Rwanda Genocide Essay

Genocide is the killing of a large number of people of a specific group, intending to eliminate the group. Many genocides have occurred in the past due to years of brewing tensions and ethnic and political strain. In the case of the Rwandan Genocide, the violence that occurred was a result of the ongoing conflict between two different tribes in the area, which was perpetuated by colonial rule in the region (Rwanda). The Rwandan genocide occurred over the span of 3 months in 1994 and left the Tutsi population decimated, with 650,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu being killed, making this one of the most efficient genocides of any group of people in recorded history.

One of the largest contributing factors to the Rwandan genocide was the lasting effect

In 1950, a large-scale Hutu revolution broke out which threatened Tutsi control over Rwanda. Through the use of protest and anti-Tutsi propaganda, the intertribal resentment grew into violence in 1959, which was defended by the Parmehutu party and the Belgian colonial government. The peasant uprisings in November of 1959 finally culminated in a full Hutu revolt against Tutsi power, causing around 200,000 Tutsi refugees to flee to surrounding countries as Rwanda was turned into a Hutu-dominated republic. Under this new government, anti-Tutsi violence persisted on a small scale, until in 1990, 6,000 displaced refugees marched on the border, aiming for the capital of Kigali, and beginning the Rwandan Civil war(Rwandan Genocide:

Hutu forces believed that it was Tutsis who shot down the plane and immediately responded with extreme violence against them, this event marking the start of the Rwandan genocide on April 6, 1994(Rwandan Genocide: Overview). The first victims to be targeted by the killers were Hutu political leaders who supported the RPF, then all Tutsi political leaders. Although it was a difficult undertaking, the sheer determination of the hateful militia allowed them to set up roadblocks and checkpoints that helped them to identify Tutsi and irradicate them with greater efficiency than ever before in history. In the first 3 weeks of the unhindered massacre, an estimated 20,000 were killed in Kigali and the regions that surround it. Since the killers were average citizens, their militia carried out most of the killing using knives, machetes, and clubs, targeting Tutsi everywhere, in their homes, in churches, and out in the streets. The killers beat many of their victims to death but mutilated others and left them to die, while most women were routinely raped before their lives were taken from them. Although atrocities were being committed in alarming volumes throughout Rwanda, no effective outside forces came to their aid(Rwandan genocide: victims). The Arusha Accords were a collection of thorough treaties