November 12, 2013
MAHG 5028 Religion and Genocide: Rittner Conversation Starter #12
Rwandan Genocide
The Angels Have Left Us by Hugh McCullum, discusses the African tragedy that took place in Rwanda, which resulted in the murder of over one million victims. The Rwanda genocide was between two groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Hutu were considered to be the natives and indigenous to the land, where Tutsi were considered to be the non-native settlers who were non indigenous. Through propaganda and myth, the tension of ethnic hatred would slowly crumble the Rwandan State. The Rwandan military distributed weapons with the funding from the French. On April 6, 1994, Rwandan president Juvenal Habyariman’s plane was shot down and marked the beginning of the 100 day genocide. Waves of violence would generate throughout Rwanda resulting in large massacres of men, women, and children. The media covered mostly the beginning and the end stages of the genocide. Many fled the country once the violence escalated and no Rwandan citizen was allowed to leave. McCullum discusses the historical and political background that led to the hostility in Rwanda, the role of the churches inside and outside of the country, and the lack of response from outside nations (UN and USA) to aid in the Rwandan tragedy.
The Hutu and Tutsi hatred comes from historical uncertainty and racist myths. There is no true record of who inhabited Rwanda first, but the two groups struggle for power and land. The two are not different ethnic groups; rather they are social categories, because neither established a language, culture, or territory of its own (2). Cultural identities were established by the native tung. Political identities were formed by formation ...
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...ar and witnesses will be intimidated or begin to forget some of their most vivid recollections. Many Rwandese also fear that justice will be put aside in the name of peace and reconciliation and history rewritten in the name of preserving unity (105). Should these criminals be forgiven and allowed freedom? After the international community turned their backs on the Rwandan people, why would they not try to redeem themselves and help them seek justice? What is the price of a human life, or better yet what is the price to commit murder? Why is the value of a life mean less because of the color of their skin or because of the location of where they live? Why doesn’t the international community feel that Africa is worth helping?
Works Cited
McCullum, Hugh. The Angels Have Left Us: The Rwanda Tragedy and the Churches. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1995. Print.
The sentence of five other convicts of the genocide was reduced from 15-25 years to 12 years. The other defendants who did not appeal against their sentence or gave up their appeals. The genocide last four months. The Rwandans are fully responsible for the organization and execution of the genocide, governments and peoples elsewhere all share in the shames of the crime and have stopped the killing campaign. just ended not that long ago.
The Hutu and the Tutsi have been in conflict with each other for years but after what happened in 1994 I don’t think that anyone will ever forget. In that year Rwandas Presidents plan was shot down and he was killed. In the days following is when the genocide started, because the Hutu believed that it was the Tutsi that shot down the plan and killed the President because he was a Hutu. The United Nations let this go because of the killing of ten of their own and because of their rules of engagement that resulted from the ten Belgian members being killed while trying to protect the Prime Minister. During a short time period of only a few months about 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu moderates were killed by the militia, other groups and even neighbors.
The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
"Rwanda Genocide." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
“Beginning on April 6, 1994, Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda. As the brutal killings continued, the world stood idly by and just watched the slaughter. Lasting 100 days, the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead” (Rosenberg 1). When Rwanda’s President, Habyrimana, was killed in a plane crash, turmoil and massacres began. A series of events escalated violence until two ethic groups were engaged in bloody battle: The Hutus and the Tutsis. Throughout the Rwandan Genocide, the Tutsis were targeted because the death of President Habyrimana and problems in social and economic life was blamed in them, thus resulting in the 100-day genocide.
Tutsi and Hutus are very similar thus categorizing then as different was a very crucial misunderstanding between them when Belgians recognized Tutsis as being the top tribe to rule Rwanda. Hutus gained control of Rwanda after independence with this giving them the power to undermine Tutsis as continued to believe that Hutus took their places in secondary and higher teaching institutions as well as employment and private sector. Hutu believed that by forbidding Tutsis to educate themselves and actively play in government or military they would marginalize them minimizing their participation in society. Who was the better race? There is a long history of the differences they had to grow up with however, one day this “difference“ becam...
As the news reported that Islamic State committed genocide against Christians and other minorities had suffered serious defeats from recent battles against the allied forces, the images of piles of dead bodies shown to the world in Rwanda about a couple decades ago emerge once again and triggers an interesting puzzle: why did the Rwandan Genocide happen in one of the smallest nations in the African Continent? The documentary film, Rwanda-Do Scars Ever Fade?, upon which this film analysis is based provides an answer to the puzzle.
"Rwanda Genocide 20 Years On: 'We Live with Those Who Killed Our Families. We Are Told They're Sorry, but Are They?'" The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
The Rwandan genocide occurred due to the extreme divide between two main groups that were prevalent in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi. When Rwanda was first settled, the term Tutsi was used to describe those people who owned the most livestock. After the Germans lost control over their colonies after World War I, the Belgians took over and the terms Hutu and Tutsi took on a racial role (Desforges). It soon became mandatory to have an identification card that specified whether or not an individual was a Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa (a minority group in Rwanda). The Tutsi soon gained power through the grant of leadership positions by the Belgians. Later on when Rwanda was tying to gain indepe...
... put on trial yet. Painstakingly lengthy trials have prevented many of the accused murderers from ever being put on trial. The Rwandan economy remains dependant on coffee and tea exports and foreign aid, and "the economy suffers greatly from the failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting, and neglect of important cash crops and lack of health care facilities".
middle of paper ... ... d trauma healing groups have been working in Rwanda to help people with PTSD and other disorders but have only reach a small portion of the targeted group. Conclusion In the years after the genocide, we as people had questioned our past decisions and our countries decision to stay out of the genocide until it was too late.
...ause the colonial masters believed that they resembled them. It was unethical for the Belgians to interfere with the peaceful coexistence that the two communities had enjoyed in the past. As a result, the Hutus acquired negative misconceptions about the Tutsis’ origin, what they stood for, and what they had done for them in the past. The Hutus expertly planned and organized the Rwandan genocide as a result of such historical distortions created by their country’s colonial masters.
The Tutsis were favored and felt superior to the Hutu and Twa. This caused much tension and jealousy between the two groups. The greater half of Rwanda, known as the Hutu, are a big part of the social issues that took place in 1994 as they overthrew the Tutsi power. The Hutu were located in both Rwanda and Burundi and while they wanted to gain power in both countries, the Hutu of Rwanda forcefully took over the Tutsi ruler. The Rwandan Hutu were in command until 1994 when they were invaded by the Tutsi.
Middleton, John. "Rwanda." Africa: an Encyclopedia for Students. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. Print.