Monday, October 13, 2008

The Immediate Causes of the Genocide

The Hutu and Tutsi people lived together peacefully before being colonized (first by Germany and then by Belgium, see previous blogs for more information). During colonization, the Germans and the Belgians labeled the Tutsi people as the "superior" group, even though the country Hutus made up 85% of the country and the Tutsi only accounted for 14%. This led to many privileges for the Tutsies (including political power) and many disadvantages for the Hutu, which caused resentment that, became more and more engrained into the hearts and lives of the Hutu people. The Europeans introduced modern warfare and the European missionaries taught the Hutus to view themselves as oppressed. Therefore, in 1956 with European influence guiding them, the Hutus banned together and rebelled against the Tutsies. Over 100,000 lives were lost in the process, but by 1956 the Hutu had overthrown the Tutsi leaders. This reversed the traditional roles in the Rwandan society; the Tutsies were oppressed and stripped of power, while the Hutus enjoyed the privilege of power that they had been thirsting for. The Hutus treated the Tutsies terribly and as a result over 200,000 Tutsi fled from the country. While these refugees were living in neighboring countries they formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). After receiving complete independence from Belgium in 1962, the inexperienced Hutus had to deal with internal conflicts. Tension was growing among the leaders and throughout the country, and the more the Hutus suppressed the Tutsies, the more the Tutsi determination grew. In 1990 the RPF saw that the Hutu government was very weak and the RPF attacked the Hutus and a civil war began.

In 1993, a ceasefire was created, helped by the UN. A multiparty constitution was created as well (both Hutus and Tutsies had political power). The Hutus were strongly opposed to the Tutsies having any power. Therefore, the Hutus planned the "Final Solution." The signal to start the genocide was given on April 6, 1994 when the plane carrying the Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana, and the Burundi president, Cyprian Ntayamira, was shot down from rocket fire (the source is unknown) near Kigali. This was the event that kick started the genocide. This is extremely ironic because the two presidents were coming back from a meeting of east and central African leaders in Tanzania in which they discussed and brainstormed different ways to end ethnic violence in Burundi and Rwanda.


(Left Picture: Burundi president, Cyprian Ntayamira; Right Picture: Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana)

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