World Order: The Rwanda Genocide

Throughout the 20th century, numerous acts of genocides have attempted to bring the complete elimination and devastation of large groups of people originating from various particular ethnicities. With these genocides occurring in many regions of the world, the perpetrators often organizing such crimes, have historically been larger and more powerful than the victims themselves. Often being the government and its military forces. However, the lack of international response associated with these genocides, further contributed to the devastating outcomes. On April 6,1994, the fastest killing spree of the century took place in Rwanda against the Tutsi minority population. With many warning signs having already been proclaimed prior to the start of the Rwandan genocide, I believe that with international interference, this bloodshed could have ultimately been prevented.

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.

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.

George Santayana once said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The Rwanda Genocide is a contemporary representation of the events that occurred during the Armenian Genocide. It is an unforgiving circumstance that even after massacres from the latter and the Holocaust that Genocides still emerge in a world who far too often shuts their door to the idea of intervention. Countries can have an abundance of supplies, unmatchable man-power, and exceptional military equipment, however, with interests in absentia, countries will be reluctant to deploy forces despite exclamations of help. The culmination of the Rwanda Genocide is absolutely an unforgiving portion of history that will be remembered by the victims, the witnesses, and the decision-makers.

History has a funny way of repeating itself. After World War II, the United States and the rest of the international community promised to do all they could to prevent future genocides. However this was a promise they were unable to keep. In 1994 when Rwanda went through genocide the United States and U.N were absent, leaving the Tutsis to be brutally murdered by the Hutus. As a consequence 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed and dumped into mass graves. Once again the United States and U.N promised to do more, but this time it was too late.

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

Even though France supported Rwanda’s government for years prior to and during the genocide, they were still part of the UN peacekeeping. They provided support and backing in the means of weapons, aid, and even military training to the Hutus government. France’s President Francois Mitterrand even had openly stated—as the newspaper Le Figaro later reported it—“In such countries, genocide is not too important.” (324-325). Not only did they have forces on the ground, but were also in charge of protecting the fleeing refugees from the brutality being committed. Without Frances contribution there is a chance that the genocide may never had

On the early summer of 1994 the exodus of the Genocide in Rwanda began. Almost 800,000 people were killed in the period of 100 days. All due to bitter accusations from the biggest ethnic group- the Hutus. Somewhere inside Rwanda’s political elite, the group of Hutus aggressively criticised less than half of the Tutsi population, for the incredibly increasing social, economic, and political pressures, within the country, and were also wrongly accused of encouraging a ‘Tutsi-dominated rebel group’. Due to this, and also by the help of propaganda and perpetual political manipulating, the president, Habyarimana, (a Hutu), decided to split up the two ethnic groups, towards the end of 1992.

The third focus question is How were the genocide’s perpetrators brought to justice? The judicial mechanisms for bringing the perpetrators to justice has its origin in the first major trial against genocide: the Nuremberg Trials. The Allied Powers’ negotiators created four levels of indictment of increasing severity, (1) conspiracy to commit the following, (2) crimes against peace, (3) war crimes and (4) crimes against humanity - committing genocide falling into the fourth category. This model was used for future genocides and other atrocities, including in Rwanda. Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter was invoked in the UN Security Council Resolution 955 to establish the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. Its

This had to do with the peacekeepers that were sent to Rwanda, and how long they should stay there. The UN wanted to pull out troops, but they did not want to be hated. During the time the plan was being approved President Clinton did not want to commit any forces to Rwanda. Because of this, the US was scrutinized by the media and asked why they said no, but they did try to help clean up the situation. Althorugh troops were sent, they did not arrive until the middle of July. Though they were late, this did help to receive any other refugees to get away and to clam the genocide. But only fifty US vehicles were really sent to help them get out, the extra troops were sent by the UN Secretary General for peacekeeping duties along with 200 artillery pieces for a thousand men. Thanks to all the plans that had been approved and suggested by others to appease the situation thought many have died a few were saved thanks to UN efforts and as all know thans to a certain owner of a hotel who convinced a UN officer to take refugees out of Rwanda despite the risk of taking them out. There were many road blocks that were swarming with Hutus trying to stop them ,

Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, political, or cultural group”. In Rwanda for example, the Hutu-led government embraced a new program that called for the country’s Hutu people to murder anyone that was a Tutsi (Gourevitch, 6). This new policy of one ethnic group (Hutu) that was called upon to murder another ethnic group (Tutsi) occurred during April through June of 1994 and resulted in the genocide of approximately 800,000 innocent people that even included women and children of all ages. In this paper I will first analyze the origins/historical context regarding the discontent amongst the Hutu and Tutsi people as well as the historical context as to why major players in the international

This cause a fight back of the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front , the RPF, they overthrew the Rwandan Hutu government.

The frequency of war crimes and genocide in Rwanda was portended by the commencement of the Civil War. Madsen (21) explains that, more than 1200 Bagogwe people, a group of the North-western Rwanda related to the Tutsis were massacred by Armed Forces of Rwanda while “irregular Hutus” slaughtered Tutsis all through the northern and southern regions of Rwanda. The complicity of the RPF in the repeated violation of Interntional Law was replete in their actions during the Civil War. Thousands of civillians were the targets of brutal attacks. Rusesabinga(22) in an account of one of the attacks on a prison states that:

The recent arrest of General Karenzi Karake is part of the international community trying to grasp its understandings of Rwanda’s bloody history. On the night of April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana assassination while flying back to Rwanda by unknown fighters triggered the last genocide of the twentieth century. The Rwandan Genocide or also named the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis, ravaged the entire country as neighbours killed neighbours. Genocide perpetrators claimed that the massacres were required in order to protect the nation from the invading Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), which Rwanda had been fighting since 1990. It was the belief that the RPF wished to reestablish dominance over the majority Hutu population such as during the Belgium colonial period (1922-1962). The international community decided within the first few days to remove its presence with the removal of its citizens and the downgrading of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). The world looked away as in around one hundred days; over one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered by the genocide forces. The massacres only ceased when the RPF’s military wing, the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) fully invaded the country and expelled the genocide forces into eastern Zaire or know named the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As expected, the genocide cannot be as easily defined as it composes various elements that all play a role in the history of

Eight hundred thousand Tutsis were killed in just one hundred days, and the world watched some of the most graphic footage seen since the Holocaust. People could not pull away from their television sets, unable to believe it was happening. “Never again,” they had pledged, and yet, here it was in 1994. As the Hutus enacted a massive genocide, attempting to eliminate the Tutsi minority from Rwanda, the world did nothing. The United Nations stalled while the United States refused to have another failure as in Somalia where three American peacekeeping soldiers were dragged through the streets. Belgium was already pulling its peacekeeping troops from the state. The Tutsis’ human rights were clearly being violated. Why did no state intervene and