Case Study: Rwanda Genocide Essay

Words: 1565
Pages: 7
Open Document
Case Study: Rwanda
The conflict in Rwanda is probably the most well known and documented case of genocide since the holocaust. Through years of discrimination based on ethnic and class based differences, the population of Rwanda has been constantly entrenched in periods of fighting, refuge and genocide. In the following essay we will explore the background of the conflict. Specifically the historical implications, the parties involved the reasons for the fighting and the result of conflict. Next we will try to investigate some of the theories related to the conflict and discuss views of prominent authors who have attempted to define the reasoning behind this most incomprehensible conflict.
Historical Background
The origin of the …show more content…
The RPF’s aim was to take back power from the Hutu majority who usurped them, and overthrow the Habyarimana regime. The RPF had support from the Ugandan government and military as many of the Tutsi refugees fought in their independence during the 80’s (Rwanda, 2008). In 1990 the RPF invaded Rwanda from Uganda and this intrastate conflict eventually led to an agreement from Habyarimana for a power sharing agreement.
In August 1993, Habyarimana accepted an internationally-mediated peace treaty in the Tanzanian town of Arusha. This treaty was to grant the RPF a share of political power and a military presence in the capital, Kigali (Rwanda, 2008). Though the peace process seemed to be underway there were many in Habyarimana’s government who did not want to accept the power sharing agreement. Some of these dissenters, many of which were high-level government officials and military personnel, began to devise their own solution to the 'Tutsi problem'. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana's plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile as it approached Kigali airport (Rwanda, 2008). Though the assassination has never been confirmed to have been perpetrated by the dissenters in the Hutu party, the speed with which the genocide was subsequently launched strongly suggests this was the case.
After the downing of President Habyarimana’s plane, genocide broke out in Rwanda. Right
Show More

Related Documents: Case Study: Rwanda Genocide Essay

Rwanda Genocide Case Study

Necessity to Call for Genocide While studying the Rwandan genocide, one of the main questions that was brought up in class was, “Why does the UN need the killings in Rwanda to be classified as a genocide in order to help save the people’s lives?” This is a question that everyone studying the Rwandan Genocide should be thinking of, or to have it posed as a question. What is quite odd that it seems to stems from one single aspect of disagreement: the designation of “genocide” as the term used during…

Words 1328 - Pages 6

Holocaust: Rwandan Genocide and Violence Essay examples

This article approaches Darfur and Rwanda with these comparative questions and objectives in mind. The central purpose is to analyze similarities and differences between the two cases in order to generate theoretical and practical inferences. The article does not make normative claims about differences between the cases. I argue below that violence in Rwanda was more intense and more exterminatory than it has been in Darfur. The point is not that Rwanda’s violence was worse than Darfur’s, nor…

Words 1837 - Pages 8

Ghosts of Rwanda Essay examples

Ghosts of Rwanda Reflection Does the Genocide in Rwanda have a singular cause? I do not believe so; the cause of genocide in Rwanda in 1994 was due to years of built up hatred between the Tutsis and the Hutus along with many other occurrences. The Rwandan Genocide is no exception with many variables contributing to the horrific events that took place. According to the documentary Ghosts of Rwanda, in 1994, Rwanda experienced a premeditated, systematic and state sponsored genocide with the aim…

Words 1375 - Pages 6

Bystanders In Rwanda Genocide Essay

groups of the same race received no international assistance in Rwanda 1994. Refusal to use their authority and help prevent this genocide made bystanders of all non-participating world leaders. Had they not stood by and taken some action, millions of lives would’ve been saved. And so, it is most agreeable that these bystanders known as international authoritative figures be held responsible for their actions during the genocide in Rwanda due to their act of conformity, their misuse of power and turning…

Words 688 - Pages 3

Legal Studies 1 Essay

LEGAL STUDIES ASSESSMENT CONTEMPORARY HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES Dylan Stone Year 12- 2015 INTRODUCTIONWhat are human rights? WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?    “Human rights are entitlements that are fundamental. They are things to which every human being is entitled just because they are human”. All people have a claim to human rights as they are fundamental in ensuring peace and security for all peoples. They cannot be ‘given’ by governments, instead they are an inherited set of rights which automatically…

Words 7303 - Pages 30

Genocide: Rwandan Genocide and People Essay

According to the United Nations, genocide is a crime under international law and the present Convention states that genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such: killing members of the group, bodily or mentally harm members of a group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to…

Words 2706 - Pages 11

Rwanda Genocide 1994 Summary

Rwanda genocide of 1994 By: Esenje Murray Summary The Rwanda genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwanda president Juvenal Haby on April 6 h 1994. A French judge blamed his death on the current president of Rwanda but he blamed in on the Hutu extremists. Hours after the presidents death word went from the capital throughout the country. The tension between the Hutu and the Tutsis have had built up tensions and the presidents death just was the last incident before the violence began…

Words 4116 - Pages 17

The Rwanda Genocide

politically. Through a broad multiplicity of historical examples, we studied about Rwanda’s genocide and Sierra Leone’s civil war. It is said that freedom makes the world rich. However, once a national becomes free from colonel rule, do the scars they leave remain a lifetime in that society? Political rule can make or break a nation. Such was the situation of the Rwanda Genocide! Unaware of what was genocide, I learnt what a deliberate massacre and killing had taken place among an ethnic community…

Words 1234 - Pages 5

psychology of good and evil Essay example

To me, evil means great human destructiveness. Evil can come in an obvious form, such as a genocide. Or it can come in smaller acts of persistent harm doing, the effects of which accumulate, like parents being hostile and punitive, or a child being picked on by peers day after day for a long time. Goodness means bringing about great benefit to individuals or whole groups. It too can come in an obvious form, like a heroic effort to save someone’s life, or great effort in pursuit of significant social…

Words 1465 - Pages 6

Essay on Humanity: The Holocaust and Martin Luther King

act is known as Genocide. Throughout our civilization’s history we have fought wars and killed to protect our country, but some have killed in the name of something else, something much less commendable. The act of genocide is a recurring blemish in our history’s timeline that has claimed the lives of millions. This atrocity has been committed for many different reasons including greed, power lust, control of resources and an inability to tolerate difference. The definition of genocide is a mass murder…

Words 2481 - Pages 10