Download - Rwanda
Fast Facts
• Located in Central Africa
• Population: 7 million– Two main ethnic groups
• Hutu (90 percent of population)
• Tutsi– Considered aristocracy
of Rwanda
– Dominated Hutu peasants under Belgium colonial rule
Brief History• 1962 gain independence from Belgium
– Hutu majority seized power & reversed the roles• Oppressed Tutsis through systematic discrimination & acts
of violence
– 200,000 Tutsis flee to neighboring countries & form rebel guerilla army, Rwandan Patriotic Front
• 1990 Rebel army invaded Rwanda • forced Hutu President Habalyimana into signing an accord
which mandated that the Hutus
and Tutsis share power
Brief History• Ethnic tensions increase in
October 1993 after the assassination of Hutu president Melchior Ndadaye in Burundi
– UN peacekeeping force dispatched to preserve cease-fire between Hutu government and Tutsi rebels
• peace threatened by Hutu extremists – opposed sharing power with Tutsis– desired to exterminate Tutsis
Genocide Begins• April 1994 Rwandan
President Habyalimana and Burundi’s President Cyprien Ntaryamira held several peace meetings with Tutsi rebels
– April 6th – returning from a meeting in Tanzania, the presidents’ jet was shot down by ground-fired missiles as it approached Rwanda’s airport at Kigali.
PresidentHabyalimana
PresidentNtayamira
Genocide Begins• Rwanda plunged into political violence
– Hutu extremists target prominent opposition figures – moderate Hutu politicians & Tutsi leaders - who were on their death-lists
– Killings spread throughout country • Carried out by Hutu militia• Killed Tutsi civilians – all Rwandans had to carry ID cards
specifying their ethnic background
– 10 UN peacekeeping soldiers were captured by Hutus, tortured and murdered.
• US, Belgium, France, & Italy evacuate own personnel from Rwanda
– UN headquarters in New York: killings categorized as breakdown of cease-fire between Tutsi & Hutu
• Throughout massacre US and UN refrain from classifying killings as genocide
Genocide Begins
• April 21st - Red Cross estimates hundreds of thousands of Tutsi already massacred
– UN Security Council abandons Rwanda – UN peacekeeping troops pull out; only 200
remain for entire country
Genocide Begins
• Hutu engage in genocidal mania– Rwandan state radio encourages killings
• Use hate propaganda• Reveal Tutsi hiding places
– killers aided by the Hutu professional class– Tutsis seek refuge in churches and mission
compounds• Scenes of worst massacres• Ex. Musha – 1200 Tutsis killed from 8 am till
evening
Genocide
• Mid May – estimated 500,000 Tutsis killed• Under scrutiny from media, UN Security
Council votes to send 5,000 soldiers to Rwanda
– troops fail to arrive in time
• July 1994 genocide ends when armed Tutsi rebels invade from neighboring countries
– 800,000 killed
