Imperialism In Rwanda

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.

August 3, 1993 The Arusha Accords are agreed upon, opening government positions to both Hutu and Tutsi.

Rwanda, a small country in the middle of Africa bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was controlled by the German after they arrive in 1890. But after the World War 1, Belgium gained control of Rwanda (Hymowitz & Parker, n.d.). Few years after the Belgium colonizes controlled the country, In order to strengthen the Belgian and German control, the Belgian colonists divided Rwanda’s unified population into distinct groups. Not to mention that the Hutu were about 85% of the population, the Tutsis were 14%, and the rest were Twa. The Hutus and Tutsis were not aware about the results of this classification in the future. Actually, not too far from that date the Belgian colonization put one group above the

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,

Many people know about the gruesome killings of innocent Jews in the Holocaust, but fewer people are aware of the abhorrent Rwandan Genocide. When one majority group deemed themselves superior to a minority, unimaginable violence broke havoc. Rwanda is a tiny country in the heart of Africa with so little to offer, politically and economically. European influence from long ago caused tension among the population. The Rwandan Genocide is known as an incomprehensible, savage conflict strongly influenced by colonialism; the international response to the crisis was far from adequate.

These government orders reveal the ways that, even with the accessible knowledge about the Rwandan massacres being readily available, that the United States government was able to manipulate the situation as being contrary to their interests. Gourevitch outlines the ways that the West (and international government) failed to understand the ways that colonialism influenced the genocide as that would reflect negatively upon those nations as a further component of the way the violence was characterized.

Rwanda is a small country in between the two countries, the Dominican Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Rwanda gained its independence in 1962. In 1916 Belgium ruled over the Rwandan people. The Belgium classified the Rwandan people into two groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus. The Belgians put the Tutsi people in charge, because the Tutsis were richer than the Hutu. The Tutsis punished the Hutus for many things and in many ways. In 1962, Hutus had control of the country, many of the Tutsis left the country. On April 7th, 1994, the 100 Days of Slaughter commenced. In just 100 days 800,000-1,000,000 Rwandan people died in the Rwandan Genocide.

In 1894 German colonization resulted in Tutsis being put into roles of responsibility over Hutus due to the Tutsis more closely resembling Europeans. After Germany lost its colonies after World War One Belgium took over control in Rwanda. The Belgians distributed identification cards throughout the population, unknowingly beginning the genocide process. They also gave all the leadership roles to the Tutsi, upsetting the Hutus. When Rwanda fought for independence the Belgians were forced to switch out the Tutsis with the Hutus, giving them the leadership roles over the Tutsis. This is turn upset the Tutsis, creating a rift between the 2 groups which lasted until after the Rwandan Genocide.

Germany indirectly ruled over Rwanda through the existing Tutsi monarch (mwami) and his chiefs (Magnarella, 2005). At the end of the World War I Belgium claimed the country and it became a colony of Belgium. They thought that the monarch system of having three chiefs per hill was too complicated and therefore in 1924 the Belgians stopped this system. (Prunier, 2001). The colonists made a division between Hutu and Tutsi that seemed to be based on an ethnical base. They believed that the Tutsi were originally descendants of the ancient Egyptians, also known as the Hamitic people. The colonists used this to their advantage in creating a Hamitic Myth that in general claimed that the Tutsi were superior to the Hutu because of their origin (Magnarella, 2005). By measuring the skull and the nose it was determined whether someone was a Hutu or a Tutsi. All Rwandans had to carry identity cards stating whether they were Hutu or Tutsi (White, 2014). The direct result of this was that the Belgians favoured the Tutsi minority and this had far stretching consequences for the Rwandan people. The Belgian government only allowed members of the Tutsi elite to be politically involved, only Tutsi's got education and they were the only people allowed to move freely and so on. It must be said that before the colonial time there was already a distinction between the Hutu and the Tutsi. But then again the Belgians made

There is a division on the historical development of pre-colonial Rwanda. One side of the divide indicates an “ethnic” diversity based partially on occupational status – a patron/client relationship and also the ancestral lineage of Hutu and Tutsi. The other side of the divide indicates that “until written descriptions by the first European travelers, people identified themselves according to clan rather than ethnic affiliation, and that the description of so called ethnic groups was laid down by those travelers” (Sellström, Wohlgemuth, & Millwood, 1996).

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.

The Rwandan Genocide, in which nearly one million individuals are estimated to have been murdered, took place over the course of one-hundred days, from April 1994 to July 1994 (United Nations, n.d.). After Rwanda obtained independence from Belguim in 1961, a Hutu-dominated government was formed in which Tutsis (the minority ethnic group) were viewed as lesser than Hutus (Walker, 2017). Years of systematic ethnic discrimination against Tutsis allowed for the notion that Tutsis are inherently lesser than Hutus to be ingrained in Rwandan society. The genocide was further sparked by the death of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, as Hutu extremists called for the mass-killing of Tutsis and individuals with Tutsi connections (British Broadcasting

Despite these challenges, it was necessary for me to conduct elite interviews with government policy makers through field research. Intrinsic case study research methodology was the primary instrument in the gathering and interpretation of this thesis. I wanted to study in order to learn, understand and explain the rationale behind Rwandan foreign policy. Rwanda’s horrific history with the inactions of the international community made the case study appear to be very interesting. There are only a handful of modern post-genocide states whose foreign relations is at some level dictated by how the international community responded to the massive human rights violations. For Rwanda, the reaction was minimal during the massacres, but grew

Tutsis have always been known for being superior to the Hutus. They have been noted for having greater wealth, social status, and even because they are taller and thinner. This is because the Belgians embraced this idea of superiority. Since then, up to the next 20 years, the Tutsis have enjoyed a better life quality in terms of jobs, opportunities, and educational possibilities. Bitterness between the Hutus and Tutsis started to build up around 1959. This is when the source of ethnic tension began in Rwanda. It all started to develop when the president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, was killed on April 6 1994 when his plane got shot down above Kigali International Airport. The Hutu president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was also killed during this attack. During this period, more than 20,000 Tutsis were killed and many others were seen forced to move to their neighbour countries such as Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda (BBC, 2011). The Hutus took back their place around 1962. Which is when Belgium gave up their power and handed over the Independence to Rwanda. Because of this tragedy, the Tutsis have been blamed for all the crisis that have occurred since then.