Professor Jason Keiber
Terrorism and Genocide
16th November 2016
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan genocide was a mass slaughter of the Tutsi population in Rwanda. It was carried out by the Hutu majority government. The roots to this genocide leads back to the colonial era. During the colonial era, Belgium had control over Rwanda during World War I. During this time, Belgium issued identity cards for the Hutu and Tutsi community. This help create barriers between the two communities and socio-economic boundaries. In the late 1950’s, during the wave of decolonization, tension began to increase. The Tutsi tended to be the ones that were seen as landowners and held positions of power. The Hutus were seen as the people who worked on the land. When the colonial powers stepped in, it was the practice of colonial administrators to a select group to be privileged and educated. The Belgians ultimately chose the the Tutsis: landowners, tall, ad to European eyes they had a more aristocratic appearance. The class divide created a political divide between the two groups. The Roman Catholic Church helped contribute to the Hutu community feeling like they were being oppressed. Consequently, this inspired a revolution. In 1959, the Hutus …show more content…
This included the political power sharing. The RPF was primarily made up of the Tutsi community. This specific community had served in President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army, which had overthrown the previous Ugandan government in 1986. Shortly after the formation of the RPF, the Tutsis were accused of killing the president. The Hutu civilians were told this by radio and word of mouth and it was said that it was their duty to wipe out the Tutsis. They also agreed that the Hutus who disagreed with this should also be