The History of Genocide in Rwanda - Term Paper Example

Genocide in Rwanda Introduction It was in the days of 1994, some thirteen years down the lane when there was mass annihilation of ethnic Tutsis and the Hutu Symphatizers, though being moderate in nature, within the lengths and breadths of Rwanda. This marked the basis for one of the biggest atrocities of the Rwandan Civil War period and in then recent history. The foundation stone for this genocide was laid down by a couple of hard line extremist factions, namely the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi. In this genocide, nearly 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and thousands of Hutus were shot dead. There are unconfirmed reports that the figure actually touched somewhere close to 800,000 and 1,000,000 deaths during this while. Genocide in Rwanda The United Nations and the several other world peace keeping bodies had to face a lot of criticism and the like since there was complete inaction on the part of these authorities which could have brought a difference to the Rwandan regime. There was considerable global media coverage and the matter was highlighted time and again but the top nations of the world, including the United States, France and others did not do something that would have saved the lives of millions as well as created a sense of peace to suffice within the region. The massacres kept on increasing with each passing day but notice was not being taken by anyone. The genocide ultimately came to an ending when the Tutsi led expatriate rebel faction known by the name of the Rwandan Patriotic Front overthrew the Hutu government and thus came into power all of a sudden. There were some fears of retaliation and thus the Hutu supporters fled over to Zaire, now known as Congo. Thereafter they played a significant role in the First and Second Congo Wars that happened one after the other. The bitter animosity that existed between the Hutu men and ethnic Tutsis enabled the basis for the eventual Burundi Civil War. The genocide actually took place because there were rising tensions in the starting of the 1990s decade. These tensions started in all essence from Uganda and the fact that Rwanda was given independence by the British much before Uganda fuelled the fire. In this tussle, the Rwandans assisted with the Ugandans in their struggle against the British and thus were able to overthrow Milton Obote with Yoweri Musuveni’s party known as the National Resistance Army in the year 1986. The Rwandan Patriotic Front was started in the year 1985 and it was headed by Paul Kagame. The Rwandan Patriotic Front was basically Tutsi based and its foundations were made strong by the Tutsis themselves. In the year 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front entered into the base of Rwanda and caught hold of the same from the neighboring Uganda. This patriotic front was mostly composed of the ethnic Tutsis and their rationale for this invasion was lying in the fact that the government had been unsuccessful at democratizing as well as resolving the issues of the Tutsi refugees which were 500,000 in number. Their condition was pretty down the drain so to speak and hence the upsurge was pretty obvious. The Rwandan government’s stance in this whole invasion was that it wanted to bring the ethnic Tutsis back into power and hence the invasion was justified from its point of view. Similarly, the reaction of the different world bodies and several other nations was vague and unclear to state the least. They were caught in a web of not being able to decide for them as to which side they must take. The violence that erupted due to the same tension was rallied around by the Hutus where they got close to the President all this while. What happened thereafter is full of twists and turns as the President himself combined the Tutsis and the Hutu along with each other and the condition deteriorated as a result. Hutu militia groups and other military forces joined hand in hand and killed Tutsis so that they could take over the political moderates without their involvement in the ethnic basis whatsoever. A number of different countries asked their nationals to leave Kigali and thus closed their embassies forthwith. This was happening in the middle of escalating violence. People were told to stay within the four walls and thus the activity at the general level was seen to reduce to quite a few extents. Roadblocks were put into place by the Hutu militia in the capital Kigali as well as around the country. This wave of killing spread from the reigns of Kigali to all parts of the country and the process of genocide indeed had started by then. The US government refused to accept the genocide as being one within Rwanda. The government was pretty forthright in its stance of not adopting the whole massacre game as a genocide and thus it did not give any sort of help to Rwanda during the troubled times. President Bill Clinton, the US President of the time agreed after the genocide process had taken place that if he had sent 5,000 US peacekeepers, they would have been able to save some 500,000 lives within Rwanda. France also came up with the passage of time and built a field hospital to help the increasing refugees which were coming in every now and then. Conclusion The Rwandan genocide marked the basis for the existence of the Rwandan population. There was much to learn from for all concerned as it started the basis for the independence movements of Ugandan and Rwandan nationals. What happened meanwhile is sad so to speak but then these circumstances have been seen by a lot of nations in the wake of attaining freedom, mostly from the British forces. All said and done, the genocide within Rwandan cannot be justified for its eventual independence and what happened has no rationalization or excuse in the related context of things. Rwandan genocide is something that will go down in history as the basis for poor planning and the ultimate problems that arose from the same. BIBLIOGRAPHY Des Forges, Alison. (1999). Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch Linda Melvern. (2004). Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide. Romeo Dallaire. (2004). Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. London: Arrow Books Col. Scott R. Feil. Could 5,000 Peacekeepers Have Saved 500,000 Rwandans? Early Intervention Reconsidered. Word Count: 1,015 Read More