Assignment #9

The Rwandan Genocide among the worst in history

The Rwandan Genocide was an attempt by Hutu Militia groups to annihilate the entire Tutsi population, as well as moderate Hutu’s living in Rwanda, Africa from April 6th 1994 to July 1994.
“The whole country was eerily quiet and smelled of death. There were bodies everywhere, and I knew any of them could have been someone close to me. But I couldn't cry. I was just numb,” stated survivor Mary Kayitesi Blewitt about the condition of Rwanda at the end of the genocide.
The genocide was an end result of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana’s desire to gain Hutu support after the rebel Tutsis of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) attacked his country from Uganda on October 1st, 1990. While the attack was insignificant, Habyarimana over-exaggerated the threat as a way of regaining the trust of the distant Hutu population. In an attempt to divide the Rwandan population, he marked the local Tutsis as traitors loyal to the RPF. The Hutu’s quickly aligned with President Habyarimana, but it took three years of heavy propaganda and violence to fully separate the Hutu and Tutsi populations, which were very similar before the divide.
On August 4th, 1993, The Hutu-extremist Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) refused to sign the Arusha Accords, which were documents that ended the civil war between Rwanda and the RPF. The Arusha Accords aimed to take lots of power away from Habyarimana, and create a system called the TBBG, which split power between five political parties. At this time, Hutu radio stations began a campaign of fear that portrayed Tutsis as inferior citizens. Many Hutu militias were created in the hopes of exterminating the Tutsi people.
April 6th, 1994 launched the official start of the genocide. Habyarimana’s plane was shot down, and Paul Kagame, the leader of the RPF, was immediately blamed. This incident gave the Hutu’s, who were led by Colonel Bagosora, the chance to begin the Tutsi extermination they had been planning for so long. With the backing of most military leaders, Bagosora began mass slaughtering every Tutsi he could find, claiming the killing was “self defense.” He slowly recruited more and more people to aid in the butchering of all Tutsis and moderate Hutu’s. Most of the Tutsis were hacked up by machetes, and many women were violently raped repeatedly. Bulldozers were used to knock down churches that Tutsis were hiding in. Between April 6th and mid July of 1994, approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutu’s were estimated to be dead.
The UN has been criticized for its lack of effort during the genocide. UN troops were present, but seemed very detached from the mass murder that was occurring. While there was not much international help in stopping the killing, the Hutu’s eventually self destructed. They were unwilling to guard borders, and began fighting amongst each other while accusing former allies of being Tutsi. The RPF army was eventually able to take control of the country and establish an interim government.
In March of 1999, a 900 page report, titled "Leave None to Tell the Story” was released that criticized the UN, United States, France and Belgium for not taking action to prevent the killings.


Sources:

Jacobs, Sarah. “The more need there is for help, The more I know I have to be involved.” Associated Newspapers Ltd. 29 October, 2006.

“Rwandan Genocide.” Wikipedia. 20 February. 2007.

“The Triumph of Evil.” Frontline. 1995.
< http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/evil/etc/slaughter.html>