Genocide in Rwanda

WHAP/Napp

Cues: / 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 for decades, especially while under Belgian colonial rule
  5. Ironically, ethnic groups are very similarsame language, traditions
  6. But Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus, with some saying their 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 immediately initiated a campaign of retribution
O. Leaders of political opposition murdered, and slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began
P. Since all individuals in 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
Summaries:
Cues: / 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 by military personnel
  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. On the ground at least, 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
III. Primary Source
  1. Hamis Kamuhanda, 11 years old in 1994 – Shot in the leg by Hutu militia
  2. “Then there was a knock at the door and before we could even respond, the door fell in and about four or so people came in and dragged my father out by his legs. That was the last we saw of him.”
  3. “…The armed Hutu men, the Interahamwe, were scattered and patrolling every corner. The situation was tense for a very long time and we could smell the stench of the dead even inside our fenced house. We were terrified.”
  4. “Mother peeped through the wall and saw Tutsi soldiers coming towards the house. She prayed and waited for our fate. What would it be? It was RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) soldiers. These were good people.”
  5. “They liberated us and freed us from our self-imposed solitary confinement. The RPF soldiers took me to the hospital. I was there for about six months.”
  6. But many of the perpetrators of the genocide have yet to be tried.

Summaries:

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

Timeline:

1918Under the Treaty of Versailles the former German colony of Rwanda-Urundi is made a League of Nations protectorate to be governed by Belgium. Both Germany and Belgium turned the traditional Hutu-Tutsi relationship into a class system. The minority Tutsi (14%) are favored over the Hutus (85%) and given privileges and western-style education. The Belgians used the Tutsi minority to enforce their rule.

1926Belgians introduce a system of ethnic identity cards differentiating Hutus from Tutsis.

1957PARMEHUTU (Party for the Emancipation of the Hutus) is formed while Rwanda is still under Belgian rule.

1959Hutus rebel against the Belgian colonial power and the Tutsi elite; 150,000 Tutsis flee to Burundi.

1960Hutus win municipal elections organized by Belgian colonial rulers.

1961-62Belgians withdraw. Rwanda and Burundi become two separate and independent countries. A Hutu revolution in Rwanda installs a new president, Gregoire Kayibanda; fighting continues and thousands of Tutsis are forced to flee. In Burundi, Tutsis retain power.

1963Further massacre of Tutsis, this time in response to military attack by exiled Tutsis in Burundi. Again more refugees leave the country. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s half of the Tutsi population is living outside Rwanda.

1967Renewed massacres of Tutsis

1973Purge of Tutsis from universities. Fresh outbreak of killings, again directed at Tutsi community. The army chief of staff, General Juvenal Habyarimana, seizes power, pledging to restore order. He sets up a one-party state. A policy of ethnic quotas is entrenched in all public service employment. Tutsis are restricted to nine percent of available jobs.

1986In Uganda, Rwandan exiles are among the victorious troops of Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army who take power, overthrowing the dictator Milton Obote. The exiles then form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-dominated organization.

1989Coffee prices collapse, causing severe economic hardship in Rwanda.

1990/91The Rwandan army begins to train and arm civilian militias known as interahamwe ("Those who stand together"). For the next three years Habyarimana stalls on the establishment of a genuine multi-party system with power-sharing. Throughout this period thousands of Tutsis are killed in separate massacres around the country. Opposition politicians and newspapers are persecuted.

Sept.1993-Mar.1994President Habyarimana stalls on setting up of power-sharing government. Training of militias intensifies. Extremist radio station, Radio Mille Collines, begins broadcasting exhortations to attack the Tutsis. Human rights groups warn the international community of impending calamity.

April 6, 1994President Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when Habyarimana's plane is shot down near Kigali Airport. Extremists, suspecting that the president is finally about to implement the Arusha Peace Accords, are believed to be behind the attack. That night the killing begins.

Thesis Statement: Change Over Time:Rwanda: 1960 – 1994______

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