Rwanda genocide
DATES
1994
Difficult Life Conditions
In Rwanda the economy situtation was continuessly getting worse and the Rwandan president was loosing popularity from the Rwandan Population. The Hutus, "Bullies of the genocide", life conditions got worse once belgium colonists came to Rwanda, they cosidered the Tutsis to be superior to the Hutus. Life conditions were then better for the Tutsis, rather than the Hutus, they had more job opportunities and a better enducation. Once the Hutus gained their independence back from Belgium, the roles were switched and the Hutus were superior to the Tutsis. This resulted in 200,000 tutsis fleeing to neighboring counties to form a rebel group, The Rwandan Patriot Front. The Rwandan Patriot Front, in 1990, charged into Rwanda and demanded that the Hutu president, Juvenal Habyalimana, sign a document mandating that the Tutsis and the Hutus would share power. Problems occured between the Hutus and the Tutsis because of the Death of the Rwandan president, uvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, this is one an event that ignited the Rwandan genocide. However, Juvenal Habyarimana wasn't a very popular president because he didn't do a good job, due to the fact that he was under a lot of pressure from the international community.
Psychological Self Threatened
When Belgium colonists came to Belgium in 1916, they considered the Tutsis to be surperior to the Hutus. The Tutsis accepted this idea, which resulted in better jobs and more educational opportunities for them. The resentment of Hutus built up, which led to numerous riots against the Tutsis, more than 20,000 were killed. When Rwanda got their independence back in 1962, the Hutus took over and potrayed the Tutsis as scapegoats.
Us vs. them mentality
The Hutus that were the "bullies" were the extremists, who wanted no part in sharing any power with the tutsis. The groups that they devalued were the Tutsis and the Hutu moderates, who didn't care about sharing power. The Us vs. them is the fact that the Hutus didn't want to share any of their power, and they were stronger than the Tutsis.
PROGRESSION along a continuum of destruction
The continuum of Destruction starts in 1994 when president habyarimana's plane is shot down on board was Ntaryamia of Burundi. The day after Rwandan Army and the Hutu militia, Interhamwe, began going house to house killing Tutsi and moderate Hutus. In 1994, the killings spread across Rwanda and into the countryside. The Hutu military were armed with machetes, clubs, guns and grenades, and were used to kill all the Tutsis and moderate Hutus. After the UN abandoned Rwanda and the Moderate Hutus and the Tutsis, the amount of destruction progressed. The Hutus engaged in Genocidal mania, clubbing and hacking tutsis' families to death. The Rwandan State radio, was controlled by the Hutus, and enabled them to broadcast the hate for tutsis and reveal their hiding places in order to kill them. The genocide starting on April 6th, 1994, during the 100 days after that 800,000 deaths of Tutsis occurred.
Cultural characteristics
During Belgium rule, the Tutsis ruled over the Hutus. A totalitarian society was created and Hutus thought it was their job to kill all the Tutsis, in order to be on top. The Hutus wanted to eliminate, destroy the Tutsis, so they would no longer be a threat, and the remainder of the Tutsis would recognize the Hutus are more powerful and should be on top.
Role of bystander
There was a small group of UN peacekeepers, among the UN there were 10 Belgium's who were captured by the Hutus, terrified by this America, France, Belgium and Italy evacuated their soldiers from Rwanda. The UN peacekeepers didn't make any attempt to save Tutsis or Hutu moderates, they were left behind to be killed by the Hutus. At the UN in New York, they refreinded from calling the killings as a genocide because that would have meant hat they need to stage a intervention. The UN security council then voted to completely abandon Rwanda, only leaving 200 soldiers.
Leaders and FOLLOWERS
The Rwandan Genocide didn't have a set leader, like Hitler was for the Halocaust. The Rwandan genocide was a mass decision by the Hutus to kill the Tutsis. However, Edouard Karemera and Matthieu Ngirumpaste were both leaders of the ruling party in Rwanda during the Genocide, National Revolutionary Movement for development, and were proved guilty for the genocide and sentenced in 2011. During the 100 days there were just mobs of Hutus going place to place killing Tutsis without actual orders from Edouard Karemera and Matthieu Ngirumpaste.
Genocide executed by state power
The Rwandan Genocide was executed by the Hutus, who were a part of the population in Rwanda. The State power came from the Interahamwe, a terrorist organization, the Hutu's militia. The Interahamwe use radio stations to coordinate the Tutsis' activities, catch any escaping Tutsis and urge Hutus to do work.
Result
The Rwandan Genocide should be considered a genocide because it perfectly fits the Staub model. There was a targeted group of people, the Tutsis, that the Hutus demonized and devalued. There was a continuum of destruction that resulted in 800,000 deaths. The Genocide was executed by state power, which made it very destructive and there were leaders.
primary source
“We should instead take up clubs, cudgels, and axes and confront them head on, in order to prevent them from continuing to destroy our country.”- Hutu
Connection: This quote was said after the Rwandan president was shot on a plane. The Hutus thought it was a threat from the Tutsis, so they felt the need to go to war on them and kill them all because of it. When the shooting of the President occurred, the Hutus thought it was a starting attack on Rwanda from the Tutsis, which is why they wanted to prevent the destroying of the country.
Connection: This quote was said after the Rwandan president was shot on a plane. The Hutus thought it was a threat from the Tutsis, so they felt the need to go to war on them and kill them all because of it. When the shooting of the President occurred, the Hutus thought it was a starting attack on Rwanda from the Tutsis, which is why they wanted to prevent the destroying of the country.
Primary source
"... the international community, together with nations in Africa, must bear its share of responsibility for this tragedy, as well. We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe havens for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide. We cannot change the past. But we can and must do everything in our power to help you build a future without fear, and full of hope ..."- Bill Clinton
Connection: This quote came from Bill Clintons speech after the genocide was over, saying that they didn't help enough. Throughout the Genocide, the United States had no intention of helping really, they didn't want to get involved. They tried to stay away from calling it a genocide because then they would have had to act on it. So Clinton saying this after it was over is a little ridiculous considering he knew all of those things were going on but he deliberately stayed away from helping, so him saying it at the end doesn't make sense.
Connection: This quote came from Bill Clintons speech after the genocide was over, saying that they didn't help enough. Throughout the Genocide, the United States had no intention of helping really, they didn't want to get involved. They tried to stay away from calling it a genocide because then they would have had to act on it. So Clinton saying this after it was over is a little ridiculous considering he knew all of those things were going on but he deliberately stayed away from helping, so him saying it at the end doesn't make sense.
Primary source
"Evil Happens when good men do nothing"- Edmund Burke
Connection- This quote by Edmund Burke connects to the role of the Bystander effect and how even if you are not directly involved with the evil, you are still a part of it by not doing anything. If you are just watching the evil go by, you are creating more evil by not doing anything. If more good people, who saw bad things go on stopped it, it wouldn't happen as often. So those good people that try to stay out of things to keep things safe are creating more trouble and are indirectly being just as evil.
Connection- This quote by Edmund Burke connects to the role of the Bystander effect and how even if you are not directly involved with the evil, you are still a part of it by not doing anything. If you are just watching the evil go by, you are creating more evil by not doing anything. If more good people, who saw bad things go on stopped it, it wouldn't happen as often. So those good people that try to stay out of things to keep things safe are creating more trouble and are indirectly being just as evil.