RwandaNon West 2014

Background

HUTUs• Majority – 80%• Migrated from southern Africa• General: Found themselves as

laborers and farmers

TUTSIS• Minority – 20%• Migrated from northern Africa

(Egypt)• General: Found themselves as

the elite and political rulers

Background

• Ruled by Belgium after WWI; used a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy to rule the country• Belgians favored the TUTSI minority and used them to help govern

the country• 1926 – Belgians introduced a ethnic identification system• Tutsis were given privileges such as Western style education, which

the Hutu majority was excluded from

Background

• Hutus could only be laborers or low level workers• 1950s – Educated Tutsis began to question colonial rule• Belgian pulled a ‘turn face’ in which they began to favor the Hutu

majority instead of the Tutsis.• 1960s - Belgium organized elections and elected Hutus to power

Background

• Over 200,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries and formed a rebel guerrilla army: The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)• 1962 – Belgium withdrew from

Rwanda giving them Independence

Background• Gregoire Kayibanda was the first

president but was later ousted by Juvenal Habyarimana who ruled from 1973 – 1994• Habyarimana used the RPF as a

way to gain support from Hutus by increasing hatred of the Tutsis• 1990 – The RPF invaded Rwanda

and civil war broke out; an accord mandating that Hutus and Tutsis share power was signed

Genocide Begins

• Ethnic tensions began to increase, and the ideology that Tutsis wanted to enslave and murder the Hutus emerged• 1993 – A cease fire was ordered; A United Nations peacekeeping force

of 2,500 is dispatched to preserve the cease-fire• April 6, 1994 – Rwandan President Habyarimana’s plane was shot

down near Kigali airport, and the Genocide began

Genocide

• After the death of Habyariman, instantly killings began• Agathe Uwilingiyimana the first female prime minister took power,

but was assassinated• The Hutu extremist radio – RTLM, and the state supported radio –

Radio Rwanda, encouraged the mass murder of the “cockroaches.” These cockroaches were Tutsis and Hutu moderates

Genocide

• Mass killings, organized and not, began to plague the country• Most victims were killed in their

own villages and towns by neighbors usually by being hacked to death by machetes• Those who did not get involved

in the murders were often murdered themselves

Genocide

• Some massacres that occurred include the massacre at Nyarubuye, where 1500 Tutsis took refuge in a church. The Interahamwe began bulldozing the church, those who tried to escape were hacked to death• Rape was also used as a weapon

during the Genocide. Up to 500,000 Tutsi women were raped

Genocide

• Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days• An estimated 10,000 people

were murdered each day• 400,000 children were left

orphans

Genocide

• Bodies found in mass graves• Some mass graves contained

over 50,000 bodies

Genocide

• Bullet holes on a school where Hutus raided and murdered hiding Tutsis

International Involvement

• UN and international involvement was limited due to little national interest• 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.• International troops were

deployed, but to evacuate foreigners only.

After the Genocide

• The Rwandan Patriotic Front eventually took power of Rwanda • General Paul Kagame was the

leader of the RPF invasion in 1994• In 2003 Kagame became

Rwanda’s first elected president since the genocide. Not only did he win, he received 95% of the votes.

After the Genocide

• Rwanda was left with a crisis amongst the children; many of which were either orphaned or forced to join in the massacre, leaving them with haunting memories• UNICEF has worked with

Rwandan youth to educated and help cope with the Genocide• Rwanda is also facing an Aids

outbreak, greatly due to the mass rape that occurred during the Genocide

After the Genocide

• However, Rwanda now looks towards the future; by promoting forgiveness and tacking economic growth, human rights, and environmental concerns.• Rwanda is considered a success

story after the genocide based on its growth and way of dealing with the Genocide