By: Hannah Conner and Karlee Kuc

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RWANDAS GENOCIDE

• By Hannah Conner and Karlee Kuc

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M A P O F A F R I C A
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Map of Rwanda
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Background on Rwanda

• The Rwandan population is made up of two groups,
  the Hutus and the Tutsis
• Most of the Rwandan population belong to the Hutu
  ethnic group, traditionally crop-growers.
•  For many centuries Rwanda attracted Tutsis -
  traditionally herdsmen - from northern Africa.
• For 600 years the two groups shared the business
  of farming, essential for survival, their
  language, heir culture, and their nationality.
• Now 600 years later, the Tutsis tended to be
  landowners and Hutus the people who worked the
  land

Tutsi (left) and Hutu (right) men standing
together.
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Tutsi vs. Hutu

• Hutu people feared and resented the Tutsis
  because they remembered past years of oppressive
  Tutsi rule.
• Although the Tutsi were herders, settling on the
  grasslands above the Hutu farmers, there was
  significant cultural exchange between the two
  groups.
• The Tutsi adopted the Bantu language of the Hutu,
  whilst the Hutu adopted the feudal political
  structure of the Tutsi.

VS.
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Governmental Tensions

• When European colonists moved in, the two groups
  separation became more apparent.
• It was the practice of colonial administrators to
  select a group to be privileged and educated
  'intermediaries' between governor and governed.
• The Belgians chose the Tutsis landowners, tall,
  and to European eyes the more aristocratic in
  appearance.
• This thoughtless introduction of class
  consciousness unsettled the stability of Rwandan
  society.
• Some Tutsis began to behave like aristocrats, and
  the Hutu to feel treated like peasants. A
  political divide was born.

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Tutsi and Hutu Social Inequalities of
Colonialism led to Genocide
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Influenced by Faith
Missionaries came from Europe, bringing a new
political twist the church taught the Hutu to
see themselves as oppressed, and so helped to
inspire revolution.

• 1956 A Hutu rebellion begins against the Tutsis
  and Belgians.
• 1959 Hutu's had seized power and were stripping
  Tutsi communities of their lands.
• January 1961 The Tutsi monarchy is abolished.
• July 1, 1962 Rwanda gains its independence. A
  politically inexperienced Hutu government began
  to face internal conflicts as well. Tensions grew
  between communities and provincial factions.
  Tutsi resistance was continually nurtured by
  repressive measures against them.
• 1973 They were excluded from secondary schools
  and the university

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Civil War Starts

• 1988 Many Tutsis retreated to exile in
  neighbouring countries, where they formed the
  Front Patriotique Rwandais, the Rwandan Patriotic
  Front (RPF), trained their soldiers, and waited.
•  1990 The RPF invade Rwanda, starting a civil
  war.
• 1991 A new constitution allows for multiple
  political parties.
• August 3, 1993 The Arusha Accords are agreed
  upon, opening government positions to both Hutu
  and Tutsi. A ceasefire was achieved in 1993,
  followed by UN-backed efforts to negotiate a new
  multi-party constitution but Hutu leaders and
  extremists fiercely opposed any Tutsi involvement
  in government.

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Genocide Begins

• April 6, 1994--The plane carrying Rwanda's
  President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down,
  almost certainly the work of an extremist. This
  was the trigger needed for the Hutus' planned
  'Final Solution' to go into operation. The Tutsis
  were accused of killing the president, and Hutu
  civilians were told, by radio and word of mouth,
  that it was their duty to wipe the Tutsis out.
  First, though, moderate Hutus who weren't
  anti-Tutsi should be killed. So should Tutsi
  wives or husbands. Genocide began.

Left- Rwanda president whose plane was shot down
by unknown person
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Massacres Began

• April 7, 1994 Hutu extremists begin killing their
  political opponents.
• April 9, 1994 Massacre at Gikondo - hundreds of
  Tutsis are killed in the Pallottine Missionary
  Catholic Church. Since the killers were clearly
  targeting only Tutsi, the Gikondo massacre was
  the first clear sign that a genocide was
  occurring.
• April 15-16, 1994 Massacre at the Nyarubuye Roman
  Catholic Church - thousands of Tutsi are killed,
  first by grenades and guns and then by machetes
  and clubs.
• April 18, 1994 The Kibuye Massacres. An estimated
  12,000 Tutsis are killed after sheltering at the
  Gatwaro stadium in Gitesi. Another 50,000 are
  killed in the hills of Bisesero. More are killed
  in the town's hospital and church.

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Massacres (Cont.)

• Lists of targets were circulated
• Those included were
• All born of Tutsi fathers
• Supporters of democracy
• People involved in the human-rights movement
• The interahamwe militia used machetes to hack
  their victims to death in the interest of saving
  ammo

Picture of the interahamwe militia's used machetes
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Rwanda Genocide

• This 10-week span of massacres is known as the
  Rwanda Genocide
• Government radio told Tutsi people to gather in
  churches, schools, and stadiums
• This made them an easier target
• Some managed to hold off the militia for days or
  weeks with sticks and stones
• The Rwandan army and presidential guard were sent
  in to kill them with machine guns and grenades
• The interahamwe militia put up roadblocks
• Used these to block off areas and attack citizens
• The militia stole cattle and milk from their
  victims
• Woman were brutally raped

Tutsi man who survived being attacked during the
genocide with a machete
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Rwandans Flee

• April 28-29 Approximately 250,000 people, mostly
  Tutsi, flee to neighboring Tanzania.
• May 23, 1994 The RPF takes control of the
  presidential palace.
• July 5, 1994 The French establish a safe zone in
  the southwest corner of Rwanda.
• July 13, 1994 Approximately one million people,
  mostly Hutu, begin fleeing to Zaire (now called
  the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

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Rwanda Genocide Casualties

• Around 800,000 men, woman, and children were
  killed during the genocides 10-week span.
• mid-July 1994 The Rwanda Genocide ends when the
  RPF gains control of the country.
• President Paul Kagame took control in 2000.

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Present day Rwanda

• The current president of Rwanda is a man named
  Paul Kagame.
• Rwanda is trying to achieve universal primary
  education
• There are functional hospitals and a plan to
  provide universal healthcare

• Paved roads run through the country. Rwanda is
  among the safest places to walk around in Africa.
  
• It is also one of the cleanest places in Africa
• Women make up 48 of the parliament, which has
  passed many laws in recent years to increase
  womens rights.