The genocide in rwanda, like all genocides, was a complex phenomenon that resulted from a combination of longterm structural factors as well as more. From 1894 until the end of world war i, rwanda, along with burundi and present day tanzania, was part of german east africa. Nearly all of these statesponsored mass murders occurred during or shortly after regular civil wars or revolutions. Many scholars believe the long lasting ethnic conflict between the hutu and tutsi was the seed to the development of the genocide.
A report from rwanda martin huband on the genocide in rwanda guardian research department. As the genocide was unprecedented in african annals, so is the panel. In the rwandan genocide, members of an ethnic group called the tutsi abatutsi were killed because of their ethnicity. Rwanda is an african country that comprises of three ethnic communities. Trauma in young survivors of the rwandan genocide by mary. Rwanda is a landlocked country in central africa heart of africa, country is also known as land of thousand hills with land area of 26,338km2. Pdf causes of rwandan genocide and how it could be. Rwandan genocide simple english wikipedia, the free. The rwandan genocide, a mass slaughter of the tutsi race during the rwandan civil war was conducted by the hutu ethnic group during a 100 day period from april 7th to july 9th 1990. The international panel of eminent personalities to investigate the. The origins and prevention of genocide, mass killing, and other collective violence ervin staub. In this paper i will investigate the true motivation of the 1994 rwandan genocide as more than just social divide and ethnic hatred between the hutu and the tutsi.
Read through these collections that include newspapers and articles, correspondences, reports and more. During that time, about 800,000 people were murdered in a genocide, many or all people in a group are killed because of their ethnicity, colour, religion, or political opinions. Rwandan genocide perpetrator, interviewed by straus 2007 as many as 22 million noncombatants have been killed in nearly fty genocides and politicides since 1945 har. That alone says something about changing international norms. This paper examines the question of why so many ordinary hutu participated in genocidal killing of tutsi in rwanda in 1994. The origin of the violence that transpired in rwanda during the latter half of the twentieth century is tied to the ways in which hutu and tutsi were treated differently by the colonial masters. This ideologically driven genocide is a clear example of state sponsored massmurder. Sample essay on causes and effects of rwandan genocide. The thenpresident of rwanda, juvenal habyarimana, had decided, after long opposition, to comply with the arusha accords and put an end to the crisis and civil war. Pdf this case study considers military and internaional political responses to the april 1994 conflict between the rwandan patriotic front rpf and. The genocide archive of rwanda collections contain text based documents related to the 1994 genocide against the tutsi in rwanda. Political theorist hannah arendt wrote of the banality of. However, this cause can be partially attributed to rwandas belgian colonizers, who transformed rwandas economy to exporting crops, precipitating the economic causes of the conflict jean.
In an attempt by the hutu regime to annihilate each and every tutsi, between 500,000 to 800,000 or even 1,000,000 tutsis were killed at the hands of hutus. Throughout this post, i will first show how modernity and the ideology of purification are dominant precursors to genocidal tendencies. Digitization, rwanda genocide, preserving documents africa, digitization collaboration. Causes and effects of rwandan genocide can be understood properly by understanding the background of this country first. Main causes of the 1994 rwanda genocide explore rwanda tours. Rwanda the enduring legacy of the genocide and war on 7 april 2004 rwanda commemorates the ten year anniversary of the 1994 genocide. Frank chalk is a professor in the department of history, concordia university, montreal, canada, and the codirector of the montreal institute for genocide and. Abstract during 100 days in the spring and summer of 1994 in rwanda a planned genocide orchestrated by extreme members of the hutu ethnic group, the ruling faction.
The ensuing events constitute one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in recent times. Yet, at the time of the genocide rwanda held one of the rotating seats on the unsc. In spite of its limited size, it is characterized by a great variety of bioclimatic regions which have led to differential ethnic occupation in past history. For my summer project, i researched the causes of rwandan genocide with a focus on the political situation and how it affected the ethnic tensions and, eventually, the outbreak of genocide.
Rwanda genocide of 1994, planned campaign of mass murder in rwanda that occurred over the course of some 100 days in apriljuly 1994. Causes and effects of rwandan genocide, 1994 by devika. She has a master of laws from mcgill university, for which her thesis research involved extensive interviews in rwanda, including with. This genocide damaged and destroyed the social cohesion and make up of rwandan society. The effect on their social and political roles lisa a. Three journalists have even been found guilty of genocide, incitement to genocide, conspiracy and crimes against humanity by the international criminal tribunal for rwanda. The genocide was conceived by extremist elements of rwanda s majority hutu population who planned to kill the minority tutsi population and anyone who opposed those genocidal intentions. The genocide in rwanda, like all genocides, was a complex phenomenon that resulted from a combination of longterm structural factors as well as more immediate decisions taken by powerful actors. First, it develops a game theoretical model over population groups that optimize their survival under resource scarce conditions. Although rwanda and burundi had formed separate precolonial states, germany united them as one colony, ruandaurundi. Rwandas political systems were structured by the ecosystem rwanda covers an area of 26338 sq. The rwandan genocide was a nationwide extermination campaign led by the countrys government and members of the hutu political elite against the tutsi ethnic minority, which resulted in 500,0001,000,000 civilian deaths and reduced.
The rwandan genocide was a worldhistorical event that happened in a country with a tiny international presence. Started by hutu nationalists in the capital of kigali, the genocide spread throughout the country with shocking speed and brutality. Most of the dead were tutsis and most of those who perpetrated the violence were hutus. Genocide is the killing of a group of people with the intent to destroy, and even though the word genocide wasnt around until 1944 doesnt mean that genocide wasnt around. Dec 06, 2012 although it has been clearly argued that the causes of the genocide go beyond this and there is a deeper level which when analysed blames the manipulation by the ruling government at the time of the genocide and also the policies adopted by them goes further to explain the causes of the genocide in rwanda. Causes of genocide in 1944 after the second world war a man named raphael lempkin coined the word genocide. Although the hutus account for 90 percent of the population, in the past, the tutsi minority was considered the aristocracy of rwanda and dominated hutu peasants for decades, especially while. The rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the tutsi, was a mass slaughter of tutsi, twa, and moderate hutu in rwanda, which took place between 7 april and 15 july 1994 during the rwandan civil war in 1990, the rwandan patriotic front rpf, a rebel group composed of tutsi refugees, invaded northern rwanda from their base in uganda, initiating the rwandan civil war. It lies 75 miles southward of equator, 880 miles west of indian ocean, and 1,250 miles east of atlantic ocean.
Since genocide is the most aberrant of human behaviors, it cries out for explanation. To appreciate them, a short journey through rwandas history is necessary. The hutu who are of bantu origin comprises of the largest ethnic group making 84 percent of the population of rwanda. Analyze the causes of the rwandan genocide the writepass. It lies 75 miles southward of equator, 880 miles west. Even so, the nature of the rwandan state must be seen as absolutely central. Origins, causes, implementation, consequences, and the postgenocide era donatien nikuze research and documentation center on genocide, national commission for the fight against genocid, republic of rwanda abstract. The international panel of eminent personalities to investigate the 1994 genocide in rwanda and the surrounding events was created by the organization of african unity. For 100 days, between april and july 1994, as many as one million rwandese approximately 15. In april 1994, civil war reignited in rwanda and genocide soon followed with the slaughter of 800,000 to 1 million people, primarily tutsis, but including hutu political moderates.
Nov 30, 2010 a new book aims to shed light on the perfect storm that swamped rwanda in 1994, sparking genocide chris arnot tue 30 nov 2010 03. Both the hutus and the smaller, and initially privileged, tutsi group soon incorporated the racist discourse, which was pivotal to the gradual increase in violence. Hutu led government, interahamwe and impuzamugambi militias. A report from rwanda from the guardian the guardian.
Scarcity, survival and causes of the genocide david yanagizawa david. Rwanda is a landlocked country in central africa heart of africa, country is also known as land of thousand hills with land area of 26,338km 2. Introduction this paper aims to discuss and examine the causes of the 1994 rwandan genocide. Although it has been clearly argued that the causes of the genocide go beyond this and there is a deeper level which when analysed blames the manipulation by the ruling government at the time of the genocide and also the policies adopted by them goes further to explain the causes of the genocide in rwanda. During the rwandan genocide of 1994, members of the hutu ethnic majority in the eastcentral african nation of rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the tutsi minority. Cause and effects of the rwandan genocide, 1994 in august of 1994 the tutsi rpf group lead by kagame retook the capital and soon after, the rest of the country, ending the genocide. Within 100 days, between 800 000 to 000 tutsis and, to a lesser extent, moderate hutus were systematically slaughtered by hutu extremist in one of the worst atrocities since. Political causes of the rwandan genocideclosing comments. Causes and consequences of the rwandan conflict politics essay.
This provided the rwandan government and the akazu an inside r. Causes of rwandan genocide high quality essay examples. Just as the rwandan genocide cannot be explained in isolation from the political environment in which it took place,8 understanding womens participation in the genocide requires an appreciation of gender relations in pre genocide rwandan society. A more nuanced interpretation of rwanda s genocide would see that government policies that limited land sales, freedom of movement and labor opportunities contributed in important ways to discontent among rwandans. The rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the tutsi, was a mass slaughter of tutsi, twa, and moderate hutu in rwanda, which took place between 7 april and 15 july 1994 during the rwandan civil war. In 1994, rwanda, a tiny state in the great lakes region of east africa, erupted in an orgy of mass murder of epic proportion. The origins and prevention of genocide, mass killing, and. Unga rwandan genocide tenth anniversary resolution dec. The participation of women in the 1994 rwandan genocide should be. Mar 07, 2015 introduction this paper aims to discuss and examine the causes of the 1994 rwandan genocide. Causes of the rwandan genocide in april 1994, a terrible time for the country of rwanda only got worse.
Rwanda has gone through a painful process of reconstruction, including rebuilding the whole governance systems, structures. In the late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries, the gravest violations of human rights generate intense international concern even in small landlocked countries in. Land conflict and genocide in rwanda mercatus center. The economic collapse weakened habyarimanas regime, pushing him to manipulate the historical ethnic enmities that sparked the conflict. The genocide archive of rwanda is a collaborative project of the kigali genocide memorial centre, aegis trust, and rwanda s national commission for the fight against genocide, with the assistance of the university of texas libraries human rights documentation initiative, usc shoah foundation institute, the rwanda development board, the swedish international. Post genocide rwanda provides a remarkable counterexample, where ddr has largely succeeded despite the ongoing threat of. The president of rwanda at the time, juv enal habyarimana, had decid ed, after long opposition, to comply with the arusha accords and put an end to the crisis and civil war. Rwanda vs belgium rwanda and belgium are both states where two nations are forced to coexist, which causes conflict inside the borders of each country. History of a genocide article pdf available in the international journal of african historical studies 311. Various compositions of these three factors are strongly present within 20 th century genocide case studies in cambodia, the nazi holocaust, rwanda, the ottoman empire and colonial australia.
In this genocide, more than one million tutsi were killed for the sole reason of being tutsi. Transitional justice, postconflict reconstruction and reconciliation in rwanda and beyond. When the hutus discovered their reign had ended they feared tutsi backlash and about 2 million. The convention defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in. Message to symposium on the media and the rwanda genocide carleton university school of journalism and communication ottawa, march 2004 when, on 7 april, people around the world commemorate the 10th anniversary of the rwanda genocide, that observance should be. Among the thousands of children orphaned by the massacres during the 1994 genocide in rwanda, some of the most vulnerable and marginalised are those struggling to survive and recreate a family life without the support of adults. The modernday genocide that the world ignored view gallery over the course of 100 days in 1994, the central african nation of rwanda witnessed a genocide that was shocking for both the sheer number of its victims and the brutality with which it was conducted. A year later, at the height of the rwanda genocide, the lack of media images probably helped the cause of those in washington, london, paris and other. In just three months, an estimated 800,000 people were massacred in the rwandan genocide of 1994.
Rwandas history and geography help explain the causes of the civil war and the hutu extremist genocide and insurgency. Just before and during the 1994 genocide, hutu political leaders insisted on the importance of protecting the gains of the revolution, which. The causes and consequences of genocide essay 849 words. Media were used in rwanda to spread hatred, to dehumanize people, and even to guide the. Land conflict and genocide in rwanda karol boudreaux karol boudreaux is a senior research fellow at the mercatus center, lead researcher for enterprise africa. During that time, about 800,000 people were murdered. Eye witnesses to a human catastrophe a thesis submitted to the faculty of the school of continuing studies and of the graduate school of arts and sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in liberal studies. The case of rwanda introduction disarmament, demobilization and reintegration ddr programs generally reassure former combatants that they will be reintegrated, not punished. How the genocide happened some 800,000 people were killed in rwandas genocide in just 100 days between april and june 1994, an estimated 800,000 rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Explaining the 1994 genocide in rwanda semantic scholar. In rwanda, the conflict between the two groups exploded in 1994 and resulted in a mass genocide that has lingering tension twentytwo years later.
I had originally planned to focus on the independence movement in rwanda during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Despite the ethnic undertones of the conflict, economics plays a critical role in the violent history of postindependence rwanda, one of the. He is also founder of remembering rwanda, the rwanda genocide tenth anniversary memorial project and has developed and teaches a course on the role of the media in the rwanda genocide. The 1994 rwanda genocide was the result of an economic crisis, civil war, population growth and a struggle for state power. Research into the rwandan media during the early 1990s suggests. Therefore it is not possible to claim, that the ethnic nationalism in rwanda contributed to the economy or increased the security by unification. On the contrary, the nationalist ideologies of the ethnic groups in rwanda caused more division and prepared the basis for the genocide. Rwanda is one of the smallest countries in central africa, with just 7 million people, and is comprised of two main ethnic groups, the hutu and the tutsi. It is estimated that some 200,000 hutu, spurred on by propaganda from. Summary the sources consulted in this report suggest that remarkable progress has been made in terms of anticorruption since the 1994 genocide. History causes of rwandan genocide flashcards quizlet.
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