In just 100 days, between April 7th and July 15th 1994, approximately 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered, in what was one of the biggest genocides of modern history.
Through my studies of Human Rights as part of Geography A Level, I was particularly shocked by the Rwandan genocide, and how the world looked the other way. Learning more about this topic shone an important light on the atrocities that occurred and when talking to some of my peers, their limited knowledge on the event became apparent. The media today is heavily focused on looking to the future with crises such as climate change, however, it is still just as vital to reflect on the past, and in this case, educate ourselves on the sheer act of brutality that occurred in Rwanda in 1994.
Rwanda was a country constituted under Belgian colonial rule. The majority tribe was Hutu, approximately 85% of the population, who were traditionally crop framers. The other 15% of the population were Tutsi, who kept cattle. As these are perceived as a valuable asset this meant the Tutsis became the ‘elite’, a position encouraged by the Belgian colonialist rulers. Most of the colonial officials were drawn from the Tutsi tribe. However, when Rwanda gained independence in 1961 the majority voted in a Hutu leader, Grégoire Kayibanda.
Tensions between the tribes continued to brew, culminating in a war between the Hutus and rebel Tutsi forces, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) backed by neighbouring Uganda, from 1990 to 1993. The Hutu President, Habyarimana, finally agreed to a United Nations enforced peace agreement with the Tutsi rebels, the RPF. However, on 6th April 1994, Habyarimana was assassinated when his plane was shot down. This was the spark that ignited the pent-up hatred, with Hutus vowing to eliminate the ‘problem’ minority Tutsis.
The BBC report described how lists of government opponents were handed out to militia groups who hunted down and eliminated Tutsis along with all their families. ‘Neighbours killed neighbours and some husbands even killed their Tutsi wives, saying they would be killed if they refused…..Thousands of Tutsi women were taken away and kept as sex slaves’ (BBC.co.uk, 4th April 2019). National ID cards identified people’s ethnic groups making identification and subsequent elimination easier. The BBC article even states that ‘some priests and nuns were convicted of killing people, including some who sought shelter in churches’. The massacre was on an unprecedented scale and the violence extreme. Propaganda radio urged the ‘weeding out of the cockroaches’. Women were subject to sexual violence on a massive scale. ‘with many women being killed after being raped’. (Human Rights Watch report September 1996).
The genocide itself was a heinous act, but to me what was truly abhorrent was how the world stood aside while it happened. Both the UN and Belgium had troops in the country, but the UN mission wasn’t given the mandate to stop the killing, and so the troops stood aside. In the previous year, 1993, US troops had been dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia in what became known as the ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident, and the US was determined not to get involved in another African conflict. The Belgians and most UN peacekeepers pulled out after 10 Belgian soldiers were killed. The French, who were allies of the Hutu government, sent a special force to evacuate their citizens and later set up a supposedly safe zone but they were accused of not doing enough to stop the slaughter.
The 100 days ended when the RPF, backed by the Ugandan government, marched into the capital, Kigali. While this ended the immediate slaughter, the fleeing of refugees into neighbouring countries would destabilise the entire region for years to come.
In hindsight, there is a good possibility the UN could have done something. Some believe with an extra 5,000 troops and a stronger UN mandate, hundreds of thousands could have been saved. Bill Clinton calls his failure to intervene one of the greatest regrets of his presidency. This has catalysed the modern movement in favour of humanitarian military intervention to prevent genocide.
If you wish to find out more about the Rwandan genocide a film worth watching is Hotel Rwanda.
By Grace, Senior Prefect
Sources:
BBC (BBC News, 4 April 2019)
Human Rights Watch (hrw.org, Sept 1996)
Wikipedia.org
Vox.com
Photo Credit:
Camp for Rwandan refugees – People fleeing the genocide in Rwanda found refuge inside the borders of Zaire.
Wesley Bocxe / Photo Researchers / Universal Images Group
Rights Managed / For Education Use Only
