“Ghosts of Rwanda” Introductory Lesson
What is genocide?
The destruction of ethnic groups has marred the progress of human history
almost from its beginnings. There are reports of genocide-like massacres in
the writings of the ancient Greeks and in the history of the Middle Ages.
Indigenous populations in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, and elsewhere
were sometimes slated for elimination by their "discoverers" or their
colonizers. But ethnic massacre truly seems to have flourished in the
twentieth century. The first great genocide of the era dates to the First
World War when hundreds of thousands of Armenians were destroyed
despite the protests of Western diplomats who, possibly for the first time,
called such killings a "crime against humanity." In the Second World War,
after nearly a decade of mounting anti-Semitism, Hitler undertook what
he called the "final solution," reminding his generals that "nobody
remembers the Armenians."
Churchill called it "the crime without a name," and it was only in 1944 that
a Jewish refugee from Poland teaching in the United States, Raphael
Lemkin, coined the term genocide in his book Axis Rule in Occupied
Europe. Lemkin's neologism was rapidly accepted. In 1945, the
Nuremberg prosecutors charged genocide in the indictment of Goering,
Hess and the others, although the judges of the International Military
Tribunal kept with the official terminology used in their statute and
described the Nazi atrocities as "crimes against humanity." After the
Nuremberg judgment, the UN General Assembly declared genocide an
international crime and directed that a treaty aimed at its prevention and
punishment be drafted.
Ghosts of Rwanda Mini-Project Instructions
Each group will create a PowerPoint presentation of 5-7 slides to introduce
the country of Rwanda and the conflict that occurred there in 1994
between the Hutus and Tutsis. You will include a title slide with your topics
in bullet form, along with your group members name and a picture. You
will include at least one photo on each slide, with a caption to describe
the photo. Your information should thoroughly cover the topic, as well as
be relevant and succinct. This is a mini-project and should be completed
in one-two days. Presentations will occur the following day. We will
watch the movie Ghosts of Rwanda in class.
Group 1: Your groups will find a map of Africa in 1945 and a map of
Africa today. You will compare the two maps, specifically relating to
Rwanda. Your group will also create a timeline to include the events that
occurred on the following dates: 1899, 1919, 1935, 1959, and 1962.
Group 2: Your group will create a timeline to include the events that
occurred on the following dates: 1990, April 6, 1994, April 7, 1994, April 14,
1994, April 21, 1994, and April 2, 2002.
Group 3: Your group will obtain information on the following key terms:
Tutsis, Rwandan Patriotic Front, Interahamwe, Hutus
Group 4: Your group will obtain information on the following key terms:
Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), Arusha Accords (1993), International
Committee of the Red Cross, Genocide
Group 5: Your group will answer the following questions to give the class
key facts to know about the United Nations. When and why was the UN
founded? How many members started the UN and who were they? How
many members of the UN are there now and who are they? Judging
from the UN website, what do you think is its most important activity
today?
Group 6: Your group will answer the following questions to give the class
key facts to know about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How
does the UN work in relation to human rights? When was the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights declared? What does its preamble promise
to do? Briefly summarize the overall concerns of the 7-8 articles of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Use the following websites to do your research
Official website of the Republic of Rwanda - http://www.gov.rw/home/
BBC News Timeline - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14093322
History.com - http://www.history.com/topics/rwandan-genocide
Samaritan’s Purse - http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ourministry/remembering-rwanda/
National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140407-rwandagenocide-today-anniversary/
PBS Timeline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/evil/etc/slaughter.html
United Nations - http://www.un.org/en/index.html
Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
United Nations Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx