Hutus And The Tutsis 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.

Rwanda was taken over by the Belgians causing the Hutus and Tutsis to not get along which caused genocide. “Facing a revolution instigated by the Hutu, the Belgians let the Hutus, who constituted the majority of Rwanda 's population, be in charge of the new government. This upset the Tutsi. The animosity between the two groups continued for decades.” Both clans were upset and started Genocide in Rwanda. The causes of their mass casualties resolved in a never ending dispute between the two clans.

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.

After the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide and the lack on international intervention, Rwandan was forced to rebuild itself from scratch. Rwanda is a small country located in central Africa. Its population is divided between two ethnic groups: the hutus and the tutsis. The roots of the Rwandan genocide date back to 1924 when Belgium first took over Rwanda, formally a part of Tanzania. The Belgians viewed Tutsi superior to the hutus. Many referred to this as Hamitic hypothesis. It was motivated mainly by the fact that Tutsi were taller and thinner than hutus. This lead to a major boost in Tutsi egos and mistreatment of the Hutus for decades. This angered the Hutus leading to a major conflict between the two ethnic groups.

The two ethnic groups that were include in the Rwanda Genocide was the Tutsis and Hutus. The Tutsis were the minority population in Rwanda, but they held all the positions of authority. On the other hand, the Hutu made up around 85% of Rwanda’s population, but held no political power, they were denied higher education and land ownership. The size of the nose and the color of the eyes were the factors that determined whether a person was Hutu or Tutsi. The Tutsis disapprove of the colonial rule of the Belgians and demanded to become more independent. After World War II, the Tutsis felt impatient and that it was time they took matters in their own hands to pursuit their independence. In 1959, the tension and violence between the Tutsis and Hutus were greatly increased.

Rwanda is a country located in Central Eastern Africa, with an extensive history of colonization, after Belgium attained control in 1924. Belgium’s rule however also marked the beginning of a lengthy ethnic rivalry between the Hutu and the Tutsi people. Belgium favored the Tutsi the minority at 14 percent of the population over the Hutu, the majority at 85 percent, simply because the Tutsis were more resembling of the Europeans. “Colonial policy helped to intensify bipolar differentiation between Tutsi and Hutu, by inscribing “ethnic” identification on identity cards, by relegating the vast majority of Hutu to particularly onerous forms of forced cultivation and corvee, and by actively favoring Tutsi in access to administrative posts, education, and jobs in the modern sector,” (Newbury, 12). Belgium’s control fueled the Hutu’s resentment towards the Tutsis because the Tutsis received superior treatment for decades. Thus, when Rwanda finally acquired independence in 1962, the Hutus fought for control over the government, highlighting the first warning sign of the genocide to come. Many Tutsis were killed afterwards, while many others fled to neighboring countries to escape the violence.

Rwanda is a country located in the middle of the African continent. The two ethnic groups present in the country lived in peace under their monarch until the arrival of Europeans. The Belgians arrival into Rwandan is what split the two ethnic groups of the Tutsi and Hutus, making them identify themselves with ID cards. This caused tension between the two groups as the Belgians favored the ethnic Tutsi, and made them the head of the government. Decade’s later Hutu extremists would take over the government and have revenge on the Tutsi. The new government would send out broadcasts calling on Hutus to kill their friends and neighbors. The Rwandan genocide would become the worst genocide to ever happen in Africa and one of the worst in the world. Today Rwanda’s recovery is surprisingly fast with the help of multiple nations and organizations. Rwanda’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle and is an amazing story of a war between two peoples.

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.

When the Belgian left they gave Rwanda independence.As a result of them leaving there where two different ethnic groups left in Rwanda the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s.These two tribes went to war over control of Rwanda.In

Someone who seemed like an ordinary man a regular face in a crowd, turned out to be a hero to thousands of lives, during a mass murder in Rwanda. The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was between the Hutu and the Tutsis. Over 800,000 Tutsi were killed and over a 1,000,000 people died total. The Hutus always hated the Tutsis tutsis because they believed they were traitors against Juvenal Habyarimana. So one day when President Juvenal’s plane was shot down by what they thought was the Tutsis, the that was the last straw for the Hutus. They believed it was their duty to eliminate all Tutsi. There are very few differences between hutus and Tutsi such as, the width of their noses, or a slightly darker shade of skin. Hutus believed they were doing good by

Tutsis were tall and well educated. Not only did they have better social status, but there also appeared to be more entitled, whereas, the Hutus were those who worked for Tutsis. During the pre- World War I, Rwanda was colonized by Germany, but later when Germany had lost the war, Rwanda came under Belgium’s administration. Under the ruling of Belgium, Tutsis were more favored to be educated, which had made Hutus felt under appreciated, as if they were really treated like servants. (Rwanda Genocide) However, the population of Hutus has always outnumbered the Tutsis, where it accounts 80 percent of the Hutus, 19 percent of Tutsis, and only 1 percent of Twa and Pygmy, the original inhabitants of Rwanda. (Rwanda genocide: 100 days of slaughter, 2014) Towards the end of Belgium’s ruling, the Hutus were given more authority from the Belgians. Since the majority is the Hutus, the group had seeked influence to subdue the minorities, specifically the Tutsis. Even before independence in 1959, the Hutus had ultimately sparked revolution, causing around 300,000 of Tutsis to escape to the neighboring country, Uganda, where they settled down for nearly 30 years. In 1961, the Hutus had victoriously overthrown Tutsi’s power, advocated the country a republic, and within that same year, Rwanda gained its independence. After the Tutsis had fled the country, in 1973, Major General Juvenal Habyarimana,

To really understand the Rwandan Genocide and the Final Solution, one must understand the background of the two exterminated peoples. The Tutsis are an ethnic group that resides in the African Great Lakes region. During the Europeans settlements in Rwanda, the colonists need an identifier to separate the population of Rwanda. Belgium settlers defined “Tutsi”

To start with, Rwanda is a very small country located near the center of Africa (“Rwandan Genocide<< World Without Genocide-Working to create a World Without Genocide”). It had a population of 7.7 million: 90% Hutu ethnic group and 9% Tutsis before the genocide began (“Rwandan Genocide<< World Without Genocide-Working to create a World Without Genocide”). The first tension was driven between the Hutus and the Tutsis when European colonists moved into Rwanda and chose the Tutsis for a group to be privileged and educated (“GENOCIDE- RWANDA”). Because of this, Hutus

According to the book Peacemaking in Rwanda, Hutus and Tutsis had prior hate towards one another due to “wealth, military prowess, family, and control over a precious commodity, or occupation of a prestigious social position.” (Jones, pg. 18) This meant at any time my children that Tutsis could become Hutus and Hutus could become Tutsis. Due to this my children, I come before to tell you never to hate your very own people. Clan lineage in Rwanda was were, power and status placed a role in the leading of the people as that determined who was a high authority amongst the different yet similar clans. While clan lineage played a role in who would lead the different clans, Rwanda before World War I was colonized by Germans. Sadly my kids, after World War I colonization moved on to the Belgium and this is was the day, when I saw my life flash before my eyes. The once peaceful Rwanda had changed within a day. When the Belgium came into power they “imposed on the contrary an intellectual and administrative simplification that equated “Tutsi’s” with “ruling class”.”(Jones, pg. 19) Throughout the Belgium ruling, Tutsis were the chosen ones to do all of the administrative work for the League of Nations Mandate. Due to this Belgium’s required for Tutsis to carry around cards that specifically showed and

Prior to colonial era, Rwanda had larger population of Hutus compared to Tutsis and Twa. Rwanda as a country was divided into three ethnic groups i.e. Hutu (approximately about 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%) (United Nations). Although, Tutsis were the minorities, they belonged to the higher strata compared to the other ethnic groups; Tutsis were privileged and had power and control over the Hutus and Twas. “Hutus were formerly bound to their Tutsi patrons via client ship” (Sinema, 2012). When Rwanda was colonized by Germany followed by Belgium, they favored Tutsis as they represented the upper class prior to the colonization. These created a social system like feudal system where there was a power difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Tutsis were considered as lord and the Hutus on the other hand, were considered as peasants. As a consequence, this created an ethic tension between the Hutus and the Tutsis and created a system more like apartheid. Nonetheless, they managed to co exist in Rwanda until they were decolonized. Although there is no social distinction between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the conflict between these tribes increased tremendously after the independence from Belgian that led to mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu.