Rwanda Genocide
By: Cecilia, Elizabeth, and Anton 802
Introduction to Rwandan
Genocide
BY: CECILIA
What was the Rwanda
Genocide ?
The Rwanda Genocide involved the
Hutus and the Tutsis. From April to July 1994,
people of the Hutu ethnic majority killed
approximately 800,000 people, a large
percentage of the Tutsis ethnic minority. The
genocide began by the death of the Rwandan
President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu,
when his plane was shot down above Kigali
airport on 6 April 1994. A French judge has
blamed the current Rwandan President, Paul
Kagame, who was at the time, the leader of a
Tutsi rebel group, and some of his close
partners for performing out the rocket attack.
Kagame denies this and says it was the work
of Hutu extremists, to provide a beginning to
carry out their plans to get rid of the Tutsi
community.
Mass Killings
The killings began in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali.
The Hutus checked identification cards and killed all
who were Tutsi. Most of the killing was done with
machetes, clubs, or knives. Over the next few days
and weeks, this happened endlessly. Then over the
next several days and weeks, the violence spread.
Since the government had the names and addresses
of nearly all Tutsis living in Rwanda the killers would
go door to door, slaughtering the Tutsis. Men,
women, and children were murdered. Since bullets
were really expensive back then, most Tutsis were
killed by hand weapons, often machetes or clubs.
Many were often tortured before being killed. Some
of the victims were given the option of paying for a
bullet so that they'd have a quicker death. Women
were the biggest targets. Thousands of Tutsi women
were raped. Some were raped and then killed; others
were kept as slaves for weeks.
Killing the Tutsis
Many Tutsis tried to escape the slaughter by hiding in churches, hospitals,
schools, and government offices. These places, which have been places of
refuge, were turned into places of mass murder during the Rwanda
Genocide. One of the worst mass killings of the Rwanda genocide
happened on April 15-16, 1994 at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church,
about 60 miles east of Kigali. Here, the mayor of the town, a Hutu,
encouraged Tutsis to seek shelter inside the church by telling them they
would be safe there. Then the mayor betrayed them to the Hutu
extremists. The killing began with grenades and guns, but soon changed
to machetes and clubs. Killing by hand was tiresome, so the killers took
shifts. It took two days to kill all the Tutsis who were inside the church.
Similar massacres took place around Rwanda, with many of the worst
ones occurring between April 11 and the beginning of May. To further
humiliate the Tutsis, Hutu extremists would not allow the dead bodies to
be buried. Their bodies were left where they were killed, and were left to
be eaten by rats and dogs. Many Tutsi bodies were thrown into rivers,
lakes, and streams in order to send the Tutsis "back to Ethiopia" a
following to the myth that the Tutsi were foreigners and originally came
from Ethiopia.
Over the time period of 100 days from April 6 to July 16
1994, an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and some
Hutus were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide. A recent
report has estimated the number to be close to 2 million.
During this period of terrible slaughter, more than 6 men,
women and children were murdered every minute of every
hour of every day. This brutally efficient killing was
maintained for more than 3 months. During this period of
slaughter, more than 6 men, women and children were
murdered every minute of every hour of every day. This
killing spree was maintained for more than 3 months.
250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 100
days of genocide. Up to 20,000 children were born to
women as a result of rape. More than 67% of women who
were raped in 1994 during the genocide were infected with
HIV and AIDS. In many cases, this resulted from a systematic
and planned use of rape by HIV+ men as a weapon of
genocide. Of those that survived the genocide over half the
children stopped their schooling, because of poverty. 40,000
survivors are still without shelter, many whose homes were
destroyed in the genocide.
Facts and
Statistics
Ending of the Genocide
The Rwanda Genocide
ended only when the
Rwandan Patriotic Front
(RPF) took over the country.
The RPF is a trained military
group consisting of Tutsis
who had been trained in
earlier years; many of them
lived in Uganda. The RPF
were able to enter Rwanda
and slowly take over the
country. In mid-July 1994,
when the RPF had full
control, the Hutus were
forced to stop the genocide.
Comparing the Rwanda Genocide
to Events in American History
By: Elizabeth
Person 2-Introduction!
Rwanda or officially the Republic of Rwanda is a sovereign state(political organization with a
centralized government) in central and east Africa. The capital is Kigali. The official languages
that are spoken are Kinyarwanda, French, Kiswahili, and English. The population is almost 12
million and is Africa’s most densely populated country. 84% of Rwanda is Hutu, 15% are Tutsi,
and 1% are Twa. Rwanda became independent from Belgium on July 1,1962. Rwanda also draws in
many tourists because of the endangered mountain gorillas.
In 1994, the Rwanda Genocide resulted in the deaths of over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu
sympathizers(friends). A genocide is an intentional killing of a large group of people especially
those of a specific ethnic group or nation. The Hutu and Tutsi groups had been violently killing
each other in Rwanda and Burundi for decades after independence and a civil war happened
between the Hutu and Tutsi in the early 1990’s. On April 6th,1994 a plane carrying President
Habyarimana, who was a Hutu, was shot down. Many Hutu’s became furious and decided to kill
the Tutsi because they blamed the Tutsi; but it is still unclear who really shot down the plane.
They also saw this as a chance to eliminate the Tutsi once and for all. The genocide lasted 100
days, killing many Tutsi and Hutu’s who were allies with the Tutsi.
3rd Paragraph
This particular event relates to many events that occurred in American history. One specific event
would be slavery. Slavery is a system in which people are treated as property and are forced to work.
Since the 1600’s, white rich people owned colored people. These slaves were forced to clean and do
many other chores. Slaves would get whipped, scolded at or beaten by their masters even when they
did nothing wrong. African Americans were treated like animals and were disrespected. African
Americans were discriminated and they were segregated from whites. Whites and colored people had
to use different bathrooms, and African Americans couldn’t even sit in the front of a public bus. They
had to sit in the back. These events relate to the Rwandan Genocide because slavery discriminated a
certain race, whereas the Rwandan Genocide planned on killing a specific ethnic group, the Tutsi’s. A
whole entire race was treated unfairly, just like the Tutsi’s were being treated. African Americans and
were tortured. They were beaten and in pain. During the Rwandan Genocide, many Tutsi’s were raped
and were tortured as well. African Americans were forced to do things they didn’t want to do and had
to endure many painful events, just like the Tutsi’s.