How Did The Rwanda Genocide Affect The World

Adjoa Amponsah
Professor Lavina Williams
English 102
November 6th, 2014
Genocide in Rwanda
How did the Rwandan Genocide affect the world? The Genocide in Rwanda was one of the most memorable events that ever took place in the world in the 1990s. A large group of people killed at the same place at the same time is called genocide because it deals with murder. In Rwanda there are three major tribes, one called the Hutu, the other called Tutsi, and the Twa (“Rwanda genocide of 1994” par.1). As a developing country, Rwandans have tried their best to prevent violence by their government offering clean food and water, clothing, and education in order to develop as a nation. The Rwandan genocide has affected the world socially, politically, and economically due to tribal inequalities and European
disputes. Rwanda is located on the East coast of Africa, bordered by the countries of Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Uganda. Rwanda is considered as a landlocked country because it was under European colonization in 1910 (“East Africa Living Encyclopedia” par. 1). Rwanda and Burundi were under German control until World War I, when a “de facto” boundary had existed between the borders when the Belgium took over, and remained in control until their independence. In 1962, Rwanda as well as Burundi gained independence from Belgium and officially became separate countries (“Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country” par. 3). Due to the country being formerly colonized by both Belgium and Germany, Rwanda’s official languages are English, French, and Kinyarwanda. The major tribes, which are the Hutu, the Tutsi, and the Twa, had a huge impact on the Rwandan government because they had a lot of disagreements with each other. In Rwanda, the Hutu tribe make up 85% of the population, while the Tutsi make up 14%, and the remaining 1% are consisted of the Twa tribe (“Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country” par.1). As for the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes, they had a lot of social differences for centuries. On the website titled “The Conflict Between the Tutsi and the Hutu”, Erin Galloway stated that, “The Tutsi invaded around the 15th century. They came from the horn of Africa. Their takeover of the Hutu was generally peaceful” (Galloway par.2). Basically, the Tutsi tribe wanted to take over the Hutu because they believed in a hierarchical society, so they had to fufill this take over so that a monarchy can be ran by a king. However, before the European colonization took place throughout East Africa, both tribes had to sign contracts in order to gain large pieces of land.
Even though both tribes speak the same local language of Kinyarwanda, they do differ as for physical appearance.
Most of Hutu peoples are often seen as dark-skinned and short, while the Tutsi were known to be light-skinned and tall (“Rwanda genocide of 1994” par. 3). The Hutu and the Tutsi did not have many conflicts until the Germans invaded them in the 1890s. By the time Germans ruled all of Rwanda, and Burundi until the first World War, the then-colony was already ran by the Tutsis. In the book, “Failure to Prevent Genocide in Rwanda”, Grunfeld and Huijboom explain that, “The Germans,who were only present in a very small number, followed a policy of indirect rule, and allowed Rwanda’s monarchy to continue. German colonial rule continued the Tutsi dominance and reinforced the position and power of the Tutsis” (Grünfeld and Huijboom 28). The authors pointed out that the Germans did not do much to create an impact towards Rwanda. Because the country was already set up as a hierachy by the Tutsis, which escalated more problems economically from the Hutus, since they are best known for providing agriculture, while the Tutsis were more advanced politically and
economically.
When the Belgians took over Rwanda after World War I, they helped the Rwandans a lot.
In 1948, the Belgians allowed them to develop two political parties, where one is called the Union for National Progress (UPRONA), and the other called Christian Democratic Party (PDC). (Galloway ; 2010, par.3). Although the Belgians gave support for the PDC, the Tutsis were still in control over the Hutus. According to Grunfield and Huijboom, they illustrate that,
“One chief only, often a Tutsi, now controlled the rural Hutu who,under the previous system, had been able to maintain some influence by manipulating the chief of one level against the chief of another level” (Grünfeld and Huijboom 28).
In other words, manipulation and bribery show how easy it was for the Tutsis to take away political power fron the Hutus. In 1959, the Hutus started a political movement because they grew tired of having their rights taken away. This movement led to thousands of Tutsis being killed, and the rest moving into different countries as refugees. Also, social instability is one of the reasons why the Hutus and the Tutsis had a hard time making amends. By the time Rwanda gained their independence on July 1st, 1962, more opprotunities for the Hutus approached them. The Hutus began pushing a certain agenda, such as a “’manifesto’, calling for emancipation and rule. They encouraged the belief that the Tutsi were not Rwandans but invaders from the North who had gained power and enslaved the Hutu” (Grünfeld and Huijboom 30). Based on all the torture and violence the Hutus went through, they decided that isolating the Tutsis would create a equal share of political dominance over each other, since the German and Belgian rule.