Assignment 1: The Rwandan Genocide
In the recent discussion of genocides, a controversial issue has been whether the Rwandan genocide was local or nation participation of citizens that contributed to the genocide. On the one hand, some would argue that macro (nation) level was a significant factor in the Rwandan genocide against Tutsis. From this perspective, the humanitarian community felt it was the government 's exclusionary ideology which, led to the mass killings of one million Tutsis residents. On the other hand, however, others argue that a micro level used by the (local) Hutu communities organized and played a vital role in these mass extermination of their fellow citizens. My own
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This tactic of dividing people into categories helped the government identify moderates, prosperous Tutsis, and any Hutus who were in opposition to the regime to be targeted. Another form of promoting their exclusionary ideology was through the radio propaganda called "the Radio Television Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM) to advance the views of Hutu powers," which was a group that embraced the ethnic solidarity of Hutus that President Habyarimana 's policies embodied (Gourevitch, 99). As the hateful and extremist rhetoric continued from the propaganda campaign, President Habyarimana 's administration increased tensions within the country by frequently talking about the RPF ambitions to take over the country. For Habyarimana 's administration to respond to the growing anxiety of the people, they began recruiting Hutu citizens into militias called "Interahamwe, 'those who attack together,’ and trained them as a civil defense unit for Rwanda"(Gourevitch, 93). The establishment of the Interahamwe gave the government the opportunity to distribute weapons to protect their communities from 'the enemy,’ the Tutsi population. Even after the plane crash