Genocide in Rwanda

After the Holocaust, we made a promise to the victims to never allow this to happen

again- NEVER AGAINSo what happened?

Vocabulary

• Tribalism- Feelings of loyalty to individual tribes, and the cause of much war and strife in modern Africa.

• Genocide= Ethnic cleansing

Key People

• Hutu• Tutsi• President Habyarimana- Hutu; President of

Rwanda; assassinated in April 1994• The Interhamwe Militia- Hutu radicals• Paul Rusesabagina- Manager of the Milles

Colline Hotel in Rwanda; saved over 2,000 innocent people from certain death

Long-term Causes• Conquest, Divine Right Monarchy, and Feudalism by the

Tutsis over the Hutu• European Imperialism and Social Darwinism Tribalism• Belgians colonized the Congo in the 1800’s; they took over

Rwanda after WWI. They separated the Hutu and Tutsi iand recorded notes on skin tone, height, and width of a person’s nose. The Hutu who were dark-skinned, short, or had a wide nose, were considered inferior by the Belgians and sent to work in the fields and mines; the Hutu were light-skinned…and were given government jobs and made to oversee the work of those who had darker skin resentment and hatred set in Hutus would gain power after independence in the 1960’s plot revenge

Immediate Cause

• Assassination of Rwandan President Habyarimana by Hutu radicals ( the Interhamwe) blamed it on Tutsis

Facts• The genocide began in April 1994 and lasted for

over three months.• Over 800,000 people were killed in 100 days, a

rate faster than the Holocaust• The US and its allies pulled all troops out because

they had recently been defeated and embarrassed in Somalia

• The perpetrators of the genocide targeted children to wipe out the next generation

• The Interhamwe used state run media to instruct the killers where to go and who to kill

Immediate Effects

• Tutsi Rebel Army seized control of government and instituted a totalitarian government to prevent more violence. Ironic?

• The UN is currently prosecuting the leaders of the Interhamwe and the Rwandan military for “crimes against humanity”.

Long-Term Effects/ Connections to Today

• Rwanda today is relatively peaceful, but tribalism remains a concern as Hutus and Tutsis war with each in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo

• http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/04/10/congos-crisis-continues-mass-rapes-and-scarce-resources/4925/

• http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/03/26/pascal-and-vestine-are-alive-in-congo-but-still-not-home/4654/