Rwanda Genocide

By: Cecilia, Elizabeth, and Anton 802

BY: CECILIA

Introduction to Rwandan Genocide

What was the Rwanda Genocide ?

The Rwanda Genocide involved the Hutus and the Tutsis. From April to July 1994, people of the Hutu ethnic majority killed approximately 800,000 people, a large percentage of the Tutsis ethnic minority. The genocide began by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994. A French judge has blamed the current Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, who was at the time, the leader of a Tutsi rebel group, and some of his close partners for performing out the rocket attack. Kagame denies this and says it was the work of Hutu extremists, to provide a beginning to carry out their plans to get rid of the Tutsi community.

Mass KillingsThe killings began in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali.

The Hutus checked identification cards and killed all

who were Tutsi. Most of the killing was done with

machetes, clubs, or knives. Over the next few days

and weeks, this happened endlessly. Then over the

next several days and weeks, the violence spread.

Since the government had the names and addresses

of nearly all Tutsis living in Rwanda the killers would

go door to door, slaughtering the Tutsis. Men,

women, and children were murdered. Since bullets

were really expensive back then, most Tutsis were

killed by hand weapons, often machetes or clubs.

Many were often tortured before being killed. Some

of the victims were given the option of paying for a

bullet so that they'd have a quicker death. Women

were the biggest targets. Thousands of Tutsi women

were raped. Some were raped and then killed; others

were kept as slaves for weeks.

Killing the TutsisMany Tutsis tried to escape the slaughter by hiding in churches,

hospitals, schools, and government offices. These places, which have

been places of refuge, were turned into places of mass murder during

the Rwanda Genocide. One of the worst mass killings of the Rwanda

genocide happened on April 15-16, 1994 at the Nyarubuye Roman

Catholic Church, about 60 miles east of Kigali. Here, the mayor of the

town, a Hutu, encouraged Tutsis to seek shelter inside the church by

telling them they would be safe there. Then the mayor betrayed them

to the Hutu extremists. The killing began with grenades and guns, but

soon changed to machetes and clubs. Killing by hand was tiresome, so

the killers took shifts. It took two days to kill all the Tutsis who were

inside the church. Similar massacres took place around Rwanda, with

many of the worst ones occurring between April 11 and the beginning

of May. To further humiliate the Tutsis, Hutu extremists would not allow

the dead bodies to be buried. Their bodies were left where they were

killed, and were left to be eaten by rats and dogs. Many Tutsi bodies

were thrown into rivers, lakes, and streams in order to send the Tutsis

"back to Ethiopia" a following to the myth that the Tutsi were foreigners

and originally came from Ethiopia.

Facts and Statistics

Over the time period of 100 days from April 6 to July 16

1994, an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and some

Hutus were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide. A recent

report has estimated the number to be close to 2 million.

During this period of terrible slaughter, more than 6 men,

women and children were murdered every minute of every

hour of every day. This brutally efficient killing was

maintained for more than 3 months. During this period of

slaughter, more than 6 men, women and children were

murdered every minute of every hour of every day. This

killing spree was maintained for more than 3 months.

250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 100

days of genocide. Up to 20,000 children were born to

women as a result of rape. More than 67% of women who

were raped in 1994 during the genocide were infected with

HIV and AIDS. In many cases, this resulted from a systematic

and planned use of rape by HIV+ men as a weapon of

genocide. Of those that survived the genocide over half the

children stopped their schooling, because of poverty. 40,000

survivors are still without shelter, many whose homes were

destroyed in the genocide.

Ending of the GenocideThe Rwanda Genocide ended only when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took over the country. The RPF is a trained military group consisting of Tutsis who had been trained in earlier years; many of them lived in Uganda. The RPF were able to enter Rwanda and slowly take over the country. In mid-July 1994, when the RPF had full control, the Hutus were forced to stop the genocide.

Comparing the Rwanda Genocide to Events in American History

By: Elizabeth

Person 2-Introduction! Rwanda or officially the Republic of Rwanda is a sovereign state(political organization with a centralized government) in central and east Africa. The capital is Kigali. The official languages that are spoken are Kinyarwanda, French, Kiswahili, and English. The population is almost 12 million and is Africa’s most densely populated country. 84% of Rwanda is Hutu, 15% are Tutsi, and 1% are Twa. Rwanda became independent from Belgium on July 1,1962. Rwanda also draws in many tourists because of the endangered mountain gorillas. In 1994, the Rwanda Genocide resulted in the deaths of over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu sympathizers(friends). A genocide is an intentional killing of a large group of people especially those of a specific ethnic group or nation. The Hutu and Tutsi groups had been violently killing each other in Rwanda and Burundi for decades after independence and a civil war happened between the Hutu and Tutsi in the early 1990’s. On April 6th,1994 a plane carrying President Habyarimana, who was a Hutu, was shot down. Many Hutu’s became furious and decided to kill the Tutsi because they blamed the Tutsi; but it is still unclear who really shot down the plane. They also saw this as a chance to eliminate the Tutsi once and for all. The genocide lasted 100 days, killing many Tutsi and Hutu’s who were allies with the Tutsi.

3rd Paragraph This particular event relates to many events that occurred in American history. One specific event would be slavery. Slavery is a system in which people are treated as property and are forced to work. Since the 1600’s, white rich people owned colored people. These slaves were forced to clean and do many other chores. Slaves would get whipped, scolded at or beaten by their masters even when they did nothing wrong. African Americans were treated like animals and were disrespected. African Americans were discriminated and they were segregated from whites. Whites and colored people had to use different bathrooms, and African Americans couldn’t even sit in the front of a public bus. They had to sit in the back. These events relate to the Rwandan Genocide because slavery discriminated a certain race, whereas the Rwandan Genocide planned on killing a specific ethnic group, the Tutsi’s. A whole entire race was treated unfairly, just like the Tutsi’s were being treated. African Americans and were tortured. They were beaten and in pain. During the Rwandan Genocide, many Tutsi’s were raped and were tortured as well. African Americans were forced to do things they didn’t want to do and had to endure many painful events, just like the Tutsi’s.