In the summer of 1994 intense social tensions and political unrest led to the murder of a staggering 800,000 people in a just 100 days. The Rwandan genocide was a result of the massive strain on relations between Rwanda’s two primary ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Although the Hutu made up around 85% of the country’s population, the Tutsi dominated the Rwandan government. After years of dealing with oppression and inequality the Hutu had finally had enough. In 1959 the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi rule and forced thousands of Tutsis to flee the country. While hiding out in Uganda, a group of refugees founded the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group which invaded Rwanda 1990. Fighting continued until a ceasefire was called in 1993. A year later a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down, there were no survivors. The Rwandan government blamed the RPF and mass slaughtering began the next day.
Police, soldiers, and military militias quickly killed important Tutsi and political leaders who may have seen the chaos as an opportunity to take power. The Hutu were able to set up Checkpoints along roads to scan for citizens holding the national Rwandan ID card which held ethnic classification. This allowed for the systematic killing of the Tutsi. Soldiers and barricades were not the only means getting the job done however, Hutu extremists pushed regular Hutu citizens to arm themselves with machetes and clubs and to kill, rape, and mame their Tutsi neighbors. A brutal smear campaign was launched to dehumanized the Tutsi, radio programs and news papers spread the message of hate, calling the Tutsi “cockroaches”, and hit lists of important high profile Tutsi targets were read over air.
As soon as the mass killing was started the RPF launched a retaliation. The group was able to seize control of the Rwandan capital city Kigali by mid-July. Fearing a payback for the damaged they had caused, hundreds of thousands of Hutus evacuated to neighboring countries in seek of refuge. Sadly the RPF was too late. Within just 100 days an estimated 70% of the Tutsi population had been killed.
The Rwandan genocide left a deep wound upon not only the country, but on humanity, one that 20 years later has yet to heal.
Police, soldiers, and military militias quickly killed important Tutsi and political leaders who may have seen the chaos as an opportunity to take power. The Hutu were able to set up Checkpoints along roads to scan for citizens holding the national Rwandan ID card which held ethnic classification. This allowed for the systematic killing of the Tutsi. Soldiers and barricades were not the only means getting the job done however, Hutu extremists pushed regular Hutu citizens to arm themselves with machetes and clubs and to kill, rape, and mame their Tutsi neighbors. A brutal smear campaign was launched to dehumanized the Tutsi, radio programs and news papers spread the message of hate, calling the Tutsi “cockroaches”, and hit lists of important high profile Tutsi targets were read over air.
As soon as the mass killing was started the RPF launched a retaliation. The group was able to seize control of the Rwandan capital city Kigali by mid-July. Fearing a payback for the damaged they had caused, hundreds of thousands of Hutus evacuated to neighboring countries in seek of refuge. Sadly the RPF was too late. Within just 100 days an estimated 70% of the Tutsi population had been killed.
The Rwandan genocide left a deep wound upon not only the country, but on humanity, one that 20 years later has yet to heal.