Rwandan Genocide: The Democratic Republic Of The Congo

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 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.

In 2001, Kabila was assassinated, leading to him being replaced by his son Joseph Kabila (ECI). According to the Eastern Congo Initiative, the Congo held its first democratic elections in 2006, with Kabila being elected. At the same time, however, multiple armed groups gained power and began fighting over control of mineral resources in the Eastern Congo, resulting in more civilian lives. To this day they still continue to fight, and despite multiple peace treaties, the violence does not end (ECI).

With over eight hundred thousand to one million deaths, the Rwandan genocide is undoubtedly one of the most sad and shocking examples of the lack of intervention by not only the US and the UN, but by other countries as well. The ongoing tensions between the Hutu, the largest population in Rwanda, and the Tutsi, the smaller and more elite population is what eventually lead to the Rwandan genocide. The killings began quickly after President Habyarimana 's plane was shot down. After hundreds of thousands of deaths, the US did not intervene in Rwanda because being a landlocked country with no natural resources to benefit the US, there was no economical benefit, and the risk of sending in troops simply outweighed the rewards. The aftermath of the genocide has not only impacted those who lived through it, but it has also impacted future generations as well. At the end of the genocide, the ICTR was formed by the UN to find justice. The Rwandan genocide has shocking similarities between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide as well. Overall, the Rwandan genocide was a terrible event that escalated far beyond what it should have if there had been intervention from other countries and the UN.

“Seldom in history has a once-dominant group suffered so terrible a reversal of fortune as the Tutsi of Rwanda”- Robin Hallet. The event that Robin Hallet is referring to is the Rwandan Genocide, the “genocidal mass slaughter” of the Tutsi (the minority group in Rwanda) and a few Hutu (the dominant group in Rwanda) by “members of the Hutu majority,” which resulted in at least 1 million Rwandan deaths. The Rwandan Genocide was indirectly caused by European colonists; severely damaged relations between the two ethnic groups, almost irreparably; and had a destructive effect on the survivors of the genocide.

War never changes, it will always be around for as long as we are here, with it, it brings genocide. Every day we are in a constant battle with each other, whether it be at home or across the oceans. We have invented weapons solely to cause mass destruction across entire continents. This has led to limitations being placed on warfare, but sometimes it's not enough. "We have to protect our Earth, so our children and grandchildren will never suffer like that"

Abimbola, Olaifa and Danjibo Dominic. The 1994 Rwandan Conflict: Genocide or War? International Journal on World Peace. Vol XXX No. 3(2013). 31-54. Print.

Initially, Western media dismissed the beginnings of the genocide as just another “tribal conflict” or civil war in “war-torn Africa”. This often led outside countries to dismiss the conflict for up to a month. Soon, however, as the Western journalists in Rwanda began to communicate to their countries how bad the violence really was, a growing understanding of just how catastrophic the genocide was finally began hitting the West. Unfortunately, before the West could gauge much more, all non-Rwandan people were ordered out of the country. French, Belgian, American, and other citizens living in Rwanda were ordered back to their country and they took with them the last of the journalists who were truly connected to the Western world. Information about what was happening every day and how the genocide was escalating was limited (The Editorial Board). Even then, there were enough humanitarian organizations on the ground that constantly updated the international community on the disastrous state of Rwanda. Despite knowing enough about the genocide to at least intervene on some level, the international community was especially slow to move. People were dying at alarming numbers in Rwanda and the world was hesitant to move because it did not want to label the conflict a genocide ("Rwanda, Genocide, Hutu, Tutsi, Mass Execution...”). Calling the conflict a genocide would mean definitive involvement and this involvement, purely done for humanitarian reasons, would take up money and resources. Since most countries had no interests to protect in Rwanda, they felt a limited sense of urgency and discussed the correct definition of the word “genocide” while thousands got displaced and died ("Rwanda, Genocide, Hutu, Tutsi, Mass Execution...”). Aside from not wanting to spend resources, nations like America were hesitant to intervene in Africa because of their past on the continent. In the past, American soldiers

Genocide is not a good thing to have in our world so I am going to talk about sometimes it has happened, How to fix it, and why the heck would someone start genocide.

The Rwandan Genocide would have been considered a civil war if the Tutsi people had the political and military power to fight back against the attacking Hutu people, However, No help came for the Tutsi people leaving them nearly defenseless against their offenders as they were mercilessly slaughtered.

“The Democratic Republic of Congo has a long history of conflict, but it’s recent crises can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In response to violence carried out by exiled Rwandan Hutu genocidaires; Rwandan and Ugandan force invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1996” (Responsibility to Protect). What the world and America should have done to prevent the DR-Congo conflict is intervene in the Rwandan genocide; while they had a chance because Congo became the precursor of the Rwandan genocide. The Rwandan genocide had a major impact on the conflict occurring in DR-Congo because of the killers blending in the refugee camps and taking over and committing atrocities to men, women, and children.

involved until after the atrocities were done. There is also a question of motives that has recently come out on the part of the French.

It was April of 1994 in the small African republic of Rwanda, when a campaign of genocide began. Over a period of approximately 100 days, extremists belonging to the Hutu ethnic group murdered over 800,000 people. Those targeted were primarily of the Tutsi ethnic group, but Hutu moderates were also slaughtered en masse. The Rwandan Genocide, as well as the historical causes of it and the ongoing reparations that follow, are perfect examples of conflict and compromise in history.

In the previous paper, it was introduced that the Rwandan Genocide was more than just an internal conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu. It was also a combination of ineffective foreign military intervention, failed human rights initiatives, and a lack of political will that sabotaged any chances for successful peace operations in Rwanda. Many people believed that the ultimate driver of the conflict were the assassinations of presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Nytaryamira of Burundi.

Nations should respond to crimes against humanity as a harsh crime. When a villain like person robs a bank of does an illegal act the justice system always acts immediately and gives them the appropriate punishment. But lots of times people within a nation get away with doing multiple hate crimes and Crimes Against Humanity and nobody does anything, they just sit ideally by. One example of a Crime Against Humanity is the crisis that happened in Rwanda with the Tutsis and the Thnus. Another example of a Crime Against Humanity is what happened in Nanking during the second World War. One more example is the Holocaust in Germany also during the second World War. These acts and more are great examples of Crimes Against Humanity that went unrecognized and Nations that did not have a proper punishment for their crimes.