Reforming Rwanda Essay

The Hutus are now in the position of power; the Hutu officials began to carry out massive genocides on the Tutsis. According to Document 8 it states, “The Hutu officials who took over the government organized the murders [of Tutsis] nationwide…Meanwhile, when the murders started the RPF [Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front] in Uganda invaded Rwanda again.” This quote demonstrates the back and forth genocide each ethnic group is imposing on each other. The genocide in Rwanda was sparked by the death of the Hutu Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, when his place was shot down. Many Hutus blamed the Rwandan Patriotic Front and instantly started campaigns of slaughter. This also provided additional reasons why the Hutu had hatred against the Tutsis. According to Document 9a it states, “Over the course of the genocide nearly one million people were killed.” This shows how extreme the genocide was and how extensive the genocide

Since its joining of the UN on September 18, 1962, Rwanda has long been active in the field of international politics. Rwanda was a Belgian colony. The population of this little East African nation is divided into two ethnic groups, The Hutu majority, and the Tutsi minority. Conflict caused a power struggle between these two parties and has plagued the nation for a good portion of the twentieth century. During Belgian occupation, the Belgians relied upon the Tutsis to govern the nation, as their skin was lighter and heads were physically larger. This would soon stern great strife, as in 1959, both sides began to demand more political independence and war broke out. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to neighboring

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.

After the overthrow of the Tutsis by the Hutus there was the formation of RPF in 1959. This led to an increase of tension between the ethnicities to the point where both sides could not handle it. A war had broke out in 1990 when the RPF invaded Rwanda. The fighting had lasted until 1993 when a peace agreement was formed. Even with the peace agreement the war had created further hatred from both sides to the other which would be shown in 1994 at the start of the Genocide.

It is important to study the immediate and gradual causes of the genocide. A good understanding of the devastating Rwandan genocide can help prevent a repeat of such violent events. There were numerous situations that led to the murders, but some could have had a greater impact than others. Two of the biggest causes of the genocide were the assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and the hostility between the Hutus and Tutsis. The animosity between the two groups was built up over hundreds of years, while Habyarimana’s assassination was an incident that took place within hours of the beginning of the genocide. Habyarimana’s death seemed to be a trigger for the genocide, but the conflicts between the Hutus and Tutsis could have played an even larger role in the mass murders of thousands of Rwandans. The past relationship between the two groups must be studied in order to understand how they were able to reach a genocide.

The Rwanda genocide left a legacy of hundreds of bloody shield in which eight hundred thousand men, women and children lost their lives at the hands of their own country civilians. These killings are what the world remembers, but 1994 was the darkest and bitter civil war. This civil war made no distinction

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

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.

The Belgians also decreed that Tutsis should be the only ones in power and thus removed Hutus from positions of power and excluded them from higher education (Arraras). “By assuring the Tutsis’ monopoly of power the Belgians set the stage for future conflict in Rwanda” (Arraras). The Tutsis were enjoying their status as being superior to the Hutus but all that changed in 1959 with the Hutu revolution and so in 1960 and 1961 the Hutus won the elections. Since then, ethnic tensions had always been brewing between the Hutus and the Tutsis. However the tensions escalated when Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6, 1994. I consider this to be a form of political violence because someone or a group that opposed this President which represented only the political interests as well as the viability of the Hutus had to be killed in order for another group possibly the Tutsis to fill the vacuum of power left by the Hutu president. The Hutus blamed the assassination of their president on the Tutsis and in turn sparked an all out massacre waged on to the Tutsi people.

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi’s president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali their were no survivors. They did not know who shot the plane down but they are blaming Hutu extremists and the leaders of the RPF. An hour after the plane went down the Rwandan armed forces and the Hutu militia groups had started setting up roadblocks and barricades, and started killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus. the first victims of the genocide were the moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and her 10 Belgian bodyguards, with that happening it started more conflict and interim government of extremist Hutu Power leaders from the military high command had stepped in on april 9. The killing in Rwanda had spreaded to the rest of the country, up to 800,000 or more had been slaughtered within 3 months.

The Rwandan president, Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when the president’s plane is shot down near Kigali Airport, on April 6th, 1994. That night on the 6th of April, 1994, the genocide begins. Hutu people take to the streets with guns and machetes. The Hutus set up roadblocks and stopped anyone that looked Tutsi or suspected of helping Tutsi people to hide. On April 7th, 1994 the Rwandan Armed Forces set up roadblocks and went house to house to kill any Tutsis found. Thousands of people die on the first, while the U.N. just stands by and watches the slaughter go on. On April 8th, 1994 the U.N. cuts its forces from 2,500 to 250 after ten U.N. soldiers were disarmed and tortured and shot or hacked to death by machetes, trying to protect the Prime Minister. As the slaughter continues the U.N. sends 6,800 soldiers to Rwanda to protect the civilians, on May 17th, 1994, they were meant to be the peacekeepers. The slaughter continues until July 15th, 1994, in the 100 days that the genocide lasted 800,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and Hutus

The Rwandan Genocide was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority.

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.

Rwanda gained independence in 1962. The minority Tutsi community members were always a target of the ethnic Hutu extremists (Rwanda: Background to Genocide 2017), and the violence continued even after the independence. Negotiations took place at times, and the Hutu extremists were angered by the power-sharing agreement in 1993. The Civil war in Rwanda in 1990 mounted the tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority. Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was created by the Rwandan exiles, and it was made of mostly Tutsis (Rwanda genocide: 100 days of slaughter 2014).