“In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda.” Kofi Annan, a diplomat who served as a Secretary -General of the United Nation. Both himself and his department won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 but he later quit his position at UN when he became frustrated at the lack of intervention that was desperately needed in both Rwanda and Syria. Ultranationalism can be viewed through the scope of genocide in Rwanda and how the devastating event greatly impacted the lives of civilians.
Rwanda is a small country in the heart of Africa and consists of three major ethnic groups: Hutu (85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%). The Twa were the first inhabitants of the land who settled in there between 8000 BC and 3000 BC. Accordingly, historians …show more content…
This lead to a direct attack from a pro-Tutsi group attempting to kill a Hutu sub-Chief, creating chaos, counter attacks and death on both sides. This marked the beginning of the Rwandan revolution. In the short lived revolution the power shifted to the overwhelming Hutu majority, the King was deposed, Hutu dominated republic was created and the country became independent in 1962. Later Rwanda faced a civil war from 1990-1993 which consisted of a rebel group the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) attempted to capture and control towns in Rwanda. The RPF was created in 1987 by Paul Kagame, a Tutsi refugee who fled the country along with many others in the Rwandan Revolution. This resulted in United Nations intervention in attempt to help create a new constitution. During the fighting the Hutu’s violently opposed any Tutsi involvement. As the civil war resolved the Hutu’s resulted in a massive power movement. They held complete control over the country and began posting anti-Tutsi propaganda. This included the Hutu Ten Commandments which are an explicit set of racist guidelines including labelling Hutu who married Tutsi …show more content…
During the period of the genocide took place, one hundred days from April 7, 1994 to July. An estimated 500 000 - one million Rwandans were killed, taking roughly one fifth of their population. Hutu extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population but any political leaders who might have been able to control the situation or other opponents of the Hutu extremists were killed immediately. Tutsi’s and others suspected as Tutsis were killed trying to flee their homes when stopped at roadblocks set up across the country, entire families were killed without hesitation, children were either killed or forced to join the cause as child soldiers and woman were systematically and brutally raped.
Before international responses the RPF attempted a military campaign. They threatened that they would resume the civil war if the killing did not stop. Of course this did not keep the Hutu extremists to stop the movement so the RPF fought back. They successfully defended the national parliament building and then advanced to successfully cut off Hutu controlled cities of Kigali and Byumba. The RPF also allowed the Tutsi and other refugees to settle behind their lines in their controlled
Rwanda is a small country in the heart of Africa and consists of three major ethnic groups: Hutu (85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%). The Twa were the first inhabitants of the land who settled in there between 8000 BC and 3000 BC. Accordingly, historians …show more content…
This lead to a direct attack from a pro-Tutsi group attempting to kill a Hutu sub-Chief, creating chaos, counter attacks and death on both sides. This marked the beginning of the Rwandan revolution. In the short lived revolution the power shifted to the overwhelming Hutu majority, the King was deposed, Hutu dominated republic was created and the country became independent in 1962. Later Rwanda faced a civil war from 1990-1993 which consisted of a rebel group the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) attempted to capture and control towns in Rwanda. The RPF was created in 1987 by Paul Kagame, a Tutsi refugee who fled the country along with many others in the Rwandan Revolution. This resulted in United Nations intervention in attempt to help create a new constitution. During the fighting the Hutu’s violently opposed any Tutsi involvement. As the civil war resolved the Hutu’s resulted in a massive power movement. They held complete control over the country and began posting anti-Tutsi propaganda. This included the Hutu Ten Commandments which are an explicit set of racist guidelines including labelling Hutu who married Tutsi …show more content…
During the period of the genocide took place, one hundred days from April 7, 1994 to July. An estimated 500 000 - one million Rwandans were killed, taking roughly one fifth of their population. Hutu extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population but any political leaders who might have been able to control the situation or other opponents of the Hutu extremists were killed immediately. Tutsi’s and others suspected as Tutsis were killed trying to flee their homes when stopped at roadblocks set up across the country, entire families were killed without hesitation, children were either killed or forced to join the cause as child soldiers and woman were systematically and brutally raped.
Before international responses the RPF attempted a military campaign. They threatened that they would resume the civil war if the killing did not stop. Of course this did not keep the Hutu extremists to stop the movement so the RPF fought back. They successfully defended the national parliament building and then advanced to successfully cut off Hutu controlled cities of Kigali and Byumba. The RPF also allowed the Tutsi and other refugees to settle behind their lines in their controlled