Genocide again:

in Rwanda

Genocide: The
deliberate murder of
a religious or racial
group.
Tutsi: A member of a Bantu-
speaking people in habiting Rwanda
and Burundi where they are one of
the minority ethic groups
Hutu: Also Bantu-speaking but the
majority ethnic group in Rwanda and
Burundi.
• Listen to the history of this situation
• What similarities are there with the
Holocaust in WW2
Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were
killed in the space of 100 days.
Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated
the violence were Hutus.
The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan president
Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above
Kigali airport on 6 April 1994.
Within hours of the attack, a campaign of violence spread from the
capital throughout the country, and did not subside until three
months later.
In August 1993, after several attacks and months of negotiation, a
peace accord was signed between Habyarimana and the RPF, but it
did little to stop the continued unrest.
When Habyarimana's plane was shot down at the beginning of April
1994, it was the final nail in the coffin.
Exactly who killed the president - and with him the president of
Burundi and many chief members of staff - has not been
established.
• Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There
have always been disagreements between the
majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, but the
animosity between them has grown substantially
since the colonial period.
• The two ethnic groups are actually very similar -
they speak the same language, inhabit the same
areas and follow the same traditions.
• But when the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916,
they saw the two groups as distinct entities, and
even produced identity cards classifying people
according to their ethnicity.
• The Belgians considered the Tutsis as superior to
the Hutus. Not surprisingly, the Tutsis welcomed this
idea, and for the next 20 years they enjoyed better
jobs and educational opportunities than their
neighbours.
• Resentment among the Hutus gradually built up,
culminating in a series of riots in 1959. More than
20,000 Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to the
neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and
Uganda.
• When Belgium relinquished power and granted
Rwanda independence in 1962, the Hutus took their
place. Over subsequent decades, the Tutsis were
portrayed as the scapegoats for every crisis.
• Encouraged by the presidential guard and radio
propaganda, an unofficial militia group called the
Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was
mobilised. At its peak, this group was 30,000-strong.
• Soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citizens
to take part. In some cases, Hutu civilians were forced to
murder their Tutsi neighbours by military personnel.
• Participants were often given incentives, such as money
or food, and some were even told they could have the
land of the Tutsis they killed.
• On the ground at least, the Rwandans were largely left
alone by the international community. UN troops
withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers.
• Finally, in July, the RPF captured Kigali. The government
collapsed and the RPF declared a ceasefire.
Some of the sculls
belonging to Tutsis
recovered after the
Genocide
• How was this similar to the Holocaust?

• Using the timelines – match them up to

find similarities
 And again: Cambodia
• On April 17th 1975, Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom
Penh, Cambodia and defeated the ruling Lon Nol Army.
The taking of Phnom Penh marked the beginning of the
Cambodian genocide. Survivor Sophal Leng Stagg
remembers: “On the night of April 16, 1975 we were
awakened by the terrible sounds of bombs and guns, close
at hand. The explosions were so near that our house shook
with each burst. To the mind of a terrified nine-year-old girl,
it seemed that the gunfire was aimed directly at me… I
soon learned that the people I loved the most would begin
to experience the worst horrors imaginable. We knew our
lives would be changed forever.”
 Cambodian timeline
• 1975 - Lon Nol is overthrown as the Khmer Rouge led by
Pol Pot occupy Phnom Penh. Sihanouk briefly becomes
head of state, the country is re-named Kampuchea.
• All urban dwellers are forcibly evacuated to the countryside
to become agricultural workers. Money becomes worthless,
basic freedoms are curtailed and religion is banned. The
Khmer Rouge coin the phrase "Year Zero".
• Hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes are
tortured and executed in special centres. Others starve, or
die from disease or exhaustion. The total death toll during
the next three years is estimated to be at least 1.7 million.
• 1977 - Fighting breaks out with Vietnam.
• 1978 - Vietnamese forces invade in a lightning assault.
• 1979 January - The Vietnamese take Phnom Penh. Pol
Pot and Khmer Rouge forces flee to the border region
with Thailand. The People's Republic of Kampuchea is
established. Many elements of life before the Khmer
Rouge take-over are re-established.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2M-BXvw7Ng
And again: Darfur
 To stop it happening again
Other:
• We need to see what each has
in common

• On the next slide are some

words
• Put them in a venn diagram –
Holocaust, Rwanda, Cambodia,
or in a box – Other – if they don’t
fit in the venn diagram
 Words:
• Freedom • Murder • If you
• Inequality
• Discrimination
• Inaction (no action) have
• Poverty
• Politics time add
• Propaganda
• Diversity
• Power
some
• Tolerance
• Ideal • War words of
• Scape goats • Innocent your own
• Religion • Guilty
• Race • Equality
• Greed
 Homework:
• Based on your box ‘other’ create a piece
of art – anything creative (including
poetry / song) that educates others to
ensure genocide does not happen again

• Extension – research religious beliefs

about equality and include them