Rwanda Genocide Research Paper

Throughout life, major events that occur are often a result of a series of built up incidents and a single action taken place can cause immense devastation, yet reversible. Genocide is officially defined by the United Nations as committing an act with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group...” the Rwandan Genocide exemplifies this perfectly. The tension between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis who are the two most common ethnic groups in Rwanda derived from the German and Belgian colonization. After colonization, the two groups were divided, and the Tutsis obtained more power. More importantly, the Hutus gained political influence and they felt Tutsis had wronged them for centuries. …show more content…
Amid the tension between the two ethnic groups the Hutus blamed a Tutsi rebel group with the attack, but others argued it it was Hutu extremists as part of their elaborate plan to eliminate the Tutsis. Chantal kayitesi, a Rwandan genocide survivor and now public speaker recounts the events following the plane crash, “On the radio at five o’clock in the morning, we heard that the president had been killed in the plane crash, then they just played classical music. I knew they were going to start killing."() Although no one ever found out who shot down the plane, this event marks the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. This genocide marks the most devastating event in their countries history. In just over three months 100,000 people died and the country was ravaged. Violence took over communities and people used whatever they could to attack including, knives, spears, and machetes. Unlike many other genocides, there was no organization, but killing fields scattered the country. In such a short time period the violence ended, however 75% of the Tutsi population in Rwanda had perished(Rwandan Genocide Survivor Recalls