Rwanda is a small, landlocked state near east-central Africa, surrounded by much bigger neighbors: Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Historically agrarian herders, its early inhabitants classified according the number of cattle they owned (Rosenberg, 2015). Those with more cattle were called “Tutsis,” while the remaining population became known as “Hutus,” with the exception of a small group of hunter-gatherer pygmies called the Twa (Lewis, 2006). At first there was mobility between the two larger groups, based on cattle acquisition through increased wealth or marriage. Upon foreign intrusion, however, racial connotations were associated with the two names. The Germans, who came to Rwanda in 1984, believed that the Tutsis appeared more European; therefore, Tutsis were placed into positions of power and became a racially-distinctive elite. This division was reinforced by the Belgians who took over Rwanda following World War I (Rosenberg, 2015). Thus the stage was set for rivalry between the outnumbered but privileged Tutsis and the Hutus (who comprised about 85-90% of the population prior to the spring of 1994). At that point, there occurred one hundred days of one of the most deliberate, heinous, and unchallenged genocides in the history of the world.
Jealousy, rivalry, shifting European favor and the desire for power—all of these factored in as causes of the genocide in Rwanda. Although the Tutsis had been singled out for favor by the Europeans initially, the Hutu majority gained power when the Belgians reversed their stance of giving advantages and positions to the Tutsis rather than face a fight for independence (Rosenberg, 2015). Quickly the Hutu majority established its own group of political elites. Indeed, since 1973, President Juvnal Habyarimana, a Hutu, had controlled the government as a strict totalitarian regime excluding all Tutsi participation. “The Ten Commandments for the Hutu,” printed by an extremist Hutu newspaper and circulated throughout the land, basically advocated the downfall of all Tutsi.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Causes of Genocide in Rwanda".
Rwandan radio began broadcasting vitriolic messages urging violence against the Tutsis in 1983. Hatemongering was at its highest, when Habyarimana decided to ease up somewhat. Within less than a year after Habyarimana changed this stance, however, and gave some opportunities to Tutsis, he was dead. His plane was shot down by a surface to air missile, whose origins have never been determined (Rosenberg, 2015). The Hutu, however, seized this opportunity to blame the deed on their rivals, and quickly eliminated any powerful leaders who might have kept order (UHRO, 2015). Years of oppression flooded the memories of the Hutu people, who followed the lead of this political elite seeking to preserve its power at the expense of the Tutsis. Within days of Habyarimana’s death, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel group, any of its supporters, and indeed most Tutsis were targeted for extinction at the hands of the Hutus.
Nearly 200,000 Hutus joined in the extermination effort, which was one of brutality and violence. Most of the killings were bloody knifings or hackings; supposedly people could bargain for mercy in the form of a bullet to alleviate their agony (Rosenberg, 2015). Men, women, children, individually or as families, were identified and murdered. Many women were either raped then killed, or kept as sex slaves for a time before their deaths.
Because the Belgians had required all citizens to carry racial identification cards, it was easy to single out the Tutsi targets (Rosenberg, 2015). In addition, any Hutu who took a moderate stance was subject to the same slaughter that befell the Tutsis. The Twa fared no better, and were massacred as well. Mass murders occurred in places of refuge such as churches, and bodies were left exposed to be eaten by scavengers or decay in the elements. To the shock of international human rights advocates and organizations, world powers did nothing to stop the genocide. Over 800,000 people, including most of the country’s Tutsis, perished in the six week slaughter. The violence ended when an expatriate group of highly trained Tutsi soldiers, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, entered from Uganda and exerted control (Rosenberg, 2015). Factions created by foreign powers, envy, hatred fanned by the media, and lust for control that built up over the years, as described above, resulted in the near extinction of the Tutsis, unchecked by anyone other than their own forces in exile.
- Lewis, J. (2006). “The Twa Pygmies: Rwanda’s Ignored People.” University College London. Retrieved from
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk - Rosenberg, J. (2015). “Rwanda Genocide.” abouteducation. Retrieved from
http://history1900s.about.com/od/rwandangenocide/a/Rwanda-Genocide.htm - United Human Rights Council (UHRC). (2015). “Genocide in Rwanda.” UHRC. Retrieved from
http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm
