Rwanda 1994 Genocide
Background Information
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Tutsi-Hutu divide is by class and occupation. The Tutsi
are the upper class and are mostly herdsmen. The Hutu
are the lower class and for the most part live by farming
The first European Power to enter Rwanda is Germany
Rwanda “given” to Belgium after WWI to look over as a
mandate
The Hutu are subject to the forced labor
The Tutsi supervise them at their tasks.
From 1933 everyone in Ruanda-Urundi is issued with a
racial identity card
The conflict grows
1962 The first presidential election in
Rwanda is won by Grégoire Kayibanda (a
Hutu)
 In the spirit of Kayibanda's movement,
'cockroaches' becomes the favorite slang
name for Tutsis
 some 14,000 Tutsis are massacred in 1963
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Growing hatred
The country's most fervently racist newspaper
publishes in December the Hutu Ten
Commandments
 To ensure the effectiveness of Hutu Power,
Habiyarimina's government begins to recruit
Hutu youth militias
 in March 1992, Radio Rwanda spreads a
deliberately false rumor that a Tutsi plot to
massacre Hutus has been discovered.
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The spark
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By 1992 President Habyarimana is beginning to
disappoint his extremist supporters.
In August 1993, Habyarimana signs a peace treaty with
the RPF, officially bringing the war to an end.
On 6 April 1994 a rocket, brings down a plane. In it are
two presidents - Habyarimana, and the head of state of
neighboring Burundi.
The assassination is blamed on the Tustis
Radio broadcasts urge people to do their duty and seek
out the Tutsis and Tutsi-sympathizers living among them
in their streets or villages. Eliminate the cockroaches is
the message.
Genocide
On April 29 the state radio announces that May 5 is to
be the 'cleanup' day by which the capital, Kigali, must be
cleansed of Tutsis.
 Between April and July some 800,000 Rwandans are
slaughtered.
 The tool in Rwanda's genocide is the everyday machete
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3594187.stm
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts
/video/
 The Connection.org : The Women of Rwanda
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