From the centuries, world has witnessed a number of bloody wars, holocausts, carnages and cruel genocide, which shattered the lives of millions of innocent people. After witnessing the mass killings and its aftermath consequences, world has not yet learned a lesson and still on the same path of destruction. ‘Hotel Rwanda’, a movie by Terry George, tries to convey the same message to save the world harmony and to maintain social integrity and peace, else the world should ready to witness a massive destruction. This movie is based on the one of the world’s fastest and atrocious historical genocide in Rwanda in 1994. It depicts the true events around the genocide experienced by a hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina played by famous Hollywood actor…
During the Rwandan genocide the will to survive of the Tutsis causes them to survive against the insurgent majority Hutu’s. After many deaths and endless torture the Tutsis, an African ethnicity in Rwanda, are seeking a safe haven in this time of genocide and will go to anyone for help just so they can survive. One person in particular Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel manager married to a Tutsis, risks everything to help others. Lovegren, the author of this article, reveals that Rusesabagina does just that in his article about the hotel “Deserted by international Peacekeepers Rusesabagina began cashing in every favor he had ever earned, bribing the Rwandan Hutu soldiers and keeping the bloodthirsty militia outside the gates during the hundred days of slaughter.(Lovgren)” Being a Hutu hotel manager in Rwanda and harboring Tutsi fugitives including his wife and children is a death wish considering that the Hutu rebels will gladly kill everyone. Rusesabagina, the hotel manager, will do anything to keep his family and the innocent people living in his hotel alive. The Tutsis and himself both strive for survival. Likewise Valentina is a Tutsi girl who saw her parents and loved ones die at the feet of the dispassionate Hutus, leaving her with nothing but dead corpse’s, a broken body, and no shelter or food. Hundreds of Tutsi fugitives gathered around in a church that one day, one of them happened to be Valentina and her family. Her family was slaughtered but Valentina…
Learning about geographic luck theory influenced my thinking about how we perceive the world and different aspects of it. If the roles were different of who was on which land mass it would have influenced what people had conquered what land with like their resources like guns, germs, and steel. For instance, geographic luck helped Europe conquer…
During the 20th century, approximately 174 million people have been killed by the government only and mostly by the communist governments (Dominic & Abimbola, 39). The figures are quite shocking. This clearly depicts that government exploits the innocent people and incite them to stand against their brothers and sisters. The same story happened in Rwanda, It was the Habyarimanian government, who planned the genocide a long time before to retain their political power. The magnitude of the genocide was so intense that on the very first day 30,000 people were mascaraed in Kigali only, a rate far faster than the Holocaust. To prove this reality, towards the middle of the movie there is a scene when Paul was coming back from George’s warehouse after…
“To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography.” ~George Santayana…
Mr. Rusesabagina was a decent, normal and good person that was put in an extraordinary situation. In his book he states “I did what I believed to be the ordinary things that an ordinary man would do. I said no to outrageous actions the way I thought that anybody would, and it still mystifies me that so many others could say yes.” This line says it all. Mr. Rusesabagina was “An Ordinary Man” put in an extraordinary situation and during the ten weeks of the Rwandan genocide he proved that we can all make a difference by doing what we all know is good and right in the eyes of…
Kingsley Moghalu claims the Rwandan genocide was indirectly the result of European colonialism in Africa.1 The first part of this essay will attempt to show that Moghalu is right in this claim, as the ethnic rivalry between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples began during and because of the Belgian administration between 1919 and 1962. It will also provide an outline of the events that led up to the genocide, showing how mutual distrust and aggression between Tutsis and Hutus triggered the genocide. The second part will be an analysis of the social and political conditions after the genocide, to develop an understanding of how Rwandan society has coped with what happened in 1994, and to show that the impact the genocide has had on Rwanda has been both positive and negative. The third part will analyse the judicial response from the international community and the domestic justice system to show how effective each was in achieving reconciliation and a unified Rwanda.…
In conclusion, it is clear that there are many contributing factors that acted as a catalyst to the Rwandan genocide. During a time where political instability was the only type of political structure, it is apparent that the rise of anti-political groups, propaganda meant to influence civilians towards taking a side, and colonial oppression causing a polarizing between the Hutus and Tutsis, all played a large role in the start of the genocide. Despite this, it is apparent that there was not one cause, but instead a melting pot of different issues that spilled over into greater…
Why Geography matters a book written by Harm de Blij a Dutchman born in Schiedam, Netherlands October 9, 1935. Mr. Harm received his Phd in geography from Northwestern University in Illinois, served as editor of several “National Geographic Magazine” articles, and was a renowned professor at Michigan State University. As a child, he moved from Europe to Africa to avoid the rising Nazi threat. While in Africa he earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and later migrated to the United States where the 368 page, Why Geography Matters More Than Ever was written. The reason behind the writing of this book is to educate the world about geography. Why Geography Matters More Than Ever was issued in the United States by the well known Oxford University Press on July 20, 2012.…
In the middle east of Africa is where you could find Rwanda. Around 1900’s a group called “Hutu’s” had been in great power since early 60’s. Peace was at ease, no one was harmed or killed until, then came a month, that turned into within days of torture and countless assanistations. April 6th 1994 is when the killings started. All the gun shots and people screaming night and even some afternoons , people finally opened their eyes to see what really those gun shots and people shouting was really about. At least half a million people perished, “Perhaps as many as three quarters of the Tutsi’s population” (Hymowitz and Parker). Even though people didn’t care what was going on besides the people who were effected by genocide , a causal thesis of this were Hutu’s and Tutsi were not the only ones involved in seeing what was happening , eventually within a few days Europeans , the French , international community , and problems like the hate radio and ethnic group all came along.…
Rwanda, a small landlocked country in central Africa, has a long and rich history of differences and conflicts. One of the most known historic events of this region is the Rwandan Genocide which took 800,000 lives over the course of four months (Britannica). The conflict between two tribal groups, the Hutu and Tutsis, had been accumulating for decades before it finally reached its breaking point. The Rwandan genocide can be attributed to three main factors: Belgian colonial policies, tribal tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis, and the assassination of the Rwandan president. Before European colonization Rwanda was united under a total Tutsi government.…
Malika is an example of one of the Tutsi survivors, and Kristalf is an example of the few Hutus who wanted to live in peace with the Tutsis, not kill them. Hotel Rwanda was the actual hotel where the Tutsis were hidden toward the end of the war. All of the events listed were actual events, except for the personal events between Malika and her family (those were just an example). Malika losing her uncle, aunt, and both of her parents, with no friends with her, is an example of the many people who lost their families and friends during the genocide. The weapons most Hutus used, which were machetes, were illegally imported because they were not allowed to have weapons, and the few guns they had were lucky findings or were stolen from higher officials. The genocide lasted about 100 days, and there were 500,000 killed and about 1 million injured—about 20% of the population was lost. In the genocide, the Hutus were stopped by the UN while they were attacking the people in the hotel and on the…
Prior to Rwanda gaining independence from Belgium in 1962, the country experienced a constant battle of right between the Hutu and the Tutsi religious groups. The Tutsi, although being the minority making up only 15-percent of the population, enjoyed privileged lives. However, following the country’s independence, the country experienced three decades of Hutu rule, under which the Tutsi faced extreme discrimination and bursts of extermination. This continual struggle between groups, and the assassination of both Rwanda’s and Burundi’s presidents, sparked violence and ‘primed the pump’ for genocide.…
In the end, geographical features have indeed influenced the development of civilizations and regions. Geographic features have both promoted and limited interactions with other civilizations/regions. Geography shapes our actions towards the environment; geography shapes…
In 1994 Rwanda was divided into three groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Hutu people made up eighty five percent of the population, the Tutsi made up fourteen, and the very small group Twa made up the very little amount of one percent. Since the Hutu thought that the Tutsi were responsible for killing the President, who was also a part of the Hutu tribe, Hutu extremist decided that they would destroy the Tutsi and everything they had. This genocide was one of the most brutal in history approximately 800,000 Tutsi, and Hutu were lost. A large part of the Rwanda population was killed during this tragedy and many people were against it. Sadly, Hutu extremist did not care who died. The genocide ended 100 days after it started. (Rosenberg 1)…