PART 1: TROUBLE BREWING

Rwanda is a landlocked East African country with a history of nearly unparalleled violence. The Tutsis and Hutus  are the two most central groups in Rwanda, and the main characters in the story of the 1994 genocide.  A third group, the Twa, constitutes less than 1% of the population. The process of settling in Rwanda began approximately in the 14^th century. After mass Tutsi migration in the 16^th century, they eventually rose to power despite being a minority. This was the case until the 19^th century when the Europeans occupied the area.

The Tutsis historically were cattle herders while Hutus were crop farmers. Physically the Hutus were considered to be short and dark, while Tutsis were thought to be thin and tall. The system was initially flexible with some Rwandans practicing intermarriage.

In 1916, with the arrival of the Belgians, they issued identity cards to each group detailing their ethnicities. The Belgians considered the Tutsis to be superior (as their cattle was more profitable than the crops of the Hutus) and gave them perks and opportunities not extended to the Hutus. They supported the Tutsi monarchy and demanded that all local chiefs be Tutsis.

This is where the seeds of disquiet were sown and the Hutus began to resent their Tutsi counterparts. Riots began in 1959, when rumors of a Hutu leader killed at Tutsi hands was spread. By 1961, more than 20,000 Tutsis were slaughtered. The survivors fled to the neighboring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.

The Tutsi king had already fled the country as a result of increasing violence in 1960. Finally in 1961, Belgium relinquished their occupation and the Hutu majority was able to win the country’s first elections. A Hutu coup was carried out on Jan. 28, 1961, and the Tutsi monarchy was dissolved.

In 1990, a group of Tutsi rebels from Uganda called The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) attacked. In 1991, a ceasefire was proposed and Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana and the RPF reached negotiations in 1992. In 1993, a broad-based transition government was finally agreed upon which would include the RPF. The Hutus in response began spreading propaganda of a vicious anti-Tutsi agenda. 

PART 2: SEARCH AND DESTROY

On April 6^th 1994, the plane carrying President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali. The mystery is that to this day nobody conclusively knows who shot down the plane. The Hutus took advantage of this and blamed the RPF, and the Tutsis in general. With decades of Hutu resentment and propaganda finally piling up, the murders began that very night at the hands of Hutu extremists. What followed was total anarchy.

Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a moderate Hutu, was assassinated the next day. The Hutus did this to create a political vacuum. A Hutu led interim government was inaugurated on April 9^th.

Hutu militia groups formed, namely the Interahamwe (“Those Who Attack Together”) and Impuzamugambi (“Those Who Have the Same Goal”).  The Interahamwe was a group of over 30,000 extremist Hutus dead set on murdering Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Young men and boys were recruited for the militias.

Police officials and law making bodies actually encouraged the genocide and Hutu sympathizers were forced to murder their Tutsi friends and neighbors. Some were given incentives in the form of money or food, or the land of the Tutsis they killed. Crude instruments like machetes were used, while guns and grenades were used in crowded areas like churches.

In the time frame of barely 100 days, almost 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed.

How did the international community respond?

The world knew what was happening. For decades it had seen riots and the beginnings of the mass slaughter yet developed countries did not intervene at all. Canadian General Romeo Dallaire learned about the genocide before it happened. He informed the authorities at the UN but was not given any orders nor was he allowed to act. The USA actively told the UN Security Council not to act at all during the genocide.

General Dellaire believes that with a force of 5000 soldiers and a UN mandate, he could have saved the lives of “hundreds of thousands.” Dellaire’s account of the genocide is one of heartbreaking tragedy.

Former US President Bill Clinton went so far as to call the inaction the biggest regret of his presidency. Even a few well-placed signal jammers could have hindered the anti-Tutsi propaganda. Today, it is generally believed that international intervention could have prevented the genocide. This realization has catalyzed the humanitarian military intervention to prevent genocide.

PART 3: THE REMAINS

A day after the slaughter began, the Rwandan Pariotic Front (headed by Paul Kagame) began fighting an offensive against the government that wanted the Tutsis dead. It took one hundred days, but the RPF finally succeeded and the RPF defeated government forces, managed to capture Kigali and called for a ceasefire.

When news of their victory came about, an estimated two million Rwandans, mostly Hutus, fled to eastern Zaire. Kagame, a Tutsi, became the leader of the Rwanda and gained control of the army, while a Hutu was made vice president. While their emergence as the dominant majority ended the genocide, it came a little too late. Nearly a million Tutsis and Hutu moderates had already lost their lives, and the long lasting impact was already in motion. The presence of extremists in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) caused further slaughter and massacre in that area. The Hutus continued the violence against Tutsis and, with the support of the Kagame government, Tutsis fought back.

The perpetrators found guilty were tried in court. They were primarily tried in three types of court systems: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Rwandan national courts, or local gacaca courts. Some suspects who had fled Rwanda were tried in the countries in which they were found.

PART 4: AFTERMATH

Since 1996, Rwandan troops had entered Zaire to expel fanatical Hutus that had fled there after the genocide in Rwanda ended. In 2002, a peace agreement was reached with the rebels in Zaire which meant that troops could finally withdraw in exchange for the disarmament and repatriation of Hutu extremists.

Kagame had risen to the presidential position in 2000 and under his leadership, Rwanda was on the road to recovery. A new constitution, aimed at spreading peace and decreasing ethnic tension, was announced in 2003.

In March 2004, 30,000 prisoners who were jailed on charges of genocide were released after they were granted amnesty. They had confessed and asked to be forgiven for their actions. To ease the overcrowding in prisons as perpetrators continued to pile up, in 2007, almost 8000 sick and elderly prisoners were allowed to walk free.

In 2006, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund eased the economic debt which Rwanda found itself in by providing debt relief.

Since then, several genocide memorials have been erected in order to pay respect to the survivors. Yet the scars inflicted on the people of that country are as painful as ever to this day. No matter the progress, the history of Rwanda is a permanent testament to the barbaric ruthlessness which the world could have so easily halted.

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REFERENCES

Beauchamp, Z (2014) Rwanda’s genocide — what happened, why it happened, and how it still matters. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2014/4/10/5590646/rwandan-genocide-anniversary

BBC. (2011) Rwanda: How the Genocide Happened. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13431486

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Rwanda Genocide of 1994. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Rwanda-genocide-of-1994#ref1111308

Photographs retrieved from

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/187461

https://allafrica.com/view/photoessay/post/post/id/201404030001.html#4