Rwanda Genocide
By: Jamie Reilly, Staci Morgan, and Shayne
Martin
What was happening in the world
Before the start date of April 1996 the united nations
assistance mission for Rwanda ( UNAMIR) had resistance
from several UN security council members. These seven
were reluctant to let the UN become involved.
Belgium had been the only one to push and ask for a
strong UNAMIR mandate.
After ten Belgian peacekeepers protecting the prime
minister got murdered and the failure of the security council
to act , Belgium pulled out of the peace keeping mission.
What was happening in the world
In January 1994 a fax sent from Romeo Dallaire (
Major-general of UNAMIR) to the UN commander, detailing
the planned anti-Tutsi genocide. He was recommending
that with this information he should be granted protection
and evacuation of Rwanda .
The UN commander expressed intention to verify this
information sent by dallaire but for whatever reason the
early warning never spread far enough to gain and capture
help from the security council.
Environment / Factors
In the early 1990s, Hutu extremists within Rwandas political
elite, blamed the entire Tutsi minority for the countries
increasing social, economic , and political pressures.
- In the time of the early 1990s building up to 94’ the Tutsi and Hutu grew further and further apart. (1992) The Hutu now see the
pass two years as oppressive Tutsi power rising and ruling over them. The Hutu not only now resented the Tutsi more than ever
but also feared the minority
- In the next years (1990-93) the Tutsi will start the preparation faze. The Tutsi trained kids and teens to use weapons and
battle tactics and called it “ civil defense “ against the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front)
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The Tutsi rebels also imported mass amounts of machetes, razor blades, saws, scissors, and many other harmful weapons.
- In October 1993 president of Burundi , Melchior Ndadaye. Who had been elected in june. Was the countries first ever Hutu
president. He was killed in October by extremists Tutsi army officers.
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April 6th 1994 a plane carrying president Juvenal Habyarimana ( president) was shot down by the RPF and Hutu extremists
Perpetrators
● In the early 1990’s, Tutsi civilians were blamed for all of the
economic and political devastation by the Hutu’s.
● Out of the seven million civilians 85% was of Hutu nationality. The
Tutsi was greatly outnumbered holding only 14% of the population.
The 1% belonged to the Twa.
● The Tutsi were accused of supporting a Tutsi-dominated rebellion
group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
● The Hutu resented and feared that the group would take action in
the rebellion that they were accused of practicing.
● This caused a lot of tension between both parties and will lead to
the genocide.
Perpetrators
● On April 6, 1994 the
madness officially began
when a plane holding
President Habyarimana
was shot down.
● President Habyarimana
was a Hutu, and this
allowed all of the Hutu
extremists to target the
Tutsi.
Perpetrators
● Hutu’s now are going to mentally and physically prepare
for a complete genocide of the entire Tutsi race.
● Those who carried out the massacre were mostly Hutu
supremacist militia groups, the Interahamwe and the
Impuzamugambi, co-perpetrated by the state
government of Rwanda, the Rwandan Army, and
Rwandan civilians in compliance with the “Hutu Power”
movement.
Victims
● The obvious victims were all of the Tutsi population.
● Although the Hutu’s who opposed of the action that was
taking place were murdered too.
● Anyone suspecting of being Tutsi was killed in their own
homes and that went for anyone trying to escape as well.
● The perpetrators showed no mercy to their victims, as they
killed people while making their family watch.
● It is estimated that 800,000 people were murdered during the
genocide, which was ¾ of the Tutsi population.
Victims
●
● The Rwandan civil war and
genocide was not
completely put to an end
until President Kagame
took over and after the
RPF conquered the Hutu
perpetrator movement.
Bystanders
● Full blame goes to the Rwandans who planned and/or
contributed in the killing of the Tutsi.
● However, the Rwandans could not have done this without the
help, or lack of help from other countries.
● Most of the world stood on the sidelines during the genocide
in the hopes of avoiding death and political distress.
● The policymakers in Belgium, France, U.N., and the U.S.A
refused to take the drastic risk of helping although they were
completely aware of what was going on.
Bystanders
● President Clinton made it seem like he was not aware of the
events taking place in Rwanda. He expressed urgency and
outrage at an odd time taking place after the genocide had
happened.
● Many journalists, and everyday civilians questioned if he was
telling the truth.
● The questions were later answered when Clinton gave a
speech, which is known as the “Clinton Rwandan Apology”.
Clinton’s Rwandan Apology
On March 25, 1998 at the Kigali airport in Rwanda, President Clinton apologizes on behalf of America’s
absence in the aid of the Rwandan people. “We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the
U.S and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what
occurred.”
Government
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The united Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) signed on
August 4, 1993 was meant to end the Rwandan civil war.
The U.S., Belgium, U.K, and Russia were apart of the UNAMIR and the
mission lasted from October 1993-March 1996.
This was a complete fail.
Deployed 2,000 marines and paratroopers to evacuate foreign nationals in
Rwanda.
40,000 Rwandans taken under protection.
Slow to deploy.
Did not contribute in the suppression of the genocide.
Only helped survivors, and counted the bodies.
8 Stages of Genocide: Classification
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Classification- classifying a group of people as undesirable/unwanted;
distiguishes “Us vs. Them”
○ Started way back when in the past when the Cushite (Tutsis)
established dominance over the Bantu (Hutus)
○ Ever since then there was an established social difference between
the two groups
○ Then, the Hutus came to power and still felt resentment from the
Tutsis claiming themselves as the “leaders”
○ This divided the groups even more
Symbolism
●
Symbolism- Ways to symbolize the differences between the groups
○ In Rwanda, they symbolized by the physical differences between the
Tutsis and the Hutus
○ They forced everyone to carry an identification card, stating whether
you were Tutsi or Hutu
Dehumanization
●
Dehumanization- A way to take away the humanity of the undesirable
group of people
○ The Hutus called the Tutsis cockroaches
Organization
● Organization- The planning involved with
carrying out the genocide
○ The Rwanda genocide was planned by the MNDR
and the Interanamwe
○ Shipments of weapons were brought in
○ They used propaganda
○ They coordinated the attack on the Tutsis
Polarization
● Polarization- publically driving the two
groups farther apart
○ They used media to spread the word that the Hutus
were better than the Tutsis
○ They used media/propaganda to blame the crash of
the Presidents plane on the Tutsis
Preparation
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Preparation- preparing for the actual genocide and killings
○ They timed everything perfectly
○ They used the I.D. cards to tell who was Tutsi and who was Hutu
Extermination
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Extermination- The mass killing of the specific group
○ They deliberately planned and attacked the Tutsis
○ They systematically attacked them for 100 days
Denial
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Denial- Denying that the genocide happened
○ The UN tried to deny the entire Rwanda genocide, while it was still
going on
International Response
● Main response: Shame
● Rwandans were responsible for their own
genocide
● But, policy makers in France, Belgium, and
the U.S. all knew of the plans for the
genocide before it happened
● They did nothing to prevent it
International Response
● They could have prevented it
● So, they felt shame because they did
nothing during the 100 day genocide to help
the people, or before the genocide occurred
to prevent the killing campaign
● 1 million people died
● 250,000 women were raped
Justice for the Victims
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120,000 people were detained and accused for participation in the
murder/rapes
The UN started to help the people after the genocide
The UN Security Council started the International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda (ICTR)
○ Nov. 8, 1994
○ Claimed it mandatory to persecute the people who had a lot to
Do with the genocide
○ Still not done with the Trials
○ The first one was in January of 1997 and lasted until December
2012
○ They are expected to finish the trials by the time 2014 is over
Justice for the Victims
● The National Court System was set up
● This trys people who were accused of
organizing and starting the genocide
● The Gacaca Court System was set up
● This trys all the people involved in the
genocide, besides the ones accused with the
crime of planning it
Justice for the Victims
● The new constitution states that all Rwandans share
equal rights
● The National Unity and Reconciliation Commission was
established
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Ingando- peace education programme
Itorero- leadership academy to promote Rwandan values
Seminars- for training political leaders, and offering counseling for
trauma
National Summits- justice related, human rights related
Research- still investigating the causes of Rwanda
Works Cited
"Rwanda, Genocide, Hutu, Tutsi, Mass Execution, Ethnic Cleansing, Massacre, Human Rights, Victim Remembrance, Education,
Africa." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 02 June 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=R_6CFNwJ9ww
Video :