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A Summary of the Rwandan Genocide A Summary of the Rwandan Genocide Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country right to return to Rwanda, however, Juvenal Habyarimana, then president of Rwanda, took Rwanda’s population of more than 7 million the position that population pressures were al- people is divided into three ethnic groups: the ready too great, and economic opportunities too Hutu (who made up roughly 85% of the popula- few to accommodate large numbers of Tutsi tion), the Tutsi (14%) and the Twa (1%). refugees. Prior to the colonial era, Tutsis generally occu- The Civil War pied the higher strata in the social system and the Hutus the lower. However, social mobility In 1988, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was was possible, a Hutu who acquired a large num- founded in Kampala, Uganda as a political and ber of cattle or other wealth could be assimilated military movement with the stated aims of secur- into the Tutsi group and impoverished Tutsi ing repatriation of Rwandans in exile and reform- would be regarded as Hutu. A clan system also ing of the Rwandan government, including politi- functioned, with the Tutsi clan known as the Ny- cal power sharing. The RPF was composed inginya being the most powerful. Throughout the mainly of Tutsi exiles in Uganda, many of whom 1800s, the Nyingiya expanded their influence by had served in President Yoweri Museveni’s Na- conquest and by offering protection in return for tional Resistance Army, which had overthrown tribute. the previous Ugandan government in 1986. While the ranks of the RPF did include some Ethnic Conflict Begins Hutus, the majority, particularly those in leader- ship positions, were Tutsi refugees. The former colonial power, Germany, lost pos- session of Rwanda during the First World War On 1 October 1990, the RPF launched a major and the territory was then placed under Belgian attack on Rwanda from Uganda with a force of administration. In the late 1950’s during the 7,000 fighters. Because of the RPF attacks great wave of decolonization, tensions increased which displaced thousands and a policy of de- in Rwanda. The Hutu political movement, which liberately targeted propaganda by the govern- stood to gain from majority rule, was gaining ment, all Tutsis inside the country were labeled momentum while segments of the Tutsi estab- accomplices of the RPF and Hutu members of lishment resisted democratization and the loss the opposition parties were labeled as traitors. of their acquired privileges. In November 1959, a Media, particularly radio, continued to spread violent incident sparked a Hutu uprising in which unfounded rumours, which exacerbated ethnic hundreds of Tutsi were killed and thousands problems. displaced and forced to flee to neighboring countries. This marked the start of the so- called In August 1993, through the peacemaking ef- ‘Hutu Peasant Revolution’ or ‘social revolution’ forts of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) lasting from 1959 to 1961, which signified the and the governments in the region, the signing end of Tutsi domination and the sharpening of of the Arusha peace agreements appeared to ethnic tensions. By 1962, when Rwanda gained have brought an end to the conflict between the independence, 120,000 people, primarily Tutsis, then Hutu dominated government and the oppo- had taken refuge in neighboring states to es- sition Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). In October cape the violence which had accompanied the 1993, the Security Council established the gradual coming into power of the Hutu commu- United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda nity. (UNAMIR) with a mandate encompassing peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and A new cycle of ethnic conflict and violence con- general support for the peace process. tinued after independence. Tutsi refugees in Tanzania and Zaire seeking to regain their for- From the outset, however, the will to achieve mer positions in Rwanda began organizing and and sustain peace was subverted by some of staging attacks on Hutu targets and the Hutu the Rwandan political parties participating in the government. Ten such attacks occurred be- Agreement. With the ensuing delays in its im- tween 1962 and 1967, each leading to retalia- plementation, violations of human rights became tory killings of large numbers of Tutsi civilians in more widespread and the security situation dete- Rwanda and creating new waves of refugees. riorated. Later, evidence demonstrated irrefuta- By the end of the 1980s some 480,000 Rwan- bly that extremist elements of the Hutu majority dans had become refugees, primarily in Burundi, while talking peace were in fact planning a cam- Uganda, Zaire and Tanzania. They continued to paign to exterminate Tutsis and moderate Hu- call for the fulfillment of their international legal tus. A Summary of the Rwandan Genocide The Genocide mocratic Republic of Congo (DRC), then Zaire taking with them 1.4 million civilians, most of On 6 April 1994, the deaths of the Presidents of them Hutu who had been told that the RPF Burundi and Rwanda in a place crash caused by would kill them. Thousands died of water-borne a rocket attack, ignited several weeks of intense diseases. The camps were also used by former and systematic massacres. The killings - as Rwandan government soldiers to re-arm and many as 1 million people are estimated to have stage invasions into Rwanda. The attacks were perished - shocked the international community one of the factors leading to the war between and were clearly acts of genocide. An estimated Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo 150,000 to 250,000 women were also raped. that took place in 1996. Former Rwandan forces Members of the presidential guard started killing continue to operate in the DRC alongside Con- Tutsi civilians in a section of Kigali near the air- golese militia and other armed groups. They port. Less than half an hour after the plane continue to target civilian populations and cause crash, roadblocks manned by Hutu militiamen deaths, injury and harm. often assisted by gendarmerie (paramilitary po- lice) or military personnel were set up to identify The Rwandan government began the long- Tutsis. awaited genocide trials at the end of 1996. The delay was due to the fact that the country had On 7 April, Radio Television Libres Des Mille lost most of its judicial personnel, not to mention Collines (RTLM) aired a broadcast attributing the the destruction to courts, jails and other infra- plane crash to the RPF and a contingent of UN structure. By 2000, there were over 100,000 soldiers, as well as incitements to eliminate the genocide suspects awaiting trial. In 2001, the “Tutsi cockroach”. Later that day the Prime Min- government began implementing a participatory ister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian justice system, known as Gacaca, (pronounced peacekeepers assigned to protect her were bru- GA-CHA- CHA ) in order to address the enor- tally murdered by Rwandan government soldiers mous backlog of cases. Communities elected in an attack on her home. Other moderate Hutu judges to hear the trials of genocide suspects leaders were similarly assassinated. After the accused of all crimes except planning of geno- massacre of its troops, Belgium withdrew the cide or rape. The defendants in Gacaca courts rest of its force. On 21 April, after other countries have been released provisionally awaiting trial. asked to withdraw troops, the UNAMIR force The releases have caused a lot of unhappiness reduced from an initial 2,165 to 270. among survivors who see it as a form of am- nesty. Rwanda continues to use the national If the absence of a resolute commitment to rec- court system to try those involved in planning onciliation by some of the Rwandan parties was genocide or rape under normal penal law. These one problem, the tragedy was compounded by courts do not offer provisional release for geno- the faltering response of the international com- cide defendants. munity. The capacity of the United Nations to reduce human suffering in Rwanda was severely The Gacaca courts give lower sentences if the constrained by the unwillingness of Member person is repentant and seeks reconciliation with States to respond to the changed circumstances the community. These courts are intended to in Rwanda by strengthening UNAMIR’s mandate help the community participate in the process of and contributing additional troops. justice and reconciliation for the country. On June 22, the Security Council authorized At the international level, the Security Council on French-led forces to mount a humanitarian mis- 8 November 1994 set up the International Crimi- sion. The mission, called Operation Turquoise, nal Tribunal for Rwanda, currently based in saved hundreds of civilians in South West Arusha, Tanzania. Investigations began in May Rwanda, but is also said to have allowed sol- 1995. The first suspects were brought to the diers, officials and militiamen involved in the court in May 1996 and the first case began in genocide to flee Rwanda through the areas un- January 1997. The UN Tribunal has jurisdiction der their control. In other areas, killings contin- over all violations of international human rights ued until 4 July 1994 when the RPF took military that happened in Rwanda between January and control of the entire territory of Rwanda. December 1994. It has the capacity to prosecute high-level members of the government and The Aftermath of the Genocide armed forces that may have fled the country and would otherwise have gone unpunished. The Government officials, soldiers and militia who court has since convicted the Prime Minister had participated in the genocide fled to the De- during the genocide Jean Kambanda, to life in A Summary of the Rwandan Genocide prison. It was also the first international court to It was during this period in the 1990s, with inci- convict a suspect for rape as a crime against dents in Somalia, Rwanda, Srebrenica and humanity and a crime of genocide.
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