The Rwandan Genocide

100 Days of SlaughterApril 6, 1994-July 18, 1994

Source: David Simon, The Teaching of Africa, PIER, Yale University , July 11, 2005

GenocideO The deliberate and systematic destruction

or extermination of a particular racial, political, or a cultural, religious group.

O The “goal” of a campaign of genocide is to annihilate (remove) a group based solely on race, culture, religion from the earth.

Genocides in History- Irish Potato Famine 1846-1852 (1 million) Irish

died of starvation

- Native American genocide starting 1492 (1 million) people died of small-pox

- Armenian genocide 1915 (up to 1.8 million) killed in concentration camps

- Holocaust (1945) 11 million Jews killed in death camps;

- Bosnian genocide 1990 (200,000) Bosnian Muslims and Serbs cleansed;

- Rwandan genocide 1994 (1 million) Tutsis killed by machetes;

Brief History: A few hundred years ago:

- most people who lived in Rwanda were farmers- raised an occasional cattle and other smaller animals.

Brief History

As the population grew:

•the power of a person was measured based on the number of their cattle;

•the amount of cattle owned directly tied to personal wealth;

•the rich and elite large scale herders began to consider themselves superior to ordinary people who owned little or no cattle.

Brief History

•The word “Tutsi” (a person rich in cattle) referred to the elite group of people (about 15% of the population)

•The word “Hutu” (a follower or subordinate) came to refer to the mass of ordinary people (about 85% of the population).

• Arrival of Germans and Belgians in the 1900s - wanted to control/rule Rwanda;

• Saw as simplest to continue the division;

The Belgians also:

• claimed the Tutsi “looked more European”;

• used this fact as evidence of their superiority;

• forced a Tutsi monopoly in government in the 1920s.

In years (1920-1940s):

The Tutsi (the minority) grew more and more powerful:

- they were the only group in Rwanda to be allowed higher education; - they had special laws and rights.

OThe Hutu groups in Rwanda began to believe that the Tutsi were superior.

The Belgians introduced identity cards:

-all Rwandans born would be registered as either Tutsi or Hutu at birth.

-15% were declared Tutsi, 85% were declared Hutu.

- the categories of Tutsi and Hutu in Rwanda were now rigid.

1950s:• Belgians left Rwanda declaring it to be

independent.

• When leaving they: replaced about ½ of the Tutsi leadership with Hutus;

• The Hutus attacked some of the Tutsi who refused to leave power in Rwanda.

1960s- both sides attacked each other in many battles.

- it was civil war in Rwanda and the surrounding regions.

- By 1967 20,000 Tutsi were killed by the Hutu majority and over 300,000 were forced to leave Rwanda (refugees).

- The overall population of Tutsi in Rwanda went from 15% to only 8% in the span of 30 years.

1970sO Over a million Tutsi had fled Rwanda to

neighboring countries like Uganda and Burundi.

O The Tutsi located in Uganda finally created an organization to fight the Hutu in Rwanda.

O They were called the RPF or Rwandan Patriotic Front. Their goal was to overthrow the Hutu government in Rwanda.

April 6, 1994• The Hutu president of Rwanda was shot down by a

surface-to-air missile;

• He was trying to end bloody clashes between Hutu and Tutsi with signing a peace treaty;

• However, the Hutu majority in Rwanda took this assassination as an opportunity to rid the nation of all Tutsi.

The killings begin

OThe same night of the plane crash:

OThe Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and Hutu militia begin killing Tutsis and Hutu moderates

The killings begin

ORoadblocks set up to capture Tutsis and Hutu moderates;

OMachetes - main weapon of choice for killings;

OHutu governmental radio encouraged the Tutsi to gather at churches, schools and stadiums – Why?

InterahamweO Extremist Hutu Thugs – Roam streets of

Rwanda with death lists;O Did not like Rwandan presidents attempt to

make peace with RPF and Kigame.

InterahamweO Armed groups of thugs;

O Generally young, disenfranchised, without a job, any direction or meaning in life;

O Hutu extremist killing groups – roamed city streets of Kigali and rounded up Tutsi’s;

O “Kill them, kill them, kill them all; kill them big and kill them small! Kill the old and kill the young…a baby snake is still a snake, kill it too, let none escape! Kill them, kill them, kill them all”

O “These Tutsi snakes are hiding in grass and bushes…so make sure that you have your machetes ready to chop the snakes in half…the child of a snake is a snake so kill it too”

O Friends, neighbors, teachers chanting this phrase as the killings take place

The role of the U.N.OForbidden to intervene

OOnly allowed to “monitor” the situation

United Nations

O Told NOT use any force

O Unsure of accuracy of intelligence

O Did not believe that conflict would rise to level it did

The killing of Belgian soldiers

O10 Belgian soldiers who work for the United NationsO Guarding the Hutu

prime minister at his home

O Hutu radicals kill him and the Belgian soldiers

United NationsO Confronted with images on the news, they finally

agreed to send 5000 troops into Rwanda;

O There were delays and the troops never made it in time to stop the genocide;

O On July 4, 1994 the Rwandan Patriotic Front succeeded in protecting a number of Tutsi from the Hutu gangs. The genocide finally came to an end on July 18, 1994.

Paul Kigame and RPF

Why study RwandaO A unique case…?

O …Or one that’s all too common?

O International politics

O Classic parable of state-society relations

O Human interaction