Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Background:

The genocide happened in Rwanda, which is located in Central Africa. Rwanda had the highest population density in Africa. 85% of the Rwanda population was Hutu. The other 15% was Tutsi, and a small number of Twa (who were the original habitants in Rwanda).  The ratio of Hutu to Tutsi was 8-1. The Rwandan genocide was caused by a power struggle between the two dominant tribes in both Rwanda and Burundi (the Hutu and the Tutsi). This genocide lasted for 3 months. It started in April 1994, and ended in July 1994. After WWI, Rwanda came under the league of nations mandate of Belgium. The Belgians favored the Tutsi, rather than the Hutu. This caused tension to build, which eventually added up and turned into violence even before Rwanda had gained it's independence. In 1959 there was a Hutu revolution, it forced 300,000+ Tutsi to leave the country. On July 1, 1962 Rwanda gained it’s independence from Belgium. In 1988 the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) was formed in Uganda. In 1990 The RPF invade Rwanda, starting a civil war. In 1991, Rwanda formed a new constitution. In it, it allowed multiple political parties. In August 1993, the government signed a peace treaty with RPF. but on April 6, 1994 the President of Rwanda (JuvĂ©nal Habyarimana) was killed when his plane was shot from the sky. This was the beginning pf the genocide. April 7 was the official start. The Hutu started killing their political opponents  The western media described the genocide as “A spontaneous, uncontrollable, outpouring of ethic hatred which, as such, could not be stopped”. This sounds like utter chaos. It has also been ranked one of the 20th bloodiest 20th century genocides. Finally, all this chaos and terror ended in mid July (3 months later) when the RPF took all control of Rwanda. 

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