Genocide is defined as "an attempt to destruct an ethnic, racial, national, or religious group", and clearly causing horrific consequences. During the Holocaust, the lesson behind the suffering and brutality posed on the Jewish and other non-Aryan races, one can ask, how could this ever happen again? Yet, unfortunately, many genocides have occurred since then. During the year of 1994, the Rwandan Genocide marked its place in history. In just 100 days, 800,000 Rwandans laid dead on the streets, with their bodies barely identifiable. From the start, this attempt to "exterminate the other group" was due to a long-lasted rivalry between the two major ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Their long history of violence goes back to the colonial period where the Hutus, the majority amongst Rwandan ethnicities, and the minority Tutsis, fought over political control. As it plays out, it was the cause of events that led to this catastrophe. This website will share the background story on how and why the genocide occurred, and other information related to the hatred between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnicities. Illustrations, mostly pictures and videos, will be posted to share with you some personal accounts of people that actually endured the whole experience. By looking at this website one can understand the indescribable suffering and the never-ending fear that people encountered during the Rwandan Genocide.

***WARNING! - This webpage contains graphic images. Viewer discretion advised. ***

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Aftermath of the Genocide: late 1990s and 2000s

Although the actual number of deaths has not been determined, the UN estimates over 1 million people lost their lives. With Rwanda's pre-genocidal population at 8 million, this was a huge ratio of deaths compared to the total population. Among the deaths, over a third of the Tutsi minority were dead. It is important to note that the international community, such as the United States and United Nations, did not assist Rwanda in stopping the genocide. In addition, with 2 million trying to flee into "safe zones" created by French military or neighboring countries like Zaire, also known as Democratic Republic of the Congo, this devastated the residential population of Rwanda. With the refugees fleeing toward Zaire, fear and panic surrounded these overcrowded camps. Likewise, violence followed and expanded in those specific areas. Most of the Hutu extremists went into exile in Zaire and Tanzania but they reappeared to spark some resistance against Tutsi testimonies on genocidal crimes. However, the RPF reaffirmed control of the capital and set up a "Provisional Government" with a Hutu president, Pasteur Bizimungu. Yet, in April 2000, with Bizimungu sentenced to 15 years in jail for associating with criminals, it led to the rising of a powerful figure, Major General Paul Kagame of the RPF. In 2003, he pardoned Bizimungu's sentence and released him from jail after only serving three years in jail. It is clear that the process for peace is underway. Back in 2002, the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed an agreement to end the four-year war, also resulting in disarmament of all Hutu refugees in the territory. At the end, Rwanda military forces penetrated rebel groups in the D.R.C., who caused the genocide, and negotiated for peace. Today, Rwanda has recovered economically, politically, and socially. After joining the Commonwealth in November 2009, and the second country to do so, behind the country of Mozambique, can distinguish the rebuilding process after such a horrific civil war and bloodshed.
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