What was the conflict?
The Rwandan Genocide was a mass murder of around 800,000 people which happened in 1994. What started it all? It was largely influenced by the Belgian colonization which favored the Tutsi minority group for their more "European" appearence. The Tutsi and the Hutu had a background of longstanding ethnic competition and tension as the Tutsi controlled the power for centuries. The Hutu people finally rebelled to overthrow the Tutsi monarchy. In 1990 Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which consisted of Tutsi refugees rebelled into northern Rwanda from Uganda with the goal of defeating the Hutu-led government. They started the Rawandan Civil War which lasted over a course of an approximately 100 days. The Hutu government was led by Juvenal Habyarimana. The assassination of Habyarimana set off a violent reaction. The results? The Hutu setting off and conducting a mass killing of the Tutsis and the pro-peace Hutus. The Hutu power group was known as the Azaku whom directed the genocide. It was the end to the peace agreement which also meant the end to the war. The RPF restarted the offense, eventually defeating the government and seizing control over the country.
Major People/Groups in the Conflict.
- The Tutsis- Ethnic group in Central Africa. (Favored)
- The Hutus- Ethnic group in Central Africa.
- Habyarimana- President of the Republic of Rwanda for twenty years. He favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus and supported the Hutu majority in neigboring against the Tutsi government.
- The United Nations- They have a mission of to aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords which was meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission was regarded as a failure as the Tutsi RPF overthrew the government.
I never even heard of this genocide before looking it up for this blog assigment. I found it very interesting, but very sad how people can take racism to such an extreme to cause such an event. It was a terrible trajedy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Assistance_Mission_for_Rwanda
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