What
Was the Rwanda Genocide?
In the genocide
that began on April 6, 1994, the Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsis (who were
in minority) in the African country of Rwanda. Lasting 100 days, thais genocide
left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead.
Who Are the Hutu and Tutsi?
The Hutu and Tutsi share a common past.
When Rwanda was first settled, the people lived there and raised cattle. Soon,
the people who owned the most cattle were called "Tutsi" and
everyone else was called "Hutu." At this time, a person could
easily change categories through marriage or cattle acquisition.
Germans started discriminating the Hutus.
The racial differences began after Rwanda was colonised.
The Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda in 1894. They considered that
Tutsi had more European characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller
build. Thus they put Tutsis in roles of responsibility.
Belgian control after World War-I and Discrimination against Hutus.
When the Germans lost their
colonies following World War I,
the Belgians took control over Rwanda. In 1933, the Belgians solidified the
categories of "Tutsi" and "Hutu" and mandated the identity card that
labelled them either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa (Twa
are a very small group of hunter-gatherers who also live in Rwanda).
Although the Tutsi constituted only
about ten percent of Rwanda's population and the Hutu nearly 90 percent, the
Belgians gave the Tutsi all the leadership positions. This upset the Hutu.
Subsequent discrimination against Tutsis.
Since 1959, the Rwanda was
struggling for independence from Belgium. In 1962, 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. In 1990, the Tutsi led the Rwandan Patriotic
Front (RPF) group
initiated civil war.
The Event That Sparked the Genocide.
The triggering cause of genocide
can be traced back to the signing of Arusha Accords by President Habyarimana,
which weakened the Hutu hold on Rwanda and allowed Tutsis to participate in the
government.
Since 1973, President Habyarimana,
a Hutu, had run a totalitarian regime in Rwanda, which had excluded all Tutsis
from participating. That changed on August 3, 1993 when Habyarimana signed the
Arusha Accord. This greatly upset Hutu extremists.
At 8:30 p.m. on April 6, 1994,
President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania
when a surface-to-air missile shot his plane out of the sky over Rwanda's
capital city of Kigali. All on board were killed in the crash.
Although it has never been
determined who was truly responsible for the assassination, Hutu extremists
profited the most from Habyarimana's death. Within 24 hours after the crash,
Hutu extremists had taken over the government, blamed the Tutsis for the
assassination, and begun the slaughter.
100 Days of Slaughter.
The killings began in Rwanda's
capital city of Kigali. The Interahamwe ("those who
strike as one"), an anti-Tutsi youth organization established by Hutu
extremists, set up road blocks. They checked identification cards and killed
all who were Tutsi. Most of the killing was done with machetes, clubs, or
knives. Over the next few days and weeks, road blocks were set up around Rwanda.
On April 7, Hutu extremists began
purging the government of their political opponents, which meant both Tutsis
and Hutu moderates were killed. This included the prime minister. When ten Belgian U.N. peacekeepers
tried to protect the prime minister, they too were killed. This caused Belgium
to start withdrawing its troops from Rwanda.
Over the next several days and
weeks, the violence spread. Since the government had the names and addresses of
nearly all Tutsis living in Rwanda (remember, each Rwandan had an identity card
that labeled them Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa) the killers could go door to door,
slaughtering the Tutsis.
Men, women, and children were
murdered. Since bullets were expensive, most Tutsis were killed by hand
weapons, often machetes or clubs. Many were often tortured before being killed.
Some of the victims were given the option of paying for a bullet so that they'd
have a quicker death.
Also during the violence, thousands
of Tutsi women were raped. Some were raped and then killed, others were kept as
sex slaves for weeks. Some Tutsi women and girls were also tortured before being
killed, such as having their breasts cut off or had sharp objects shoved up
their vagina.
Corpses.
To further degrade the Tutsi, Hutu
extremists would not allow the Tutsi dead to be buried. Their bodies were left
where they were slaughtered, exposed to the elements, eaten by rats and dogs.
Many Tutsi bodies were thrown into
rivers, lakes, and streams in order to send the Tutsis "back to
Ethiopia" - a reference to the myth that the Tutsi were foreigners and
originally came from Ethiopia.
Media provoked the Genocide.
For years, the Kangura newspaper,
controlled by Hutu extremists, had been spouting hate. As early as December
1990, the paper published "The Ten Commandments for the Hutu." The
commandments declared that any Hutu who married a Tutsi was a traitor. Also,
any Hutu who did business with a Tutsi was a traitor. The commandments also
insisted that all strategic positions and the entire military must be Hutu. In
order to isolate the Tutsis even further, the commandments also told the Hutu
to stand by other Hutu and to stop pitying the Tutsi.
When RTLM (Radio Télévison des Milles
Collines) began broadcasting on July 8, 1993, it also spread hate. However,
this time it was packaged to appeal to the masses by offering popular music and
broadcasts conducted in a very informal, conversational tones.
Once the killings started, RTLM
went beyond just espousing hate; they took an active role in the slaughter. The
RTLM called for the Tutsi to "cut down the tall trees," a code phrase
which meant for the Hutu to start killing the Tutsi. During broadcasts, RTLM
often used the terminyenzi ("cockroach") when referring
to Tutsis and then told Hutu to "crush the cockroaches."
Many RTLM broadcasts announced
names of specific individuals who should be killed; RTLM even included
information about where to find them, such as home and work addresses or known
hangouts. Once these individuals had been killed, RTLM then announced their
murders over the radio.
The RTLM was used to incite the
average Hutu to kill. However, if a Hutu refused to participate in the
slaughter, then members of the Interahamwe would give them a
choice -- either kill or be killed.
The international powers as mere bystanders.
Following World War II and the Holocaust,
the United Nations adopted a resolution on December 9, 1948, which stated that "The Contracting Parties
confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is
a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish."
Clearly, the massacres in Rwanda
constituted genocide, so why didn't the world step in to stop it?
There has been a lot of research on
this exact question. Some people have said that since Hutu moderates were
killed in the early stages then some countries believed the conflict to be more
of a civil war rather than genocide. Other research has shown that the world
powers realized it was genocide but that they didn't want to pay for the needed
supplies and personnel to stop it. No matter what the reason, the world
should have stepped in. They should have stopped the slaughter.
Three of the five permanent members
of the UN had reasons not to prevent the genocide. The US had nothing to
gain, (also its act is directly inspired by their defeat that they
underwent during their intervention in Somalia in
1993) and France and China were supplying the government with arms.
If the UN had expressed more concern for the atrocities going on, had decided
early on that what was happening was indeed a genocide, action could have been
taken much sooner.
How did the Rwanda Genocide end?
The Rwanda Genocide ended only when the
RPF took over the country. The RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) were a trained
military group consisting of Tutsis who had been exiled in earlier years, many
of whom lived in Uganda.
The RPF were able to enter Rwanda
and slowly take over the country. In mid July 1994, when the RPF had full
control, the genocide stopped.
The Great Lakes refugee crisis.
It is the common name for the
situation beginning with the exodus in April 1994 of over two million Rwandans
to neighboring countries of the Great Lakes region of Africa in the
aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide. Many of the refugees
were Hutu ethnics
fleeing the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF),
which had gained control of the country at the end of the genocide.
Role of the UN.
The United Nations
Assistance Mission For Rwanda was a mission instituted by theUnited Nations to
aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords,
signed August 4, 1993, which were meant to end the Rwandan Civil War.
The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996. Its activities were meant
to aid the peace process between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi-dominated rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front(RPF).
The UNAMIR has received much
attention for its role, or lack thereof due to the limitations of its rules of engagement, in the Rwandan Genocide and
outbreak of fighting. Its mandate extended past the RPF overthrow of the
government and into the Great Lakes refugee crisis. The mission is thus
regarded as a major failure.
Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The international response to the
Rwandan Genocide was poor. For weeks, the major power nations denied that the a
genocide was taking place in Rwanda. Even, the United States refused to call
the incident "genocide," because using the term would make an obligation
for the United States to send troops.
Finally in July 1994, long after
the genocide was over, the UN Security Council called for an
investigation of the events, and acted to establish an international criminal
tribunal to prosecute those individuals most responsible for the genocide.
Adopting Resolution 955, the Security Council created the ICTR on November 8,
1994 and the ICTR would also deal with other crimes against international
humanitarian law committed on the territory of Rwanda and neighboring states
between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994.
The Tribunal has stated that it
must close by December 2014, when all further cases will be transferred to local
courts in Kigali. Since its creation in 1994, the ICTR has resolved 71 cases,
resulting in 92 indictments, ten acquittals, and 32 convicted Rawandans who are
currently serving prison sentences in Mali and Benin.
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