Essay On Imperialism In Rwanda
From 1916-1959 under Belgium colonial rule tensions worsened between the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s in Rwanda. These tensions resulted in the mass killings of Tutsi’s from April-July 1994 where 800 000 Tutsi’s were killed. This event was constituted as genocide based on the 8 stages of Genocide and correlates with the definition of genocide set out by the United Nations in 1948, however the United Nations and the Western countries especially the USA considered the killings as part of a civil war.
From 1916-1959 Rwanda was under Belgium colonial rule and contributed to the tensions between the Hutus and Tutsi’s. In 1918 at the end of WW1 Belgium was handed over Rwanda as a colony stated in the Treaty of Versailles. The hostility between the Hutus and Tutsi’s, however very intense, only reaches back a few …show more content…
On the 1st of October 2003 the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda and in 3 years of civil war 50 thousand Rwandans were killed. On the 4th of August 1993 the Arusha accords peace agreement was signed to ensure peace among the rebels and the Rwandan government. In October 1993 Tutsi army officers killed Burundi’s president in an attempt to overthrow the government. This interrelation between the government and the RPF led the western countries to assume that the mass killings were in fact a new flaring of the war and therefore they could not get involved because it was not genocide it was a civil war.
The mass murder in Rwanda although assumed to be a civil war between the RPF and the Rwandan government was in fact not. These events correlate with the 8 stages of genocide and the definiton of genocide set out by the United Nations in 1948 which states that, Genocide is the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Therefore constituting a genocide and not a civil
From 1916-1959 Rwanda was under Belgium colonial rule and contributed to the tensions between the Hutus and Tutsi’s. In 1918 at the end of WW1 Belgium was handed over Rwanda as a colony stated in the Treaty of Versailles. The hostility between the Hutus and Tutsi’s, however very intense, only reaches back a few …show more content…
On the 1st of October 2003 the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda and in 3 years of civil war 50 thousand Rwandans were killed. On the 4th of August 1993 the Arusha accords peace agreement was signed to ensure peace among the rebels and the Rwandan government. In October 1993 Tutsi army officers killed Burundi’s president in an attempt to overthrow the government. This interrelation between the government and the RPF led the western countries to assume that the mass killings were in fact a new flaring of the war and therefore they could not get involved because it was not genocide it was a civil war.
The mass murder in Rwanda although assumed to be a civil war between the RPF and the Rwandan government was in fact not. These events correlate with the 8 stages of genocide and the definiton of genocide set out by the United Nations in 1948 which states that, Genocide is the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Therefore constituting a genocide and not a civil