The Genocide Of The Rwandan Genocide

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.

The analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that were living in close proximity. However, in the Rwandan genocide, the state is more centralized, compact, and effective. This is what explains the intensity and variation. The international response to these genocides through observers emphasized on

During the 100 days of the brutal massacre known as the Rwandan Genocide, between 800,000 to a million people were tragically murdered. Tutsis were not the only ones being killed. Hutus were also being killed for various reasons. If people thought they felt regretful for what they were doing to the Tutsi, they would be killed. If the Hutus tried to help the Tutsi in anyway they were killed. Many of the Hutus were killed if they opposed the killing campaign and the forces directing it.

What causes genocide? Is genocide preventable? In order to prevent genocide, we will have to understand it. “You have to understand what caused genocide to happen. Or it will happen again.” (Tim Walz) We must study and match genocides and cultivate a functioning theory about the genocidal progression. Genocide is a definite evil ethical crime any ruling authority such as a government can compel against its people. A wide-ranging explanation of genocide is the intent to destroy or murder people because of their race, beliefs, or even political and economic status. Genocidal violence has a long history. All in history, societies have tried to eliminate others for various reasons, but these attempts have been marked by the human race's rejection

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.

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.

The Tutsi are a people who live in Rwanda, Burundi, and the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The location, size, and history, most importantly, is why the Tutsi tribe the second largest population division among the three largest groups in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa. Although the Tutsi tribe is one of the most known tribes in Africa, it comes from a long way of fighting for its' rights and independence.

A Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially of those of an ethnic group or nation. There has been seven genocides, and the Rwanda genocide is no exception. Only a little less than a million people were killed, over a period of approximately 100 days (Singh 1). With the bad living conditions already in Rwanda, it is a place of poverty and discomfort for many people among other problems such as inequality. The genocide could have been prevented if Rwanda, and surrounding countries, had placed refugee camps near Rwanda for fleeing Tutsis, the United Nations stepping in sooner and educating the public on the genocide, and allowing the Hutus to have as much of a voice that the Tutsis had (before the genocide had started).

Twenty years ago in the small east African country of Rwanda, eight hundred thousand people, mostly those of the Tutsi tribe, were slaughtered by their own government. The Hutu and the Tutsi tribes followed the same traditions and inhabited the same territory for over a thousand years. The rise of conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu dates back to 1918, when the Germans lost their colonies following World War I, and the Belgians took control of Rwanda. In 1933, the Belgians establish the superiority of the "Tutsi" over the "Hutu" which lead to a great divide between these two groups (Admin of PBS.org). When the Belgians handed over power to the Hutu majority, a deep resentment of

In today’s world, it is of the utmost importance to learn from mistakes of the past. Certain events, especially tragedies that could have been avoided, hold within them the lessons and wisdom that should be used to prevent similar disasters. The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in over 800, 000 deaths of the Tutsi people, at the hands of the Hutu; the genocide, and the international response to it, is a lesson about the humanitarian responsibilities, successes, and shortcomings of the United Nations.

In the year 1994, the Rwandan Genocide took place. During this time, Rwandans were set into two distinctive groups that were at war with each other. He Hutu ethnic majority were determined to remove the Tutsi ethnic minority. In westernized states, many people were not concerned with this because they felt that there was no real connection. The United States, specifically, did not want to engage in what they believed to be “not their fight”. In 2004, Hotel Rwanda was released and it baffled many westerns when they realized how little help they provided. It also caused an emotional response because it was noted how much could have changed if they had stepped in. Hotel Rwanda was a very historically accurate film and had many key features

One of the most prominent genocides that has occurred within the century was not only the Holocaust in 1940s, but also occurred in 1994 in Rwanda… which eventually would be referred to as a “preventable genocide” (p. 447). Rwanda was considered this because, “…On the one hand, it is possible to isolate the key developments that led step by step from the earliest colonial period in Rwanda to the genocide a full century later. On the other, there was nothing inevitable about this process” (p. 447). The genocide that occurred within Rwanda initiated between the two main groups of the country… the Tutsi and the Hutu. The genocide would last for roughly one-hundred days of which, “During 100 days in 1994, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Rwandan Tutsi

The term genocide encompasses some of the darkest times in the history of the world. There is no definitive answer as to what drives one sect of society to try and eliminate another based purely on their cultural, racial, national or political affiliation either by birth or by choice. During World War II, between six and eleven million Jewish people were systematically exterminated by the Nazis. Although it was the most prolific of genocides, it was not the first or the last of this atrocity to occur. In 1994, genocide occurred in the African nation of Rwanda. At the time it happened, the world paid little heed while almost a million people were killed. After the incident, the reaction of the United Nations came under scrutiny as researchers

Proceeding from Kant’s philosophical perspective, humans are moral agents due to their ability to rationalize, reason and be autonomous. In order to make the claim that the international community is morally unjustified in their lack of action regarding the Rwandan genocide is because humanitarian intervention can be regarded as a perfect duty when approached from a Kantian perspective. This ideology is challenging for many critics because if this is a perfect duty then comes the question of who is to claim such responsibility. When arguing from a deontological viewpoint the “duty applies to the universal moral community as such and therefore is everybody’s responsibility. Because this duty concerns the international community as a whole, it should be discharged by that community by institutionalizing its responsibility” (Bagnoli 3). While not all critics agree that such crimes against humanity can be regarded as a perfect duty, in which “an international agency would best…protect the moral concerns of the whole community of rational beings” (Bagnoli 20), even the classification of an imperfect duty can still call for the moral obligation of a nation. In such a case the responsibility and duty to act is directed on the nations that are able to respond at a reasonable rate and with the highest efficiency (Pattison 264). At the time the genocide began in Rwanda, many nations already had citizens in Rwanda attempting to keep the peace, however the outbreak of the conflict

The most astonishing thing is the number of lives that were lost in such a span of time (Akresh 4). What triggered the genocide is when Juvenal Habyarimana, the Rwandan president died on sixth April nineteen ninety four in a shooting that happened in Kigali Airport. This wave of violence spread drastically in all places of the country. The Hutus being the perpetrators of the massacre, wanted to wipe away the Tutsi (Mamdani 3). However, could the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana be the cause of such a dreaded massacre? This paper will explore the historical rivalry of the Hutu and Tutsi communities, the motive of the genocide, the role of the media and the international community and the aftermath of the massacre. In my opinion, I must declare that it I unavoidably difficult to discuss the Rwandan genocide without raising the deepest emotions, a cry for humanity.