The Influence Of The Rwanda Genocide As An Ethnic Conflict

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.

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"

Throughout the 1600s to the mid 1990s, the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda, and the Hutu tribe of Rwanda have always been arch enemies. Although the Hutus have had a prolonged hate for the Tutsi tribe, this hate was not physically expressed, until 1994. From April to July of 1994, over 80,000 Tutsi people were murdered and tortured for their African heritage. The Rwanda genocide is considered to be one of the worst massacres the world has ever seen since the Holocaust. This paper will touch a few things that occurred after the massacre, and will also answer the questions of why this massacre started, what occurred during this genocide. The Rwandan genocide was a massacre based off of discrimination and hatred for a specific tribal group. This

After they had gained control of Rwanda, colonizers sought to clearly draw the line between ethnic groups that co-existed in the country; the Hutu and Tutsi. As Reader discussed on page 621, European colonizers issued identification cards to distinguish between the two groups; however, it was a difficult task considering the many “generations of intermarriage, migration and changes in occupation and economic standing...” Understanding the outright labeling of each ethnic group, Reader’s knowledge allows individuals to better understand the chapter called “A Neighborhood Genocide” in Machete Season. In this chapter, Hatzfeld claims that “the government had been recording the ethnic background of all its citizens…since 1931” (Hatzfeld, J). From this knowledge alone, it is easy to see how the murderers knew the “identity” of their neighbors, their friends and co-workers, seen in both the text

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

You sit in your kitchen, shivering, hearing the bombs surround you. Fear covers any other thought in your mind, you don’t want to think of what is to come for you nor your family. The deliberate and systematic murdering of a group, a genocide, have made millions experience these very feelings. When every genocide starts, the days seem endless and the problem exacerbates. It’s not until the other countries and the victims work together that they can end what the perpetrators started, mass murderings. Yet the foreign countries still lack the will needed to help find a solution. People are scared of what will come if their countries contribute to helping, though the the phrase “never again” is always spoken among them. The only way for these

War, a method people use when communication is useless. In Rwanda, an estimation of 800,000 people had died in such a short time. It was called Rwanda genocide. Rwanda is a small country in Africa with a great agriculture economy. It was controlled by Belgium. Belgium likes the Tutsi's family more than the Hutu's. The Hutu's did not like it so they started violence resulted of the migrating of most of the Tutsi. They were becoming less every time. On 1961, Hutus forced Rwanda's Tutsi Prince into dropping and declaring the country as republic. A year later, Belgium finally granted them their independence. In 1990, the Tutsi formed an army named (RPF) to conquer back their land from Uganda. The attacks started on the 7th of April and ended on

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 was a period of the Rwandan civil war where the Rwandan armed forces and Hutus killed at least 500 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus from April 6 to July 15, 1994 (Rwandan Genocide, 2016). Women were particularly victimized and continue to be affected today by the genocide because of the lasting impacts including trauma from sexual violence, suffering from the intentional transmission of HIV, and being forced to bear children of rape (Mullins, 2009, 722; Donovan, 2002, 17; Human Rights Watch, 2006). However, women were granted some restitution through traditional community justice, the Gacaca courts, with some women even holding positions as judges (Ka Hon Chu & de Brouwer, 2011, 203; Issifu, 2015, 71).

This use of propaganda is not exclusive to Rwanda, but has been used in various parts of the world to create narratives that reenforce the “separateness” of ethnic groups to such an extent that the “genocidaires” fully buy into these narratives, at the expense of their humanity. Both genocide and ethnic cleansing heavily rely on these narratives to frame a targeted group as “the enemy”. These divisive narratives are often fabricated to accomplish political goals and are quickly received in post-colonial states like Rwanda, where ethnic lines have already been drawn by colonial

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.

In human history, atrocious genocides are not uncommon. This particular event is especially important because it represents that the structure of society is flawed and can easily deteriorate. The acknowledgment can only deem to be a virtue, whereas ignorance could put society in a quandary. When we feign ignorance towards former events, we are instilling the mentality of staying a blind eye to future generations. The Rwandan Genocide serves as an example of genocide that is overlooked in history. The Rwandan Genocide was a recent event that happened in history; it only happened 21 years ago. To speak out about the barbaric circumstances are essential to changing society and preventing such a horrific event from ever occurring again, but most

The conflict in the Rwanda Genocide was a devastating example of a deep-rooted, identity-based conflict that took place within the Rwandan Civil War. Dr. Anastase Shyaka points out in “The Rwanda Conflict: Origin,

The war in Rwanda has often been presented as a “tribal conflict.” This is highly misleading. Hutus and Tutsis existed a century ago, but the two categories were defined in very different terms in those days. They were far less mutually hostile. Colonial rule and its attendant racial ideology, followed by independent governments committed to Hutu supremacy and intermittent inter-communal violence, have dramatically altered the nature of the Hutu-Tutsi problem, and made the divide between the two far sharper and more violent. In short, political manipulation of ethnicity is the main culprit for today’s ethnic problem.