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. ***

Friday, December 2, 2011

Surviving the Rwandan Genocide

Back in 2009, Bob Simon on the CBS show, 60 Minutes, shared with his audience a dramatic story about a Tutsi woman surviving some 90 days during the Rwandan Genocide. The experiences and memories endured by Immaculee Ilibagiza can show us the true fear caused by the Hutus in order to try to exterminate the Tutsi ethnicity. Her Tutsi-type story is very common amongst other Tutsis, where they hid in order to escape death or capture.

***WARNING! This video contains graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.

In order to view, you must copy and paste the url onto another tab. Sorry for any inconvenience.

http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml%3Fid%3D3004020n&rct=j&sa=X&ei=MAPZTojFEsqaiAKwwMj7CQ&ved=0CEIQuAIwAA&q=rwanda+genocide+60+mins&usg=AFQjCNHg5XZF5a4LVjerg9UM1E_tZGJklw
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