The Rwandan Genocide The conflict escalated over the years and plunged into all out civil
nflict escalated over the years and plunged into all out civil war in
The conflict in Rwanda was the result of a quarrel for power betwen two of
Rwanda's main ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsi. The Hutus settled in
the great lake region around 500 B.C followed by the nomadic Tutsi from
Ethiopia years later. The Hutu mainly specialized in farming while the Tutsi
were cattle herders, both groups lived in harmony while under Belgiums rule.
It wasn't until Rwanda gained its independence that conflict began to arise.
1. The heart of the conflict
On April 6, 1994, Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana (a Hutu) was
killed when his plane was shot down by Tutsi rebels. The violence began
shortly after the presidents assasination, and Hutu extremists launched their
plight to eradicate the entire Tutsi population. Tutsi and those accused of
being Tutsi were salughtered. Maybe around 3/4 of the Tutsi population
parished, as well as thousands of Hutu who opposed the genocide.
2. Reasons for the conflict
The conflict in Rwanda affected many of its bordering countries. After the
Tutsi took control, somewhere around 2,000,000 Hutus fled to different
countries including Zaire (Now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and
Tanzania. The civil war greatly affected countries that existed in that same
region by harming the overall stabability and instigating more violence. It is
believed that the reason for such mass immigration is fear of revenge from
the Tutsi.
Though there are many reasons for the conflict between the Hutus and the
Tutsi, it is evident that the most prominent of these reasons is that both sides
wanted power over the country in the absence of a third party. Another
reason may be recognition. Just like the Arab and Israeli conflict, both sides
want to be recognized as being dominant. This conflict is not new, although
there was a time when the Hutus and Tutsi lived peacefully, there was always
some sort of tension beneath the surface because the Tutsi were always
recognized by different countries as having dominance over the Hutus
because they had better jobs and were generally wealthier.
3. The violence in a nutshell
In the absence of the Belgians, the Tutsi and the Hutus fought over who
would dominate Rwanda, in the end, the Tutsi overpowered the Hutu. Their
victory, however, was ephmeral as a later revolt shifted the power into the
hands of the Hutu who discriminated the Tutsi with open acts of violence.
1994 with the start of the Rwanda Genocide.
4. The Rwanda Civil War
The Rwanda Civil war lasted around 100 days. After the Rwanda genocide,
The remaining Tutsi formed the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) and launched
a counterattack against the Hutu. Despite their numbers, The Tutsi (now
consisting of about 11% of the population) overcame their enemies and
siezed control. The conflict not only tore the country apart, but it
exacerbated instabability in neighboring countries including the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Burundi. The poor country of Rwanda benefits mainly
off of agriculture. Unfortunately, this vital asset was greatly affected during
the war as many crops were destroyed and a lot of the land became infertle.
5. The end of the conflict
The Rwandan genocide and civil war ended when the RPF overthrew the
genocidal goverment of Hutu extremists, and President Paul Kagame took
control of Rwanda. The Hutu were fully responsible for the organization and
execution of the genocides, but many governments elsewhere shared in the
shame of the crime. France, Belgium, and the United States, were some of
the countries that were aware of the preparations and execution of the
genocide, but they failed to take he neccesarry steps to prevent the mass
slaughter.
6. Effects on a local, regional and global scale
Local: the conflict affected everyone in the entire country. The Hutsu
government killed Tutsi but also Hutus.
Regional: No outside forces intervened and helped stop the conflict. The
government was run by the Hututs , so they promoted the genocide and gave
out weapons.
Global:The Rwanda genocide got very little attention from a global scale. The
UN and other countries did very little to stop the violence.
7. Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The United Nations Security Council established the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda to "prosecute persons responsible for genocide and
other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the
territory of Rwanda and neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31
December 1994". The Tribunal is located in Arusha, Tanzania, and has offices
in Kigali, Rwanda.