Examples Of Genocide In Rwanda

Genocide is the premeditated killing, harming, or harassment of part or all of a specific group of people with a common phenotype, nationality, race, ethnicity, or religion, not to be confused with an “ethnic cleansing”, which is the purposeful removal of a specific group of people from a geographical area. An example of genocide is the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The Tutsi people were targeted and oppressed by the Hutu government after being blamed for their president being assassinated, and because of a political power struggle between the two ethnicities in Rwanda after gaining independence from discriminatory German and Belgian colonial rules. Genocide is able to happen when world powers fail to intervene when a group of people is being victimized by a
Because it is still categorized as an ethnic cleansing, there is not as much motive for organizations, including the UN, to step in. The Rwandan genocide took place in Rwanda, an East-African country in April to July, 1994. Hutu people used the unconfirmed actions of Tutsis to systematically execute and discriminate against Tutsi people. In 1916 Belgium annexed Rwanda and established a stake in their monarchy. They enforced a Tutsi-led feudal system and discriminated against the Hutu. In 1962, Rwanda had gained independence from Belgium, and after a power struggle between Hutu and Tutsi, Hutus came to power. When the Hutu President of Rwanda died after his plane was shot down, Hutu extremists were quick to blame the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi organization. These killings are genocides because they were premeditated and were carried out systematically. The actions of the Hutu people also satisfy criteria B: “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group…” (Article II). Hutu extremists, who initiated the violence against Tutsis, “...[commenced] the long-planned operation meant to completely eliminate the Tutsi population of