The Tensions That Led Up To The Rwanda 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.

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.

While there is no single outlying cause of the Rwandan Genocide, the ongoing tensions between the Hutu and the Tutsi is what is believed to have eventually lead to the Rwandan genocide. The majority of the killings occurred shortly after President Habyarimana 's plane was shot down

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 Rwandan genocide occurred during the period of April to July of 1994. This genocide was as a result of the Hutu ethnic majority slaughtering the Tutsi minority. During this period as much as 800,000 Tutsis were killed. The genocide was started by Hutu extremists in the capital of Kigali and the genocide soon spread across the country. Despite all of this there were several survivors of the genocide. Immaculee Ilibagiza is one of those people.

Right before the genocide, Habyarimana, the president of Rwanda, signed a treaty with Arusha, Tanzania which allowed a sharing in power. This new power agreement made by a Tutsi president angered the Hutus, because it took away the little power they had. After this treaty was made known to the public, the major Rwanda genocide actually began.

The first know people to live in the region near Rwanda were the Twa, other wise know as Pygmies. However, between 700 and 1000 BC, Hutu people from the Congo River basin migrated to the area. Although the Hutu had been well functioning since their arrival, in the 15th century, the Tutsi tribe arrived from Northern Africa. The Tutsi were more powerful and conquered the Hutu, creating an intricate feudal system. The Tutsi became the ruling, landowning class and the Hutu became peasants and surfs, while any remaining Twa were the lowest in the social pyramid. Through the end of the 19th century, the region consisting much of modern-day Rwanda was ruled by a single Tutsi king– the mwami. Similar to the Medieval feudal system, the King controlled other Tusti lords and vassals, who then controlled the Hutu working class. By the middle of the 19th century, the kingdom was at its pinnacle, financially well and equipped with a modernly armed military, thanks to trade with eastern Africans.

The Rwandan Genocide was one of the most violent genocides in the history of the world and was intricately planned and implemented by the ethnic group called the Hutu in an attempt to eliminate another, the Tutsis. Though the genocide lasted only one hundred days, the number of deaths is estimated to be approximately 800,000. In the wake of the genocide, mass chaos plagued the country of Rwanda, deepening the divide between the groups Hutu and Tutsi. Although it can be said the genocide was caused only by the animosity between the groups in an effort for revenge, several causes led to the genocide—including social, economic, political and historical factors that had been a result of past interactions. The Rwandan Genocide was caused by

The Rwandan Genocide was one of the most horrific acts of genocide since the Holocaust during World War II.  Lasting only one hundred days it claimed the lives of over 800,000 people and had lasting effects on global civilization to this day. Even though the world had been consumed by many travesties before, the Rwandan Genocide exposed that violent human injustices on a grand scale could still happen regardless of the advancements made within “global society”. Decades of internal conflict within Rwanda because of colonialism, class, and clan played a great role in marring cultural identity and thusly created a foundation for the genocide.  The homogeny of cultures evolved, separating the population of Rwanda into three distinct groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and a marginal group of Twa that made up one percent of the population. Hutu ultimately came into power and with the help of the Interahamwe (a Hutu militia group) and the Rwandan Armed Forces committed atrocities towards Tutsi peoples under the ideal of 'social revolution ' and extermination of perceived 'enemies ' of the Hutu race. The planning and execution to erase and exterminate the culture and identity of Tutsi people is a classic and legal example of Genocide.

According to Michael P. Scharf, over 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in just 4 months. To put that in perspective, that is two times more people than everyone in Atlanta, and every single one of their lives were taken in a third of the year. Such a terrible atrocity and no one accepted the blame. A small group of African leaders came together and blamed other countries such as the United States and the members of the United Nation’s for not intervening on the genocide that was occurring. Others, however, stated that it was not their place to get in the middle of a civil war. Looking deeper into this matter, some even say that the Rwandan government shares a portion of the blame for putting the two groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, against each other. There has been a long, thick tension between the two for many years going back to when Belgium owned a colonial state known as Rwanda-Burundi.

The Rwandan Genocide, triggered by the murder of Rwandan President Habyarimana on April 9, 1994, was the fastest, if not most barbarous bloodbath in human history, and was carried out with little to no intervention or aid force from any of the many capable Western governments, such as the United States. Though these administration 's may claim that they were unable to intervene due to lack of warning signs and insufficient information; those statements are false. The United States government refused to intervene in the Rwandan genocide due to its economic disinterest, political indifference, and pure African prejudice, completely ignoring the obvious signs of the genocide.

Rape itself is a sensitive topic, although it was desensitized by the Hutu men after they raped approximately 250,000 women (Brysiewicz et al. 2). The genocide in Rwanda was devastating, causing problems with deeper roots than a normal war. Not only were there upwards of 1 million deaths, a whole community was destroyed and corrupted by HIV/AIDS. Rape was such a driving force of the genocide because the Tutsi women were sexually sweeter, and it allowed the community to feel destroyed (Brysiewicz et al. 3). Rape babies serve as constant reminder of the tragedy; the effects are everlasting and people slowly died from HIV/AIDS, as well as social isolation.

The Rwanda Genocide was an unfortunate case where thousands of deaths could have been prevented, but because of irresponsibility and selfishness of global governments’ innocent lives were lost. The Genocide began on April 6, 1994 and was, “initiated by the Hutu political elite and extremists and its military support, their prime targets were the Tutsi, as well as Hutu moderates.” (Hain 2) The Hutu made up majority of the population and government officials and enforced a government-assisted military force to fatally attack the Tutsis. The genocide lasted one hundred days until a rebel Tutsi groups army Hutu armies in a Civil War. Within ten years of the genocide, Rwanda would make exceptional changes to government that would hold genocide participants accountable, within twenty years of the genocide; the economy has grown about 8% an annum. In the next fifty years, Rwanda will continue to see economic and population growth, but will continue to push peace and unity as the genocide continues to cause ethnical tension.

“If human is capable of conducting genocide, no need for an asteroid to wipe out dinosaurs.” -Toba Beta

“In the Rwandan genocide over one million helpless Tutsi were murdered in a span of 100 days” (Briggs). Because of the underlying government and cultural problems in Rwanda, the Hutu led a 100 day massacre against the Tutsi in an attempt to eradicate them. To begin, the word genocide contains many definitions and has been used several times throughout history. The dispute of the Rwandan Hutu and Tutsi occurred long before the events of 1994. There were lots of methods that were taken to eradicate the Tutsi. Furthermore, the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide had many atrocities.