Group 5:
Merina Cashe
Kasey Fernandez
Jamie Nishimoto
Violent crimes committed against
groups with the objective to destroy
the existence of the group.
•Killing the members
•Causing serious bodily or mental harm
•Preventing births
•Forcibly transferring children of the group to
another.
“After the event started, the UN Security Council did not want to admit that the killings in
Rwanda were ‘genocide’ because no one wanted to take action. When it was clear that
genocide was going on, it was too late to prevent it from happening”
-Unknown
• Also known as the “land of a thousand
hills”
• Rwanda is a very mountainous
country located in the heart of Central
Africa.
• Its bordering countries include,
Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and
Zaire.
• Kinyarwanda, Bantu, French, Swahili,
and English are often spoken in
Rwanda.
• Rwanda became an independent
country on July 1, 1962.
• In the 1800s, European colonists
took over Africa and the national
identity was created.
• In the 1890s, German colonists
signed a treaty with the Tutsi
Rwandan king.
– This treaty turned Rwanda into a
colony.
• Germans assumed that Tutsis were
superior over the Hutus
– In 1916, Belgians came into
power and continued to favor the
Tutsis.
• Physical appearance of a
person
– Hutus (or Bahutu): Took over
most of the population in
Rwanda.
• Average male around 5’5”,
130 lbs, darker skin color,
shorter, and more muscular
– Tutsis (Watutsi or Batutsi):
Second largest ethnic group.
• Taller (5’9”+), thinner (125
lbs), lighter skinned
• Introduced into Rwanda in 1933
by the Belgian colonial
government
– Given to identify individuals from
each ethnic group in their country
– Used to shape, define, and
perpetuate ethnic identity and
background
• Separation of three groups:
Hutus, Tutsis, Twas
• ID cards made killings in Rwanda
much faster
– Were like death certificates
• Person was often asked to see ID
card to identify as Hutu or Tutsi
“The use of ethnicity by the Hutus
made the genocide a reality”
•Started on April 6, 1994, when President
Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down in his
plane.
•Planned long before it started
•People would hear screaming and gun shots
outside of their homes.
•Thousands of Tutsis & moderate Hutus were
killed, raped or slaughtered.
•Main promoter: radio broadcasts
•Killings by neighbors, former friends, coworkers,
or even relative through marriage.
“Unborn children should be ripped from the wombs
of dead Tutsi women who are pregnant”
-Unknown
•Huge role in genocide
•Hutus blamed Tutsis for killing Hutu
president.
•Checking I.D. cards or looking at different
features of their body.
•All Tutsis were alike & they were the
enemies
•Time of opportunity to take land, money,
and goods from Tutsis.
•Tutsis nickname: “cockroaches”
•Lasted for hundred days & ended on July 1994
•About a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
murdered.
•Rebel forces of RPF forced killers out of
Rwanda
•Overthrew genocidal government.
•Many Hutus left Rwanda being scared of
prosecution.
•Widow of ex-president, Agathe Habyarimana,
arrested for supposedly having a role in planning
genocide.
•Today, the president of Rwanda is Paul Kagame,
who was the leader of the RPF army that helped
stop the genocide.
• Numerous changes since 1994 genocide:
– New and improved ID cards
• 1997; new government has eliminated group classifications from
their ID cards.
• Added administrative entities (city and province).
• Light blue color and written in French and Kinyarwanda languages.
• All information on ID cards include more comprehensive information
about the bearer.
– What has this done?
• Helped to create a more uniformed country and has given rights to
each individual of Rwanda
• Social and ethnic problems AU PAU!
– Present government has committed
their country to be a non-ethnic society
where all individuals are equal.
• Want to include everyone in the running of
the country
• Respecting the rights of all citizens
• Killers??? NO MORE!
– Arresting people involved in genocide
became one of the main issues for RPF
leaders.
• Help to ease the tension between Hutus
and Tutsis
– ‘Gacaca’ Courts
– April 1995; approximately 7,000
• Traditional systems of
community-based adjudication people were arrested for warused to prosecute perpetrators related crimes in Rwanda.
– Presently; about 150,000 Hutus
are in jails accused of taking
• Used to encourage harmony
part in genocide.
and deal with past crimes of
– Weekly meetings
neighbors
• People are still traumatized by the
horrors of the war.
• Live in fear because most killers were
their family members, neighbors, or
friends.
• Negativity turns positive!
– Trying to move beyond tribalism
– RPA (Rwandan Patriotic Army)
soldiers (who are Tutsi) caught
for retaliation killings and sent to
jail, some executed.
• Grow, Grow, Grow
– In 2008, growth in Rwanda
reached 11%
• One of the quickest nations to
grow since their economic
slump occurred.
– Applied to be apart of the
Commonwealth of Nations in
2007 and 2009 to be free form
the French foreign policy.
– Hundreds and thousands of Hutu refugees have returned
to Rwanda from Zaire and Tanzania.
• Helping to building population and economy in Rwanda
– Present population: Around 10 million
• Considered the most densely populated country in Africa.
– ECONOMY RISIN’
•
•
•
•
•
Bars and restaurants have re-opened
Markets supplied with goods and produce
Commerce (trade/exchange) becoming successful
Newspaper publishing
Rwanda radio on air
• Moving on to become a country with more equality
and respect.
“No one is suggesting that every peasant who took a machete should be punished. But
those who organized the peasants, who told them to hunt Tutsis and Hutus of the
political opposition—the local government officials the soldiers, the politicians—
they must be judged, tried, and punished.” –African Rights