Genocide in Rwanda WHAP/Napp

Genocide in Rwanda WHAP/Napp

“On December 11, 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared genocide a crime under international law. In 1948 the international body defined genocide as ‘acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.’ Before the signature dried on the second document, the world witnessed the bloody partition of British India between Hindus and Muslims and the beginnings of an international balance of terror depending on the threat of mutual nuclear destruction. By and large, the ethnic, national, and religious violence of the immediate post-war was not called genocide. The term was limited to the Nazi attempt to exterminate Jews.

In the early 1990s, the specter of genocide returned in the breakup of Yugoslavia and in the African state of Rwanda. While Yugoslavia died a slow death, the outburst of killing in Rwanda was remarkable for its suddenness. Within a matter of months, the majority Hutu population slaughtered almost a million of the minority Tutsis. Under German and then Belgian colonialism, the Tutsis had been designated a superior race and given special power and privileges. This was a common divide-and-rule tactic of European colonial control. In this period of independence (1959 – 1962), Hutu resentment against Tutsis came to a boil. Thousands of Tutsis were killed and hundreds of thousands were expelled. Hutus took their place and controlled the government and resources. Over the next decades, Tutsis came back to the densely populated country, formed a political party, and became stronger. By 1994, the Hutu president and many of his supporters feared a return of Tutsi rule. When the president and many of his advisers were killed in a plane crash, the Hutu media and militant groups marshaled a campaign of extermination.

‘The church was about twenty by sixty feet. Inside, wooden planks were placed on stones. I supposed they were meant as benches. I peered inside and saw a pile of belongings – shoulder sacks, tattered clothing, a towel, a wooden box, a suferia (cooking pot), plastic mugs and plates, straw mats and hats – the worldly goods of the poor. Then, amidst it all, I saw bones and the entire skeletons, each caught in the posture in which it had died. Even a year after the genocide, I thought the air smelled of blood, mixed with that of bones, clothing, earth – a human mildew.’ [Mahmood Mamdani] ~ Worlds of History

Notes:

1. Background to Genocide

1. Beginning on April 6, 1994, and for next hundred days, up to 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia using clubs and machetes
2. Sparked by death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6, 1994
3. Rwanda is one of smallest countries in Central Africa, with just 7 million peoplecomprised of two main ethnic groups, Hutu and Tutsi
4. Although Hutus account for 90 percent of population, in past, Tutsi minority was considered aristocracy of Rwanda and dominated Hutu peasants
5. Ironically, ethnic groups are very similarsame language, traditions
6. But Tutsis are taller and thinner, with some saying origins lie in Ethiopia
7. When Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, produced identity cards classifying people according to ethnicity
8. Belgians considered the Tutsis to be superior to the Hutusgave Tutsis better jobs and educational opportunities

I.Resentment among Hutus built up, culminating in a series of riots in 1959
J. Tutsi refugees in Uganda – supported by some moderate Hutus –formed Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)
K. Aimoverthrow Habyarimana and secure right to return to homeland
L. Habyarimana exploited threat to bring dissident Hutus back to his side, and Tutsis inside Rwanda were accused of being RPF collaborators
M. When Habyarimana’s plane was shot down at the beginning of April 1994, it was the final nail in the coffin
N. In Kigali, presidential guard initiated a campaign of retribution
O. Leaders murdered and slaughtered Tutsis and moderate Hutus
P. Since all individuals carried identification cards specifying ethnicity, a practice left over from colonial days ‘tribal cards’ now meant life or death
Q. Ten United Nations peacekeeping soldiers from Belgium were captured by Hutus, tortured and murderedSome Tutsis had turned to U.N. for protection
R. As a result, the United States, France, Belgium, and Italy all began evacuating their own personnel from Rwanda
S. But no effort was made to evacuate Tutsi civilians or Hutu moderates
T. At U.N. headquarters, killings categorized as a breakdown in cease-fire between Tutsi and Hutulabeling genocide would have demanded action
II.The Genocide

1. Encouraged by presidential guard and radio propaganda, unofficial militia group, the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together), mobilized
2. In some cases, Hutu civilians were forced to murder their Tutsi neighbors
3. Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some were even told they could appropriate land of the Tutsis killed
4. The Rwandans were largely left alone by the international community
5. UN troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers
6. U.N. Security Council responded to worsening crisis by voting unanimously to abandon Rwanda
7. Hutu, without opposition from world community, engaged in genocidal mania, clubbing and hacking to death Tutsi families with machetes
8. Rwandan radio, controlled by Hutu extremists, encouraged killings by broadcasting hate propaganda, pinpointing locations of Tutsis in hiding

I.Many Tutsis took refuge in churches and mission compoundsbecame scenes of some of the worst massacres
J. Hospitals became prime targets as survivors were sought out and killed
K. In some local villages, militiamen forced Hutus to kill their Tutsis neighbors or face a death sentence for themselves and their entire families
L. They also forced Tutsis to kill members of their own families
M. Finally, in July, the RPF captured Kigali
N. The government collapsed and the RPF declared a ceasefire
O. As soon as it became apparent that the RPF was victorious, an estimated two million Hutus fled to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo)
P. Refugees included many who have since been implicated in the massacres

1. Rwanda’s now Tutsi-led government has twice invaded its twice much larger neighbor, saying it wants to wipe out the Hutu forces

Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):

“Scramble for Africa”: / Imperialism in Africa: / Problem with Colonial Boundaries: / Ethnic Rivalries in Rwanda:
Hutus: / Tutsis: / Identity Cards: / Effects of Imperialism on Rwanda:
Interahamwe: / Habyarimana: / “Trigger” for Genocide: / Rwandan Genocide:
United Nations and Rwandan Genocide: / Effects of Rwandan Genocide: / Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF): / End of Rwandan Genocide:

Questions:

1. Which of the following is the basis for nearly all the boundaries of today's sub-Saharan African states?
(A) Postcolonial conquests of one African state by another
(B) Fragmentation of countries after they achieved independence from Europe
(C) Decisions by European powers during the process of colonization
(D) Precolonial linguistic groupings
(E) International agreements mediated by the United Nations
2. The purpose of the Berlin Conference of 1885 was
(A) For representatives of Western industry to learn cutting-edge German industrial techniques
(B) For representatives of colonized peoples to learn cutting-edge German industrial techniques
(C) To set quotas and agreements surrounding the growth of the German navy
(D) To negotiate settlements among Western rivalries over the partition of Africa
(E) To study the ideas of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
3. Name of Rwandan president killed in a plane crash on April 6, 1994:
(A) Habyarimana
(B) Kagame
(C) Kayibana
(D) Gregoire
4. This country introduced identity cards for Hutus and Tutsis:
(A) France
(B) Burundi
(C) Belgium
(D) Germany / 5. This group was privileged by those who colonized Rwanda:
(A) Hutus
(B) Tutsis
(C) Twa
(D) None of the above
6. What Marxist regime devastated Cambodia, killing well over a million people?
(A) the Khmer Blanc
(B) the Sihanouk Serpents
(C) the Angkor Brigade
(D) the Khmer Rouge
(E) the Viet Cong
7.Which of the following nations is considered to have treated its colonies most poorly?
(A) Belgium
(B) Great Britain
(C) France
(D) the Netherlands
(E) Austria
8. Before 1870, the European presence in Africa was characterized primarily by
(A) military conquests of large territories administered as military states
(B) intense colonization and settlement of large areas
(C) active international interaction through trade and diplomacy
(D) coastal enclaves for trade and a few settlements
(E) frequent coastal raids along with racial segregation imposed on conquered peoples