Thursday, March 1, 2012

Blogpost: Modern Genocides

One of the smallest countries in Central Africa, Rwanda is home to a population of 7 million people. Of these 7 million people, the population of Rwanda is broken up into two main ethnic groups; the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutu accounted for 90% of the population. The Hutu came to power after gaining their independence from Belgium in 1962 and asserted their dominance through discrimination and acts of violence. Over 200,000 Tutsis fled Rwanda to nearby countries in order to gain safety and formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel guerrilla army. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda and forced the Hutu President, Juvenal Habyalimana to grant an equal share of power between the Hutus and the Tutsis.

Tension grew between the two groups in 1993 when the then President of the Hutu group, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated. The United Nations sent multinational soldiers to Rwanda to maintain order between the Hutu government and the Tutsi rebels. The Hutus wanted nothing to do with the Tutsis and were opposed to the idea of any shared power with the group. To go from bad to worse, in April of 1994, a plain that was carrying the President of Rwanda, Habyalimana  and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down.Immediately, Rwanda erupted into political violence with the Hutu extremists targeting Tutsi leaders and even moderate Hutu politicians.


Carrying machetes, clubs, guns and grenades the Hutu militia was on the look out to kill anybody of Tutsi ethnicity. Everybody in Rwanda carried identification cards, which before just specified their background, but now it meant the difference of whether or not they would survive or not. This became such a horrific display of violence that the United Nations were forced to evacuate the soldiers that were sent to protect and keep peace. The Rwandan radio station, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even addressed the locations of the Tutsis that were in hiding. The Hutu extremists consisted of everybody, from doctors and educators, to those just looking to take the Tutsi's land.


Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the span of 100 days. Such a violent and horrific display of actions is nothing short of a political outrage between two groups of people in a country. The differences that the Hutus and the Tutsis had regarding who would have power in the country ultimately led to a disturbance of peace all together, and resulted in an entire group of people suffering, laying defeated and dead at the feet of their victors. Genocides still exist today, and due to the vast differences in opinions and views the world has, they are likely to continue for years to come. 

No comments:

Post a Comment