Rwanda

A Story of Genocide

Background

• Small African nation• Two ethnic groups

lived in Rwanda: Hutus and Tutsis

• Generally lived peacefully until the Europeans came

Background

Hutus• Majority - 80%• Migrated from

southern Africa• General: found

themselves as laborers and farmers

Background

Tutsis• Minority - 20%• Migrated from

Northern Africa (Egypt)

• General: found themselves as the elite and political rulers

Background

• German colony until 1918 (end of WWI)

• Belgium took it over• Put Tutsis in charge• Handed out “ethnic

identity cards”• Education only open

to Tutsis• Hutus could only be

laborers or low level workers

Independence

• Once Belgium granted independence in 1962, Hutu majority took control

• Over 200,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries and formed a rebel guerrilla army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

Civil War

• In 1990, the rebel army invades Rwanda and forces Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana into signing an accord mandating that Hutus and Tutsis share power.

Escalating Conflict

• Ethnic tensions heightened in October 1993 upon the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye

• United Nations peacekeeping force of 2,500 is dispatched to preserve the cease-fire

Assassination

• On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana is assassinated when his plane is shot down

• Hutu extremists begin killing Tutsis

Unite Nations Response

• The U.N. Security Council votes unanimously to abandon Rwanda. The remainders of U.N. peacekeeping troops are pulled out, leaving only a tiny force of 200 soldiers for the entire country.

Aftermath

• Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.

Still at Large

• Hundreds of men are still wanted in connection with the Rwandan genocide

• Do they look any different from you or me?