Hutus And Tutsis In Rwanda Genocide

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.

The Hutu started to go door to door killing the Tutsi with machetes, cubs or any hand weapons they could get their hands on to because bullets were to expense for the Hutu to affored, about.com says (“Some of the victims were given the option of paying for a bullet so that they'd have a quicker death”). The reason why the Hutu would know who was a Tutsi was because they would look at their identity card that would have what they were, a Hutu, a Tutsi or a Twa. All the Tutsi men & children were killed as soon as they were found, but some of the women would be kept & tortured before being killed & in many causes they would be raped first then killed adding humiliation to the mix of all things. The killing lasted about 100 days or 4 months averaging about 800,000 Tutsi men & women died. The slaughter stop because the RPF came into play, the RPF or known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front is a trained military made up of Tutsi people that was made some years before. The RPF forced matter into their own hands & went into Rwanda to take over, they came out wining but at the same time the flet like if they “had lost because they have had wished to get here sooner than later” says a Tutsi

On the day of April 6th 1994, the mass murders sparked a ferocious wave of bloody reprisals as thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over the next three months, killing almost 10,000 people everyday. Hutu extremists were told to load up on weapons like knives, guns, axes, whatever they could find so they could kill tutsis. They could do whatever they wanted to the Tutsis. The Hutu government said “Spare no one, especially the babies.” The Hutus goal was to kill every Tutsi in Rwanda. As told by Border guards, people have been floating down the river in hundreds everyday for weeks. Many bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. They were either shot, hacked, clubbed, burned, or drowned.

The tensions that led up to the genocide came into being after Belgium colonized Rwanda and had divided the people into two groups: the Hutus & the Tutsis. Although the Hutus held the majority, the Tutsis had the power because the Belgians had favoured the Tutsis. As a result, this caused a lot of resentments among the Hutus. Once Rwanda had gained independence and Belgium had left, the Hutus claimed control over the nation. As depicted in the movie, the genocide began with the murder of President Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu. The Hutu extremists blamed the Tutsi rebels for shooting down the president’s plane and killing everyone else on board. Although this was never confirmed, the Hutus began to slaughter thousand of Tutsi civilians, as a

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

800,000 Tutsi people were killed by the Hutu’s over one hundred days, that is 8,000 everyday. The Rwandan Genocide was sparked after the killing of the Hutu, Rwandan President he was allegedly killed by Tutsi rebels. There are stories that say otherwise and they blame the Hutu’s, no one knows who shot down the plane there are only theories. There had been tension for many years after the Hutu’s took power off the Tutsi’s after the Belgians left. Tutsi’s then did small terrorist attacks on them. It had been brewing for years. This is similar to the Holocaust in the way that the Tutsi’s were made out to be evil as Hitler did to the Jews. If one was half Tutsi and half Hutu how they determined if they were one or the other was that they would measure their nose, how far apart their eyes were or if their skin was a certain colour etc. Once they determined what they were they would give them a ‘passport’ that stated whether they were a Hutu or Tutsi. This is very similar as to when Hitler picked out all the different measurements or way a Jew looked. When the killings started they used machete’s, garden tools or anything they could get their hands on because if a Hutu was neighboured next to a Tutsi they would go next door and butcher their whole family. A lot of bodies were thrown into rivers similar to when the Jews bodies were thrown into pits at the time of the

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,

The many tears that stream down my face cry for the generations of my kids to come. I sit here as an innocent victimized Tutsi woman, to tell you my story of the Rwandan genocide and how it impacted my people. Through many years of pain and suffering I sit here before you to relieve my anger and install my knowledge of why the Belgium through colonization only installed more love in me toward my people and hatred towards me for not being able to help my people. My name is Immaculee Ilibagiza a Tutsi woman and this is my survival, comfort story.

Beginning on April 7, 1994, the Rwandan Genocide was a period of mass slaughter that followed the closure of the Rwandan Civil War between two major ethnic groups , the Hutus and Tutsis. After the assassination of Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana, the uneasy ceasefire between the Hutu controlled government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (who were Tutsi backed rebels) was broken, sparking a systematic effort by police and militia to execute both Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Over the span of several months, Hutu civilians were not only encouraged, but pressured to maim and kill Tutsis - eventually leading to the decimation of 70% of the Tutsi population and 20% of the Hutu population. While the genocide continued, the UN and countries such

On April 6 1994, prior to the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana, the nation of Rwanda become released into turmoil as genocides claimed the lives of at the least ½ a one million of its citizens (Seltzer in Des Forges, 1999,). Instigated by using the Hutu political elite and its military guide, their top objectives were the Tutsi, as well as Hutu moderates. Many have purported “ethnic hatred” as the motive of the Rwanda Genocide and at the same time as an ethnic divide became indeed found in Rwanda across the time of the warfare, the reasons for the genocide are more than one and was greater complex.

The Rwandan Genocide took place in April 1994 to July 1994 in the African nation of Rwanda. It was the mass murder of the minority ethnic Tutsi group. The people responsible for the genocide was the majority ethnic Hutu group. The Hutu group murdered about 800,000 people, most of them the Tutsi group.About 500,000 Tutsi women were raped and killed immediately afterwards. The most used weapon for killing in the genocide was the machete. The Hutu militias were sent to kill Tutsis. Even Hutu men killed their Tutsi wives.(“The Rwandan Genocide”, n.d. Para 1) The cause of the Rwandan Genocide was the Belgian colonial rule that put the Tutsi minority group in control over Rwanda, the death of the Hutu president, and the ethnic tension that was already there.

This investigation will seek to answer the question “How Did the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 Effect the Hutu and Tutsi?” I chose this question because last year I read the book Left to Tell and I wanted to know more about the two different types of groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. This was and still is an important topic because many died that day just for belonging to a specific group. This topic shows how much our world has changed since 1994. In order to answer my historical investigation question, I have structured my analysis section using the following method. First, I will answer how the two groups are different? And how these differences began the Rwandan Genocide? Next, I will talk about a survivor and her experience, then, the survival rate of Hutus and Tutsis. There are two main sources this paper will cover, first, a website called the United Human Rights Council, then, a book called Left to Tell.

During the Rwandan genocide more than 6 men, women and children were murdered every minute of every hour, and up to half a million women were raped or sexually mutilated. The event of genocide in Rwanda was a horrific event between the Hutus and Tutsis. There are many different representations of what happened in Rwanda during that time but two of the most powerful are the Ghosts of Rwanda documentary which shows a true version of what really happened in Rwanda and the effects it had on the country and the world. The second powerful representation was Hotel Rwanda a film.

During the 1990’s the Tutsi and Hutu were already in a bad place after recently being under oppressive Tutsis rule. The Hutu extremist blamed all their country's social and economic problems on the Tutsi people. A civil war was caused after a group of Rwandan exiles formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front: a Tutsi-dominated rebel group, and had attacked Rwanda from their home base in Uganda. The invasion caused tension levels between the two sides to skyrocket

Genocides and ethnic cleansing has been an ongoing issue responsible for the destruction of many human lives in developing nations. The Rwandan genocide in 1994 was the quickest massacre killing 800,000 people in 100 days. The death of the president was a trigger for the genocide. Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana who was a Hutu was killed when his plane was shot down outside of the country's capital Kigali. The Hutus automatically held the Tutsis responsible for the murder. Following the death of the president the Hutu rebels filled the capital while taking control of the streets. Tutsis and anyone who was suspected to have ties with Tutsis were slaughtered. With no government control the Hutus were able to take control of the whole country. The goal of the Hutu extremists was to become the majority power in the nation and in order to