War Crimes And Genocide In Rwanda

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.

Often described as the most horrible and systematic human massacre since the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide has been a subject of research and debate for decades. Typically, ethnic and cultural differences between segments of Rwanda’s diverse population, namely the Hutu and the Tutsi, is the reason given to explain the genocide. Although this is a valid argument, the roots of the conflict are more complex stretching back to the era of colonialism. The impact of colonialism on Rwandan politics and society set the foundations for revolution in 1959 and, ultimately, genocide in 1994.

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.

In the spring of 1994, more than eight thousand Rwandans were murdered, slaughtered, and bodies piled up upon the streets in less hundred days. But yet, the only reason this genocide had actually stopped, was at the cost of the Rwandan Patriotic Army, a militant group primarily composed of Rwandan refugees whom reclaimed Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Yet, before the Rwandan genocide occurred, for many years, tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi had growth to extreme measures and lead to far more than just disputes- it lead to the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide was a mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority in which the Hutu were the ones attempting to overrule the colony in

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

INTRODUCTION After the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people at the hand of the Nazi regime, the United Nations formed the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG), dedicated to the understanding and prevention of future genocides. The UNCG defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Genocides have occurred on almost every continent and the UNCG has had little impact on prevention. Indeed, 2since its creation in 1951 the world has seen a rise in genocides beginning in 1975 in Cambodia, followed by the horrors in Yugoslavia in 1992, then Rwanda in 1994, and the on-again-off-again atrocities in Darfur since 2003 (Maddox). The causes of each of these genocides are as unique as the topography of the land they occur on and as varied as the languages and cultures of the people involved. The genocide occurred in Rwanda in Central Africa between April 6, 1994 and July 1994. The decades of unjust treatment by Belgium favored the Tutsi tribe and the assassinations of the Rwandan president and Burundi president led to the genocide in Rwanda. CAUSES

Between April and June 1994 warfare between the Hutus and Tutsis people struck in the East African country of Rwanda. To call it a tragedy would be an understatement when faced with the estimated death count of one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus over the span one hundred days. The genocide resulted from the desire to control and obtain power within Rwanda and stemmed from a history of cultural and social class conflict amongst the rival groups. This bloodshed proved to be one the most horrific events in history.

out to be exploited in very violent manners. There were many conflicts that display this form of

The absence within the literature of the central pillars and their composed themes creates problems when trying to address current and future contention between the international community and Rwanda. By relying largely on the genocide guilt card, issues important to Rwanda are sometimes either overlooked or plainly forgotten. The result is miscommunication and misunderstandings that complicate a delicate situation. For example is the previously mentioned debate on term limits for President Kagame. Despite the thesis not discussing the third term debate except for the mention in Chapter Two, it is an important event that will help continue the trend of how Rwanda views the actions and decisions by international actors.

In April of 1994, a terrible atrocity began in the African country of Rwanda where around eight hundred thousand individuals were massacred over a time period of 100 brutal days. If thought about in mathematical terms, this works out to about 333 deaths per hour; which is a rate of deaths worse than what occurred during the Holocaust. (2) The term genocide is defined in the United Nations Genocide Convention, established in 1948, as “any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) killing members of the group; b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to

Even though the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is an excellent illustration of the failure of the State of Rwanda to observe and apply its state responsibility toward its population, especially the Tutsi minority, Nation states have inter alia several responsibilities towards the population under their jurisdiction, which include protection against egregious atrocities, genocide, mass murder, assassinations, and ethnic cleansing… International law emphasizes Nation states responsibilities and assures that no one State or a group of Nation states has the right to interfere directly or indirectly for any reason whatsoever in the internal or external affairs of any other State. However, what are the consequences of a State failure, inability, or unwillingness to protect its own population? And most importantly, would another State stand still while communities are being slaughtered just because it has no right to intervene in the domestic jurisdiction of another State, just like it happened in Rwanda and Bosnia in the 1990s? Additionally, are there other reasons that can allow a State or a group of Nation states to intervene, legally under the

I chose to write about the Rwandan Genocide, because I remember vividly the news accounts that broadcast images of its ravages during the 1990s. The conflict was identified as an ethnic conflict with very little context provided. Like most Western observers lacking knowledge of the history of the region, I saw the conflict as both complex and senseless. The course chapter on the Rwandan Genocide was very especially informative, and inspired my further study on the topic.

This tragic event which was originated in Rwanda occurred in 1994 killing 800,000 people. The genocide first came about by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, who was a Hutu. This resulted from the conscious choice of the upper class to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. The extremist ethnic Hutu regime in office in 1994 believed that the only way they could hang on to power was by wiping out the ethnic Tutsis. This genocide was further carried out and justified with the utilization of radios as they would discuss the suffering of the Hutus under the power of the Tutsis. With the use of machetes the people of the Tutsi descent were slaughtered and tortured making this one of largest genocides in Africa.

It is disappointing that the history of Rwanda,..., may still repeat itself. I may not have the power or influence to stop this tragedy, but I am not going to sit idly by and watch another tragedy continue to unfold before my eyes” US House2 5). Genocide has been around for centuries and unfortunately countries such as Rwanda had to witness the atrocities of genocide. Unlike the holocaust, the Hutus main goal was to slaughter as many Tutsi as they could in as little as 100 days. It is equally important to remember those that suffered from this historical event will never forget it. The Rwandan genocide was a 100 day massacre that was started by the Hutu President’s place accident, which was blamed on the Tutsi from previous political disputes. All in all, the question still remains whether the Hutus shot their own president's plane down to start a war of massacre or if the Tutsi were really trying to regain

These government orders reveal the ways that, even with the accessible knowledge about the Rwandan massacres being readily available, that the United States government was able to manipulate the situation as being contrary to their interests. Gourevitch outlines the ways that the West (and international government) failed to understand the ways that colonialism influenced the genocide as that would reflect negatively upon those nations as a further component of the way the violence was characterized.