Rwanda Genocide
A
Short History of the Rwanda
Skulls and bones fill a room at what
was the Murambi Technical School.
Beginning on April 6, 1994, Hutus
began slaughtering the Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda. As the brutal
killings continued, the world stood idly by and just watched the slaughter.
Lasting 100 days, the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and
Hutu sympathizers dead.
Who
Are the Hutu and Tutsi?
The Hutu and Tutsi are two peoples
who share a common past. When Rwanda was first settled, the people who lived
there 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.
It wasn't until Europeans came to
colonize the area that the terms "Tutsi" and "Hutu" took on
a racial role. The Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda in 1894. They
looked at the Rwandan people and thought the Tutsi had more European
characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller build. Thus they put Tutsis
in roles of responsibility.
When the Germans lost their colonies
following world war , the Belgians took control over Rwanda. In 1933, the
Belgians solidified the categories of "Tutsi" and "Hutu" by
mandating that every person was to have an identity card that labeled 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.
When Rwanda struggled for
independence from Belgium, the Belgians switched the status of the two groups.
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.
The
Event That Sparked the Genocide
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.
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 Accords, which weakened the Hutu hold on Rwanda and allowed Tutsis to
participate in the government. This greatly upset Hutu extremists.
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.
Slaughter
Inside Churches, Hospitals, and Schools
Thousands of Tutsis tried to escape
the slaughter by hiding in churches, hospitals, schools, and government
offices. These places, which historically have been places of refuge, were
turned into places of mass murder during the Rwanda Genocide.
One of the worst massacres of the
Rwanda genocide took place on April 15-16, 1994 at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic
Church, located about 60 miles east of Kigali. Here, the mayor of the town, a
Hutu, encouraged Tutsis to seek sanctuary inside the church by assuring them
they would be safe there. Then the mayor betrayed them to the Hutu extremists.
The killing began with grenades and
guns, but soon changed to machetes and clubs. Killing by hand was tiresome, so
the killers took shifts. It took two days to kill the thousands of Tutsi who were
inside.
Similar massacres took place around
Rwanda, with many of the worst ones occurring between April 11 and the
beginning of May.
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
Played a Huge Role in 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 term inyenzi ("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
World Stood By and Just Watched
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 a genocide. Other research has shown that the world
powers realized it was a 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.
The
Rwanda Genocide Ends
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, did the genocide stop.
THE ONLY WISE MAN IS HE THAT LEARN FROM HISTORY SO LETS LEARN FROM WHAT HAPPENED IN RWANDA BY READING THE ABOVE ARTICLE
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