The Rwandan Genocide1994

History of the Conflict

• In the 15th century the Tutsis were rulers of most of today's Rwanda

• Tutsis were a minority of population, mostly herders

• Majority Hutus were mostly croppers (farmers)• When kings distributed the land, they gave it to

the Tutsis who charged Hutus to live and work on the land

Evolution of Titles• Originally an ethnic distinction• Everyone who wasn’t Tutsi was labeled Hutu• Became an economic status

– Gaining wealth meant losing “Hutuness”

• When the Belgians gained the land (1923) as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, they used the distinction to “divide and rule”– Issued passcards to Rwandans – Gave preferential treatment to Tutsis (“with the long nose”)

• Hutu’s had “blunt/short nose”

Beginning of a Social Revolution• Hutus begin to form a

nationalist party (Parmahutu) to fight for their rights in 1957

• Rwanda gains independence from Belgium in 1962 (Hutu president elected)

• Killings of Tutsis starts (20,000 1963)

• 200,000 Tutsi refugees flee border and form the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)

What we have so far…

• Tutsi minority is ruling (until Belgians leave) • Hutus have formed groups to fight against the

injustice• Tutsi refugees have formed groups in other

countries

The Rwandan Civil War

• Conflict lasting from 1990-1994+• Between the government of

President Habyarimana (Hutu)

and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic

Front (Tutsi group outside of Rwanda)– Tutsis were trying to take back power in Rwanda– Peace agreements were signed (power sharing

w/Tutsis), but Habyarimana doesn’t cede(share) power to any other political party

Habyarimana

The Action of…

• two extremist Hutu militias– The Interahamwe

• "those who stand together" or "those who work together" or "those who fight together”

• A Hutu paramilitary organization (30,000 at peak)• Backed by the Hutu Government

– Impuzamugambi• "Those who have the same goal" or "Those who

have a single goal" • Hutu militia

The Catalyst (spark)

• On April 6, 1994,the airplane carrying Rwandan President Habyarimana and the Hutu president of Burundi was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali (capital)

• Both presidents died when the plane crashed. • Responsibility for the attack is disputed, with

both the RPF and Hutu extremists being blamed• In spite of disagreements about the identities of

its perpetrators (those involved), the attack on the plane is to many observers the catalyst (spark) for the genocide

The Beginnings of Genocide

• National radio urged people to stay in their homes (propaganda)

• the government-funded station RTLM broadcast scathing attacks against Tutsis and Hutu moderates• Hundreds of roadblocks were set up by the

militia around the country• Lieutenant-General Dallaire of the UN

Peacekeeping Force and UNAMIR, escorting Tutsis in Kigali, were unable to do anything as Hutus kept escalating the violence and even started targeting the peacekeepers themselves

The Killings• Killed in their villages or in towns, often by their

neighbors and fellow villagers• Militia members typically murdered their victims by

hacking them with machetes (inexpensive), although some army units used rifles

• The victims were often hiding in churches and school buildings, where Hutu gangs massacred them

• Ordinary citizens were called on by local officials and government-sponsored radio to kill their neighbors and those who refused to kill were often killed themselves

• Everyone killed so they weren’t killed themselves:– Mayors– Priests– EVERYONE!

Number Killed

• Unlike Nazis they didn’t keep records• The RPF government has stated that 1,071,000

were killed, 10% of which were Hutu (determined in February 2008)

• Gourevitch agrees with an estimate of one million

• United Nations lists the toll as 800,000• African Rights estimates the number as "around

750,000," • Human Rights Watch states that it was "at least

500,000

Issues Post-Genocide• Two million + Hutu refugees,

most of whom were participants in the genocide and with anticipation of Tutsi retaliation, fled from Rwanda, to Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

• Thousands of them died in epidemics of diseases common to the squalor of refugee camps, such as cholera and dysentery– These are the refugee camps that

were aided by the UN and the US• The refugees have fueled wars in

Uganda, Burundi, and the DRC

Questions Still Exist

• Why didn’t the US do anything?

• Why didn’t the UN listen to Daillaire?

• How could people kill their neighbors?

• How many actually died?

• How can we prevent this from happening again?