Transcript The Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide
1994
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)
Habyarimana
– 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
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?