favored the Tutsi tribe and the assassinations of the Rwandan president and Burundi president led to the genocide in Rwanda. CAUSES

I think if nations see that a genocide is about to happen, and that it is starting to occur, but has not yet fully began they should try with all their power to stop it from happening, before it’s too late. If countries can make a peaceful end to the situation, I think they should. They should investigate deep into the countries past, looking for anything that might help them get through and talk to the people behind the genocide. See what’s going on and why they are going to such extremes. They should ask questions like, who is behind the mass murders. Is it the leader of the country killing his people? Is it a terrorist group acting on their own accord to make people bend to their will or is it a random group trying to exploit a heritage

The Rwandan genocide was very violent and very cruel. Many people were killed and were raped. This war was not more than where you were born and what family you belong to. In 1918 Belgium took over Rwanda, but in 1933 the Belgians forced the Rwandans into two different categories. The Hutus and the Tutsis. Everything started just because it was easier to know where all the blacks were if they were in separate groups. The Tutsis were the minority; they were the upper class and were aristocratic. The Hutus on the other hand were peasants; they were the poorest of the poor. The Europeans brought the culture of a political ethnic dissidence to Rwanda. They took the original structure and made it very extreme, ethnic cards were given to be worn at all times. The Tutsis were privileged to everything, nice food, a good area to live in, good clothing. The Hutus on the other hand were made into a much oppressed group; they lived in slums and barely had enough food to live off of. Even though the Hutus were the majority they were treated like second class, animals.

Genocide is the complete extermination a specific group. It is a significant event in History that has been repeated time and time again, from the Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Holocaust to Joseph Stalin’s Era in the USSR. These chaotic periods of mass killing are usually the result of hatred towards certain races, religions, or ethnic parties. The attackers put unnecessary blame on the other group and take action to punish them brutal instead of finding means to compromise. They fear for their potential lost of power. The victims are quickly torqued and wipe out with a little chance of protecting themselves. In this case the rapid annihilation of the Tutsi for causing the apparent social and political issues in Rwanda, Africa is a perfect example of that. This genocide became known as the “100 days of slaughter.” (BBC) In the end of this period over 800,000 (about three quarter of the entire Tutsi population) were eradicated.

In conclusion, the Rwandan genocide clearly stemmed from decades of feuds and led to the death of over 800,000 people. Some people think the genocide could have been prevented if the United States and the United Nations would have done more sooner. Looking at the history of

Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, once quoted that, “When we are unified, working together, no challenge is insurmountable” (Arnlaugsdottir). His quote holds meaning and truth as within the past twenty years, Rwanda has worked miraculously to rebuild and reunite the country that was left disheveled by social conflict and genocide. There are many factors that have contributed to the reconstruction of Rwanda, including international assistance, gacaca courts and International Criminal Tribunal, annual commemoration ceremonies, and wellness and counseling efforts. However, the influence and role of women within Rwanda is considered one of the most significant forces and contributors to the unification and restoration of the country. The

The Belgians’ act of inhumanity through the discrimination of the Hutu is the main reason that the Rwandan genocide took place. In the article titled, Rwanda Genocide of 1994, the author begins by introducing the background of Rwanda: “The three groups, Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa lived together for centuries. Belgium ruled Rwanda in the 19th century and granted the Tutsi social power over the Hutu.” (“Rwanda Genocide”). For instance, the Belgian colonizers threw the Hutu into agriculturist and other primary jobs which did not earn them enough to support themselves. Tutsis were given complete control over the government. This cruel classification of the Hutus directly relates to the different acts of inhumanity present before the genocide even started.

Even though the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is an excellent illustration of the failure of the State of Rwanda to observe and apply its state responsibility toward its population, especially the Tutsi minority, Nation states have inter alia several responsibilities towards the population under their jurisdiction, which include protection against egregious atrocities, genocide, mass murder, assassinations, and ethnic cleansing… International law emphasizes Nation states responsibilities and assures that no one State or a group of Nation states has the right to interfere directly or indirectly for any reason whatsoever in the internal or external affairs of any other State. However, what are the consequences of a State failure, inability, or unwillingness to protect its own population? And most importantly, would another State stand still while communities are being slaughtered just because it has no right to intervene in the domestic jurisdiction of another State, just like it happened in Rwanda and Bosnia in the 1990s? Additionally, are there other reasons that can allow a State or a group of Nation states to intervene, legally under the

In the past, many incidents of genocide have occurred, like the Armenian genocide or the Rwandan genocide. While these incidents may seem unrelated to current times, similar incidents are starting to occur in many parts of the world and one such place is Congo. Many sources hint that the conflict that occurs in Congo is a genocide because many elements of genocide appear in the conflict like classification or dehumanization. While what they say has some truth in the sense that this conflict contains some element of genocide but, not enough elements are present to make it a genocide. Although many would believe that the conflict in Congo is a genocide, there is evidence of the conflict being a territorial and power dispute because some countries invading Congo want the resources, others want power, and the cause of the conflict in Congo is the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.

Ethics is defined as the moral principle that governs a person’s behavior. Humans begin to contract this sense of entitlement to things lesser than us. During the Holocaust, Nazis referred to Jews as rats. Hutus involved in the Rwanda genocide called Tutsis cockroaches. Slave owners throughout history considered slaves subhuman animals (Smith, 2011). When it comes to animals, humans assume that they hold the power of their life and their death. Factory farming is an industrial process in which animals and the products they generate are mass produced. The animals are not seen as an individual, sentient beings with unique physical and psychological needs (Carmody). Animals in this situation are brutally beaten, slaughtered while conscious, and

From the beginning of time genocide has taken place and likely is not to end anytime soon. The atrocity from King Leopold's regime is one of the most unheard of cases of genocide but also one of the most gruesome. The killing and atrocities going on in Congo were full-blown genocide. The King was greedy, did not have any care or respect for his people, and also allowed and had the practice of slavery.