My Thoughts on the Rwanda Genocide

The idea of a friend killing another friend only because he/she is of another race is unbelievable. The fact that it happened in Rwanda is simply incomprehensible. The biggest and hardest for me to understand is the fact that the people that killed the Tutsi were actually their neighbors, their friends, their priest, and their fellow countrymen. They weren’t strangers; they were the people that share social life and business with you. Yes, there were hate radios that affected the Hutu people to believe that Tutsi was not worthy of life and should be exterminate, but I would never have thought that it could mobilize an entire nation and made them killing machines. Most of the killing was done by Interahamwe, or basically, ordinary people. These people (as pictured in the movie Sometimes in April) were handed machetes by the militia and killed their own friends. It sounds ridiculous and yet it happened.

Why did they want to kill all Tutsi? From where I see it, it was because of their fear of losing power. That was the whole point of it. The Hutu extremist was threatened of the existence of Tutsi, even if they were the minority at that time, they had backups from RPF and they could’ve seize power. They were afraid that history would be repeated. Before, the Tutsi gain power after the colonization. But then, Hutu led a revolution and gain authority. Civil war makes them afraid that the Tutsi would always fight for command at could at some point take it from the Hutu.

Another point that bewildered me was the fact that the outside world looked away and did not try to help. The United Nations was made so there would be peace in the world, to protect everyone in the world. Yes, Rwanda did not have any real economic relationship with any nations, but wasn’t it moral obligation to help them?

I think there could’ve been action the United Nations could have done to stop the killings or at least reduce the damage.

1. Kill all the hate radios.

The main communication between the government and civilians was the hate radio. If the hate radio was dead at some point in the genocide, there would be chaos and the civilians would be confused to attack or not, was still being threatened or not, what should they do. At that time, I think the Tutsi would have a lot more chance to escape or seek a safe place to hide.

2. Threaten the chief commando.

In battles, if the commander is dead then the other side wins. I don’t see how Rwanda was different with a battle. The United Nations could’ve threatened to cut all relations with Rwanda if the killings don’t stop, or enforce the RPF to have a coup against the government. Better yet, capture the chief commando. Without the commander, the militias wouldn’t know what to do without orders. In the movie, one of the scenes was a congresswoman of USA talking to the chief commander of Rwandan military. That means that the outside world actually had communication with the Rwandan military. Yet, they did not do anything significant.

3. Evacuate Tutsi.

In the movie, one of the scenes was about how the UN evacuated expats and ignored the cries of the Rwandan people. Why not evacuate the Tutsis as well? The interahamwe would let the UN peacekeepers go, to not get any attention from the outside world. It would be impossible to evacuate all Tutsi, but it is possible for them to save some.

Sometimes in April

One of the most acknowledged movies about the genocide is a movie titled “Sometimes in April”. The movie portrays the situation Tutsi or moderate Hutus had in 1994. The main character was a commander in the army, a Hutu, who married a Tutsi woman and had two children. His brother was a broadcaster in one of the hate radios at that time, where in some scenes in the movie, was trialed in the International Crime Tribunal in Russia. They tried to stay quiet but at the end they were separated when the man decided to stay in their house while his wife and children try to run away out of the country (helped by the main character’s brother). Sadly, they did not succeed and was captured by the Interahamwe in one of the roadblocks.

This movie showed many human rights abuses that had been done by the Rwandan government as well as fellow civilians towards Tutsi. Approximately 800 thousand Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in only 100 days. The government carried the plan under the cover of civil war. It was called the “final solution”. What had been done was not only murder, but also torture and rape. Men, women, and children, were killed by their neighbors and friends.

The movie also showed how the hate radios broadcasted propaganda that compared Tutsi as cockroaches and how they should be exterminated. Interahamwe, who are actually unofficial militia group, had the biggest role in the killings. No place was safe, even churches. One of the most terrifying scene in the movie was in a church. People were taking refugee in the church but then the militia came and with their death list took the people that are in the list and killed them (one of them was in fact the main character’s wife).

From this movie, we could see that there are many human rights that were violated in Rwanda at that time. Those are:

1. Don’t Discriminate

The hate radios broadcasted propaganda that compares Tutsis to cockroaches. That means that they regarded the Tutsi as something that is lower than a human, even considered them as vermin. They are discriminating them publicly, encouraging other Hutus to consider them as vermin.

Further reading on the hate radios in Rwanda:

http://pas.sagepub.com/content/35/4/609.abstract

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/374375.stm

2. The right to Life

What the interahamwe did by killing all those Tutsi was basically taking away their right to life based only on their “identity”. This planned extermination took away the right to life of 800000 people. Not only that, the right of life means we all should live in freedom and safety, but the Tutsi at that time had neither.

3. No torture

The crimes that happened in Rwanda was not only murder, but also torture. It was described in the movie that the Interahamwe were killing using machete to not waste bullets. Killing with machete would not result instant death, making the victim feel incredible suffering and torture. Not only that, many women were tortured before being rape during the genocide.

Further reading in rapes that happened in Rwanda:

http://www.gendercide.org/case_rwanda.html

4. You have rights no matter where you go

This particular right means that wherever you are, in any country, you should be safe and have your human rights. What is different for the situation in Rwanda is that it happened in their own home, their own country. Their own friends did not recognize their right, their humanity.

4. Your human rights are protected by law

Governments are supposed to make laws that would protect all their citizens, and yet in Rwanda the government made laws that essentially erase all of their Tutsi citizen’s rights. The Hutu 10 commandments that was distributed at that time stated that all Tutsi and all moderate Hutus to be exterminated, proving government involvement as well as how planned the genocide was before 1994.

Further reading in the Hutu 10 commandments:

http://www.trumanwebdesign.com/~catalina/commandments.htm

6. The right to privacy

The interahamwe and militia came in to Tutsi houses forcefully without regarding their privacy, killed all the family members or kidnap the woman to be raped.

7. Marriage and family

Based on the Hutu 10 Commandments, Hutus are not allowed to marry a Tutsi or they would be considered a traitor. Marriage is a right that all adults have, and there should be no restriction on what race your partner should be. The genocide also affected the children of Rwanda, lots of kids were left as orphans due to their parents killed by Interahamwe.

Further reading in orphans of the genocide:

http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/355.cfm

8. Food and shelter for all

At the time of the genocide, people had to hide in places that normally would be considered disgusting or dangerous. In the movie, the main female character had to hide in the swamp with her two students so that they wouldn’t be caught by the Interahamwe (not to mention that they were in really bad condition at that time in the movie).

Another point that is very crucially depicted in the movie was how the outside world was disinterested or oblivious (except for officials) of the genocide in Rwanda. Officials in the United Nations, France, Belgium, and the Untied States pretended that there was no such genocide happening. They even refrain from using the g-word (genocide), fearing that it would cause demands for intervention.

Based on those facts, they have forgotten about one important human right: responsibility. The outside world had the responsibility to help the victims, to stop the human rights abuses that happened in Rwanda. If only the world had helped faster, thousands could’ve been saved. In the movie, it was pictured how other nation’s officials were considering more about how much money they have to give to help than the lives of Rwandans that needed their help urgently.

Further reading in international disinterest in Rwanda:

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/central-africa/rwanda/030-international-criminal-tribunal-for-rwanda-justice-delayed.aspx

Rwanda

What’s Rwanda?

Rwanda is a small country in central Africa. The population is approximately 11 million people, and their official language is Kinyarwanda. It’s capital is Kigali and President Kagame is now the official chief of state. The major religion is Christianity. The life expectancy in Rwanda is 54 years for men and 57 for women.

In Rwanda, there are three distinct ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Originally, the division of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa was a profession-based division. It all changed when Belgium colonized Rwanda and made identity cards for all Rwandans, creating a division in the Rwanda society. Although divided, the groups shared their language, their culture, and nationality. They shared business with each other and lived peacefully together. There were lots of intermarriages between Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa.

Even though they lived together as neighbors, ethnic tension has always existed in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi since the ethnic division.

Tension in Rwanda

When the Belgium arrived and start colonizing Rwanda, they introduced class-consciousness that eventually damaged the social stability of the Rwandan society. In that era, the Belgians chose the Tutsi to be ‘intermediaries’ or middleman between the Belgians and the Rwandans. The Belgians gave privileges as well as education for the Tutsi such as jobs and educational opportunities, and for the next 20 years, the Tutsi (minority) ruled Rwanda. The political situation was altered when Missionaries came to Rwanda from Europe and taught the Hutu to see themselves as oppressed people. The Hutu was inspired by the missionaries to start a revolution, and in 1956 their rebellion began. By 1959, the Hutu had gain power and made Tutsis fled. The Tutsi fled to neighboring countries and made the RPF or Rwandan Patriotic Front.

In 1990, the RPF rebels fought and civil war began. Tension between the Rwandan government (led by Hutu) with the RPF (led by Tutsi) was greater than ever, and in 1993 a ceasefire was achieved. UN-backed efforts had tried to negotiate a new multi-party constitution but Hutu extremist opposed the idea of Tutsi in the government.

Human Rights, What are they?

Human Rights, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, is:

"rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible."

Human Rights includes 30 Rights that has been globally acknowledged and signed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was first articulated around 1948, and covers all from social, cultural, to civil rights.