Rwanda Genocide

Rwanda Genocide

Introduction

The Rwanda genocide involved the slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu people in Rwanda. The genocide took place in the year 1994. It was organized by political leaders from the Hutu people who needed to kill all the Tutsi people and other moderate people. Also, the genocide took around 100 days. The genocide claimed approximately 80000 people where many of them were Tutsi. Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, was the centre of the genocide, where the Hutu politicians initiated the genocide. The politicians influenced the local people who raised against their enemies. Since Hutu held the government, it took the chance to offend their rivals through and local people armies.  This research paper discusses the Rwanda genocide of 1994, its cause and organization, the international response, humanitarian relief effects, and the aftermath.

Before the genocide, Rwanda’s economy had grown well. It was one of the strong economies in the region. Trade activities went on progressively in this agriculturally rich central African country. During the colonial period, the Tutsi were favoured over the Hutu. Belgians were happy with Tutsi because they need to retain the tendency of minimal oppression. The Rwandese Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda in 1990. The RPF was against the Hutu government that was led by Habyarimana. After the invasion, the president ordered the arrest of people involved, and many were put into custody. Hostility began between the Hutu led government and Tutsi rivals who were fronting the rebel group. Many people were arrested, and massacres occurred during the period. A peace deal would later be signed in the year 1992 between the government and rebels. The negotiations did not bear a lasting deal and could later lead to the memorable Rwanda genocide (Lemarchand, 2014).

The Rwanda genocide began on 6^th April 1994. Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira had their plane shot down. The former was the Rwandese president while the later was his Burundi counterpart. It was shot down over Kigali where all the people aboard were killed. The people involved in the case have not been traced. The RPF and Hutu extremists have been accused of the incident with no proof. After the plane, the Rwanda genocide began. The Presidential Guard, Hutu militia, impuzamugambia and Rwandan armed forces barricaded the roads in Kigali and began manslaughter. Tutsi and Hutu moderates got involved in problems as many people had their lives cut short during the genocide. The groups conducting the genocide involved the deadly Hutu militia groups. Interahamwe and impuzamugambi were key militia groups in the genocide. The interhamwe means the people who attack together while impuzamugambi means the people with the same goal. The Rwandese prime minister who was a Hutu moderate was one of the victims of the genocide among other peacekeepers. The dead of the Habyarimana led to power vacuum and the high commanders in military steeped to lead the country. Belgians peacekeepers were killed at the early stages of the genocide. Belgium then decided to withdraw their soldiers and other officials from the peacekeeping mission. The international peacekeeping bodies and nations were not willing to send their troops to the nation. Many agencies argued the nation and its people should take responsibility for the war (Thompson, 2017).

During the genocide, the opponents of the government were taken to the militia groups. They would then be killed brutally with their families. Enmity grew even to the neighbors and families. Neighbors took machetes and rose up against their neighbours. Also, some other people took the chance to revenge against their enemies. In other rare occasions, families killed their family members during the meticulous plan of the genocide. During the time of the genocide, the people had their identity cards containing their ethnicity, and it was easier for the militia to conduct killings. The militia on many occasions organized roadblocks where they could block the innocent people and massacre them. The genocide organizers handed lethal weapons to local people to conduct killing their enemies. Machetes, knives and guns gave the militia added advantage over the target people. The media was used by the Hutu extremists to spread propaganda over the nation. The prominent people who were target were aired through the radio for them to be killed.  In addition, the media referred to the Tutsi people as cockroaches and should be weed out. Religion was also misused as some religious leaders misused their roles by aiding killing of the people who sought shelters in the churches and other places of worship.

The mass killings spread faster from Kigali to other parts of Rwanda since, within a week, hundreds of people had been killed over the nation. Some administrators resisted the genocide in the initial stages but were later removed from power and others brutally killed. Some administrators cooperated with the militia and gave food, drugs and money to them. These materials boosted their operations as they served as backups during the genocide.

The Rwanda genocide led many people to flee the country. Many people moved to Uganda and Tanzania, where the countries gave them a warm welcome. Children continued with their education in the host countries. The humanitarian agencies helped the refugees with food and important materials needed (Cohen, 2015).

A coalition government was formed after the genocide with both Hutu and Tutsi getting involved.  Pasteur Bizimungu and Paul Kagame became president and vice-president, respectively. Bizimungu was a Hutu while Kagame a Tutsi.

The international response generally failed to act during the genocide. Many nations and agencies sidelined mass killings. The genocide occurred coincidentally with the Yugoslavia atrocities and many European powers concentrated on Yugoslavia rather than Rwanda. The UN Security Council had withdrawn troops from many countries, and only time they voted for the involvement of troops in warring countries the Rwanda genocide had already ended. The UN Secretary-General, Boutros Ghali later claimed it was wrong for the countries to put efforts in keeping peace in Yugoslavia than in Rwanda (Waldorf, 2015). He argued the genocide led more damages in Rwanda than it could have in Yugoslavia if the nations could have based their main concentrations on Rwanda. In justification for its failure, the UN began the UNAMIR operations to assist Rwanda to grow up after the genocide. The humanitarian relief services helped Rwanda to gain strength to restructure their economy again.

The United States, under the leadership of Bill Clinton, failed to act during the genocide. The US is a superpower and could have used its position to help the genocide stop. Critics argued that the US kept off the Rwanda genocide as the country was not rich with no minerals; hence, no financial advantage (Thompson, 2017). The United States has a large number of soldiers and could send some of their troops to help stop the war. In addition, the US has high levels of technology in its warfare equipment. The radio broadcasts that aired hatred and tracked enemies during the war should have had been the transmission stopped by the US. The US was also seen to have an explicit objective of Rwanda. US peacemakers perceived that the killings in Rwanda were casualties of civil war but not genocide. This made the peacemakers not to get involved in the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. Bill Clinton and his government did not make public remarks on the genocide and kept silent until the genocide ended. Clinton may have feared a repeat of what happened to its soldiers who were keeping peace in Somalia earlier. In Somalia, the US troops failed and were suckled leading to Clinton’s administration fearing the same may happen. Apart from the US, the research shows that many western powers failed to give support to Rwanda and also did not talk about the genocide.

Despite Belgium being the colonial master did not send enough troops to the country. It withdrew from the peacekeeping when their ten soldiers were killed. It could have sent enough troops to Rwanda the genocide could have ended at its start and regrets could not be there later.

The Hutu government was friendly to France. Many French citizens worked and lived in Rwanda before the genocide began. France decided to help its citizens by sending a special force that would help to evacuate them. After the French citizens were safe, the government was not considerate of what was happening in Rwanda.

A criminal tribunal was set in Arusha, Tanzania in the year 2002 to ensure justice was achieved for the victims. The UN Security Council, through the International Criminal Court, established the tribunal to help in prosecuting the leaders of the genocide. The Tribunal indicted the ringleaders of the genocide who were all Hutu. Apart from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, other courts were formed in Rwanda. Gacaca, the community courts in Rwanda helped in speeding the prosecution process for the victims to gain justice. Many suspects died in prisons awaiting trials, while others went missing and could not be traced (Reyntjens, 2014).

Rwanda has grown well economically after the genocide. President Paul Kagame has played a pivotal role in leading Rwanda to higher economic standards. Also, he came up with economic policies that helped Rwanda to grow rapidly. Rwanda has also embraced the use of technology, and it’s one of the leading countries in the application of technology in the region.

To sum up, the research has discussed the Rwanda genocide of 1994, its causes and organization, the international response, humanitarian relief effects, and the aftermath. The Hutu led government and top politicians have been accused of starting the genocide. The international response failed to act during the genocide leading to mass killings of the people. After the genocide, Rwanda is now modernizing despite the scars. Kigali has grown to a magnificent city in the east and central African region. It enjoys the benefits of peace brought by the democratic administration of Paul Kagame. The Rwandans are now free to navigate the country without fear, while some are having the emotions of the genocide.

References

Cohen, J. (2015). One-hundred days of silence: America and the Rwanda genocide. Rowman        & Littlefield.

Lemarchand, R. (2014). The Rwanda Genocide. Century of genocide: critical essays and   eyewitness accounts, 394-412.

Meierhenrich, J. (2014). Genocide: A reader. Oxford University Press USA.

Reyntjens, F. (2014). Rwanda: genocide and beyond. Journal of Refugee Studies, 9(3), 240-         251.

Thompson, A. (2017). Media and the Rwanda genocide. IDRC, Ottawa, ON, CA.

Waldorf, L. (2015). Revisiting Hotel Rwanda: genocide ideology, reconciliation, and        rescuers. Journal of Genocide Research, 11(1), 101-125.