Rwanda Genocide Research Paper
Genocide
Moral behavior concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Most of people know how to differentiate between right and wrong or good or bad since we were just little kids we were taught what’s good we should do and what’s wrong we shouldn’t do. But there are some people that can’t differentiate the good from the bad or they just want to be the ones who want to control a country, town, or community and to do this they committee the act of Genocide.
What’s Genocide?
The term “genocide” did not exist during or before World War II, in 1994 Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) a Polish-Jewish lawyer who fled to the United States. He formed the word Genocide by combining Geno- from the …show more content…
Greek word race or tribe, combining with cide- from the Latin word for killing.
Genocide it is a very specific term, which refers to a series of violent crimes committed against a group of people with the intend of destroying this group existence. Genocide is any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a nation, racial or religious group. Acts like: a) Killing members of the group b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
The Rwanda Genocide.
In an African Nation named Rwanda between April and July 1994, the extremist leaders of Rwanda’s Hutu Majority launched a campaign of extermination, using machetes, firearms, and other weapons, they killed at least 500,000 people, the majority of victims were members of the Tutsi minority in only 100 days. Also hundreds of thousands of women were raped making this a profound nature and scope of violence use to kill all this innocent civilians. The genocide in Rwanda ended in July 1994, when the Rwanda Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebel force who pushed the genocidal interim government and extremist out of the county.
The consequences of the Genocide continued to be belt, because this big massacre left Rwanda devastated with hundreds of thousands of survivors traumatized, of seen their family members of friends be rape or murder right in front of them. The country’s infrastructure in ruins over 100.000 accused perpetrators imprisoned.
Beginning in 1996, Democratic Republic of Congo turned into the battleground for continuing armed conflict between Rwanda’s post-genocidal government and genocidaires who fled to the Republic of Congo following the genocide.
After the Genocide almost every sector of the Rwanda society was touched by the genocide: survivors facing trauma suffered from their experiences, others faced complex health problems, such HIV/AIDS as the direct violence perpetrated against them during the genocide. Some survivors were attacked or kill by former perpetrators for many Tutsis minority the fear persist while they started to rebuild their lives along individuals responsible for murder and rape maybe their family members is a difficult reality faced by all the Rwanda Genocide survivors.
The government after the genocide has pursued a policy of “Unity and Reconciliation” this policy has made considerable advances. Gacaca is a form of local justice inspired by tradition which was establish to persecute those hundreds of thousands of those accused of crimes during genocide. The government has also involve women in the government increased economic growth and stability, and adopted new constitution.
The power in Rwanda remains in the hands of former Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) freedom of speech is restricted in Rwanda the first election after the genocide was on 2003, resulting in a 7 years period of presidential by a the former RPF general Paul Kagame. This government has been accused of human rights abuse against potential political rivals and of misusing the fight against divisionism which is the action that promotes separation along ethnic groups for political reasons.
People Punished With Genocide
On September 2, 1998, a court establish by the United Nations the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issue the world’s first conviction for the defined crime of genocide after a trial in front of the international tribunal.
Jean-Paul Akayesu born in 1953 in Taba commune, who as a young men was active member of a local football team, he was the father of five children, he worked as teacher that way becoming a respected leader of his community been considered a man of high morals, intelligence, and integrity. Akayesu was first involve in politics in 1991 and was elected local president Democratic Republican Movement (MDR) an opposition political party. He was elected mayor of Taba in April 1993 until June 1994.
After the genocide began in 1994 Akayesu initially kept his town out of the mass killing but after April 18 when the mayors meet with interim government leaders (those who planned the genocide) an big change took place in the town when Akayesu changed his business suit for a military jacket, literally donning violence as his modus operandi: witness said that they saw him incite town people to join the killing and turn former safe havens into places of torture, rape, and murder.
Akayesu escaped to the Republic of the Congo and latter to Zambia where he was arrested in October 1995, and in front of the international court he was convicted of genocide been this the first conviction for genocide and they included rape as a component of genocide.
He was convicted to three life sentences for genocide and crimes against humanity and to 80 years for other violations including rape and encouraging widespread sexual violence.
Other case was on 1997 in the same court that three Rwanda’s were convicted of incitement to genocide: Hassan Ngeze, the founder publisher and edited of Kangura(wake others u ) a Hutu owned tabloid that in the months preceding the genocide published vitriolic articles calling Tutsis cockroaches but never called directly for killing them. Ferdinand Nahimana, and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza founders of a radio station called Radio Television Libre des Milles Cillines (RTLM) that directly and indirectly called for murder, it got to a point where this station will provide names and locations of people to be …show more content…
killed.
The Rwanda media Trial was opened on October 23, 2000, was the issue of free speech “a key question is what kind of speech is protected and where the limits lie,” Said American lawyer Stephen Rapp. In December 2003, the ICTR handed down its verdict. The three judges (a shout African, a Sri Lankan, and Norwegian) convicted Ngenze, Nahimana, and Barayagwiza for direct and public incitement to genocide the judges declared: “Without a firearm, machete or any physical weapon, you caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.” In framing their verdict, the judges noted: “This case raises important principles concerning the role of the media, which have not been addressed at the level of international criminal justice since Nuremberg. The power of the media to create and destroy fundamental human values comes with great responsibility. Those who control the media are accountable for its consequences.”
In January 2007, the lawyers for the defendants in the Rwanda “Media Trial” appealed the tribunal’s “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” for Ngeze and Nahimana. The judges reversed the finding of guilt on this charge against Barayagwiza, ruling that only RTML broadcast made after April 6, 1994, constituted “direct and public incitement to commit genocide,” and that Barayawiza no longer had exercised control over the employees the radio station at the time. But the tribunal did affirm that the findings of guilt against Barayagwiza on different grounds, for instigating the perpetration of acts of genocide and crimes against humanity. Because of the reversal of some charges against the three defendants the judges had to lowered the sentences Nahimana’s was form life to 30 years, Negeze’s from life to 35 years, and barayagwiza’s from 35 to 32 years.
Crimes against Humanity.
Any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder
(b) Extermination
(c) Enslavement
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law
(f) Torture
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons
(j) The crime of apartheid
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
There are other countries that not too long ago or even now they keep suffering of genocide one example is Darfur, Sudan which was declare that genocide has been committed in this country but the United nations did not declare these as genocide.
In September 9, 2004, Sudan was issue a genocide emergency in response to violence in this country after the deaths of 2 million of people and the displaced of other 4 million people. This genocide is going on now as we read, eat, sleep, or whatever we doing there is people in Sudan that can’t do this things because their afraid. I don’t know what we are waiting to do something to stop the violence that the world has in the African continent, or if we want to live what this African nation is leaving to start to do something about it. We as one of the strongest nation who has an Army to fight in Iraq for ten years don’t have the capacity to send help to try and end with this genocide’s acts that have been going on in the last couple of years. The killing of innocent people only to get what a person or a group wants. For them not matter how much people they kill, rape or how they kill them the just want to be stronger than everyone else and they want to be the group that dominates a country or a town. This type of people should be stop and punish really hard for all the crimes their
committee.
Reference Page.
Genocide (2011, January 6). In United State Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007839
Rwanda Sentences for Genocide (2011, January 6). In .
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.dd-rd.ca/english/commdoc/publications/women/akayesuSentencing.html
What is Genocide (2011, January 6). In United State Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/genocide
Moral behavior concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Most of people know how to differentiate between right and wrong or good or bad since we were just little kids we were taught what’s good we should do and what’s wrong we shouldn’t do. But there are some people that can’t differentiate the good from the bad or they just want to be the ones who want to control a country, town, or community and to do this they committee the act of Genocide.
What’s Genocide?
The term “genocide” did not exist during or before World War II, in 1994 Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) a Polish-Jewish lawyer who fled to the United States. He formed the word Genocide by combining Geno- from the …show more content…
Greek word race or tribe, combining with cide- from the Latin word for killing.
Genocide it is a very specific term, which refers to a series of violent crimes committed against a group of people with the intend of destroying this group existence. Genocide is any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a nation, racial or religious group. Acts like: a) Killing members of the group b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
The Rwanda Genocide.
In an African Nation named Rwanda between April and July 1994, the extremist leaders of Rwanda’s Hutu Majority launched a campaign of extermination, using machetes, firearms, and other weapons, they killed at least 500,000 people, the majority of victims were members of the Tutsi minority in only 100 days. Also hundreds of thousands of women were raped making this a profound nature and scope of violence use to kill all this innocent civilians. The genocide in Rwanda ended in July 1994, when the Rwanda Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebel force who pushed the genocidal interim government and extremist out of the county.
The consequences of the Genocide continued to be belt, because this big massacre left Rwanda devastated with hundreds of thousands of survivors traumatized, of seen their family members of friends be rape or murder right in front of them. The country’s infrastructure in ruins over 100.000 accused perpetrators imprisoned.
Beginning in 1996, Democratic Republic of Congo turned into the battleground for continuing armed conflict between Rwanda’s post-genocidal government and genocidaires who fled to the Republic of Congo following the genocide.
After the Genocide almost every sector of the Rwanda society was touched by the genocide: survivors facing trauma suffered from their experiences, others faced complex health problems, such HIV/AIDS as the direct violence perpetrated against them during the genocide. Some survivors were attacked or kill by former perpetrators for many Tutsis minority the fear persist while they started to rebuild their lives along individuals responsible for murder and rape maybe their family members is a difficult reality faced by all the Rwanda Genocide survivors.
The government after the genocide has pursued a policy of “Unity and Reconciliation” this policy has made considerable advances. Gacaca is a form of local justice inspired by tradition which was establish to persecute those hundreds of thousands of those accused of crimes during genocide. The government has also involve women in the government increased economic growth and stability, and adopted new constitution.
The power in Rwanda remains in the hands of former Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) freedom of speech is restricted in Rwanda the first election after the genocide was on 2003, resulting in a 7 years period of presidential by a the former RPF general Paul Kagame. This government has been accused of human rights abuse against potential political rivals and of misusing the fight against divisionism which is the action that promotes separation along ethnic groups for political reasons.
People Punished With Genocide
On September 2, 1998, a court establish by the United Nations the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issue the world’s first conviction for the defined crime of genocide after a trial in front of the international tribunal.
Jean-Paul Akayesu born in 1953 in Taba commune, who as a young men was active member of a local football team, he was the father of five children, he worked as teacher that way becoming a respected leader of his community been considered a man of high morals, intelligence, and integrity. Akayesu was first involve in politics in 1991 and was elected local president Democratic Republican Movement (MDR) an opposition political party. He was elected mayor of Taba in April 1993 until June 1994.
After the genocide began in 1994 Akayesu initially kept his town out of the mass killing but after April 18 when the mayors meet with interim government leaders (those who planned the genocide) an big change took place in the town when Akayesu changed his business suit for a military jacket, literally donning violence as his modus operandi: witness said that they saw him incite town people to join the killing and turn former safe havens into places of torture, rape, and murder.
Akayesu escaped to the Republic of the Congo and latter to Zambia where he was arrested in October 1995, and in front of the international court he was convicted of genocide been this the first conviction for genocide and they included rape as a component of genocide.
He was convicted to three life sentences for genocide and crimes against humanity and to 80 years for other violations including rape and encouraging widespread sexual violence.
Other case was on 1997 in the same court that three Rwanda’s were convicted of incitement to genocide: Hassan Ngeze, the founder publisher and edited of Kangura(wake others u ) a Hutu owned tabloid that in the months preceding the genocide published vitriolic articles calling Tutsis cockroaches but never called directly for killing them. Ferdinand Nahimana, and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza founders of a radio station called Radio Television Libre des Milles Cillines (RTLM) that directly and indirectly called for murder, it got to a point where this station will provide names and locations of people to be …show more content…
killed.
The Rwanda media Trial was opened on October 23, 2000, was the issue of free speech “a key question is what kind of speech is protected and where the limits lie,” Said American lawyer Stephen Rapp. In December 2003, the ICTR handed down its verdict. The three judges (a shout African, a Sri Lankan, and Norwegian) convicted Ngenze, Nahimana, and Barayagwiza for direct and public incitement to genocide the judges declared: “Without a firearm, machete or any physical weapon, you caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.” In framing their verdict, the judges noted: “This case raises important principles concerning the role of the media, which have not been addressed at the level of international criminal justice since Nuremberg. The power of the media to create and destroy fundamental human values comes with great responsibility. Those who control the media are accountable for its consequences.”
In January 2007, the lawyers for the defendants in the Rwanda “Media Trial” appealed the tribunal’s “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” for Ngeze and Nahimana. The judges reversed the finding of guilt on this charge against Barayagwiza, ruling that only RTML broadcast made after April 6, 1994, constituted “direct and public incitement to commit genocide,” and that Barayawiza no longer had exercised control over the employees the radio station at the time. But the tribunal did affirm that the findings of guilt against Barayagwiza on different grounds, for instigating the perpetration of acts of genocide and crimes against humanity. Because of the reversal of some charges against the three defendants the judges had to lowered the sentences Nahimana’s was form life to 30 years, Negeze’s from life to 35 years, and barayagwiza’s from 35 to 32 years.
Crimes against Humanity.
Any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder
(b) Extermination
(c) Enslavement
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law
(f) Torture
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons
(j) The crime of apartheid
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
There are other countries that not too long ago or even now they keep suffering of genocide one example is Darfur, Sudan which was declare that genocide has been committed in this country but the United nations did not declare these as genocide.
In September 9, 2004, Sudan was issue a genocide emergency in response to violence in this country after the deaths of 2 million of people and the displaced of other 4 million people. This genocide is going on now as we read, eat, sleep, or whatever we doing there is people in Sudan that can’t do this things because their afraid. I don’t know what we are waiting to do something to stop the violence that the world has in the African continent, or if we want to live what this African nation is leaving to start to do something about it. We as one of the strongest nation who has an Army to fight in Iraq for ten years don’t have the capacity to send help to try and end with this genocide’s acts that have been going on in the last couple of years. The killing of innocent people only to get what a person or a group wants. For them not matter how much people they kill, rape or how they kill them the just want to be stronger than everyone else and they want to be the group that dominates a country or a town. This type of people should be stop and punish really hard for all the crimes their
committee.
Reference Page.
Genocide (2011, January 6). In United State Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007839
Rwanda Sentences for Genocide (2011, January 6). In .
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.dd-rd.ca/english/commdoc/publications/women/akayesuSentencing.html
What is Genocide (2011, January 6). In United State Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/genocide