The Genocide in Rwanda
In 1994 began the Genocide of Rwanda. Thousands of people were killed, brutally in Rwanda, and this went on for many years. It was finally ended around 100 days later. This genocide was the mass killing of the Tutsi’s by the Hutu extremists who believed the Tutsis needed to be exterminated. After many years of tension the mass killing began and no one was safe not even some of the Hutu’s who did not believe the same as the extremist. To be in Rwanda at this time was extremely dangerous, people who lived there lived in constant fear that they would be the next to die.
In Rwanda there are 3 major ethnic groups. The largest ones were the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s. The Hutu’s made up about 85% of the population and the Tutsi’s made up about 14% the other groups were much smaller. There was a lot of tension between these two ethnic groups because both wanted power of Rwanda. Initially Rwanda was owned by the Germans, then after World War I it was given to the Belgium. Until Rwanda gained independence in 1961, then Rwanda power was given to the Gregiore Kayibanda who was a Hutu. He ruled for a little while but eventually in 1972 it was taken over by Juvénal Habyarimana who was also Hutu. But then the Tutsi rebel group called The Rwandan Patriotic Front protested and began to fight to win power in Rwanda. This then led to the Civil War in Rwanda. The tension between the two ethnic groups grew and grew and it was not getting any better. Until finally the final straw came that kicked off the beginning of the mass killing of the Tutsi’s. The president Habyarimana was on a plane and it was shot down by Tutsi extremists, and he was killed. The Hutu’s were extremely upset, so an extremist group called the Azaku planned the mass killing of the Tutsis. There were many members of the Azaku in the government therefore it was easy for them to accomplish such a terrible thing without having anyone stop them. So then in 1994 the mass killing of the Tutsi’s began. Not only was there tension between the ethnic groups because of power but there was also a lot of tension because the Hutu’s blamed the Tutsis for a lot of the problems Rwanda was facing such as economic problems, social problems, and political problems.
There is not a distinct difference between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The main difference is social class. The Tutsi’s were thought to be the wealthier group. The Tutsi’s were originally from Ethiopia. They then came to Rwanda, and tried to maintain their way of government which was monarchy, but that didn’t exactly work because they were shortly overthrown by the Belgium. So the Tutsis did not hold power for much of the time in Rwanda despite their efforts to do so. The Hutus’ are not known for being as wealthy, but they are the majority of Rwanda, and have also been in Rwanda longer. But despite those differences they are very similar. They speak the same language, follow the same culture, and don’t have many drastic physical appearances.
During the genocide the Hutu extremists literally went around killing people with bats and machetes. The Tutsi’s and other people who were at risk of being killed, such as the people who did not want to kill all the Tutsi’s, tried to hide. They hid in places such as the church, their basements, all sorts of places but eventually the Hutu extremists found them and they were killed. You must be wondering, how is it possible for them to be getting away with just going around and killing people? Well it was very possible when it was their own government killing them and the UN was not doing anything to stop it. Their goal was to get all the American people in Rwanda, out of Rwanda. And after that The U.N. Security Council, voted and eventually came to the conclusion to abandon Rwanda. And that is exactly what they did. Once they had evacuated all the people from the United States they did nothing to help the people of Rwanda for a very long time. They would not even consider what was happening in Rwanda a genocide. Until eventually there was a cry for help from the Tutsi’s and eventually the UN did go in to Rwanda to stop the genocide.
The end of the genocide did not come until July. The UN finally went in to stop the mass killings. The French, the US and many other countries sent troops in to assist in the ending of the Genocide. Eventually the genocide was over, the US sent a lot of aid to help get Rwanda back on its feet. After the genocide things did not go back to the way they were. People of Rwanda had to start remaking their lives and basically starting over. The people of Rwanda had lost a lot. Their family, their friends, not to mention their homes and some even their limbs due to attacks. Rwanda was not in good shape, but slowly they were building themselves back up. AIDS was now spread amoungst Rwanda due to the rapes that went on during the genocide. Even still today Rwanda is not as it was before, but it has improved since then and hopefully will continue to improve.
In conclusion, the genocide in Rwanda was an awful experience where many people lost their lives. Mainly innocent people, who did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment, were killed, tortured and raped. If the UN had acknowledged the fact that there was in fact a genocide going on in Rwanda, many lives could have been saved and there could have been a lot less damage done in Rwanda. But nevertheless, it is over now and Rwanda is on its track to building itself back up again. This should have taught the UN to never let this happen again yet, there are still genocides going on around the world such as Darfur and many others. They need to take action, and not let what happened in Rwanda to continue happening in other places of the world.
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