Rwanda Genocide Research Paper

Genocide, by definition, is any act with the intent the destroy, in whole or part, a national, racial, ethnic, or religious group. The term is commonly related to the murder of the Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II. However, there have been many other genocides throughout history with catastrophic results. One of those being the highly-organized killing of the Tutsi people in Rwanda, Africa from April 7, 1994 - July 1994. By examining the events leading up to the genocide, the horrible things experienced during the genocide, and the international response to this disaster, it is clear that the Rwandan genocide was the worst genocide of the twentieth century. Rwanda is a small country in Africa along the border of Uganda. It is …show more content…
The organization behind it shows that the Hutus had been planning the massacre for a long time, and waiting for the right moment to attack. They created lists beforehand of specific Tutsi leaders to target. Lists of these leaders were released along with their home address and even license plate numbers. The radio also played a big part in helping the Hutu extremists to persuade others to join the movement. Through hate speech, citizens were encouraged to go next door and murder their neighbors. However, the Tutsi people did not surrender themselves to death. The RPF fought back against the Hutus, reigniting the civil war along with the genocide. The Hutu fighters thought that if the Tutsis were completely eradicated, that they would have all the power. Although the fighting lasted only 100 days, there were traumatic consequences. Anywhere from 250,000 - 500,000 women were raped, many of which were killed immediately afterward. Also, over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu fighters were killed during the war. Yet, through all the chaotic murdering, no other country stepped in to stop the fighting. The United States had troops stationed in Rwanda, but did not interfere with the fighting because they did not want to get involved. In fact, according to Helen Epstein, the U.S. embassy based in Kampala told the CIA that guns were being moved into the country before the war, but the United States did nothing to stop it. …show more content…
Entire villages burned down and almost thirteen percent of the entire population dead, with over 100,000 children left as orphans. It seemed that they would never be able to recover. The road to recovery began with setting up a balanced government. They elected a Hutu president, with the vice-president being Tutsi to even things out. The new Rwandan president vowed to restore Rwanda to its former glory. They received foreign aid to help rebuild villages and buildings. However, the atrocities committed during the war were not soon forgotten, the original Rwandan court, Gacaca, was used to put those who were responsible for war crimes on trial. The court opened 1.2 million cases, with the last one ending in 2014. Rwanda’s economy recovered fairly well, growing eight percent on average every year. The crime rate has dropped very low. Also, according to Tony Blair, malaria deaths have dropped by 85% since 2005. Almost all of the population even has health insurance now. Although the statistics and economy show that Rwanda has completely recovered and is doing fine, 26% of the entire population still struggle with post-traumatic-stress disorder. As the years go by, Rwanda continues to recuperate, but, they will never forget the horrible fighting that threatened to destroy their entire country.

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