Genocide in RwandaIn 1994, Rwanda had a populace of 7 million. That population was made up of 3 different ethnic groups: there were approx. 85% Hutu, 14% Tutsi, and 1% Twa. Within Rwanda’s political elite Hutu extremists blamed the Tutsi population for the country’s increasing economic, political, and social pressures. The people of Tutsi also were faulted for the support of the Tutsi Dominated Rebel Group, the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front). With the help of publicity and constant political maneuvering by Juvenal Habyarimana; his group increased division between both the Hutu and Tutsi near the end of 1992. The Hutu’s recalls the former years of the Tutsi tyrannical regime; and much of them not only begrudged but also feared the minority.
April 6th, 1994, a plane transporting President Habyarimana (who was a Hutu) was shot down. Almost immediately, the bloodshed began. With war as a cover, Hutu extremist initiated their plot to eliminate the Tutsi people. The governmental leaders could have taken control of both the situation and the high profile antagonists of the Hutu extremist plan. Anyone who was a Tutsi or suspected of being one were targeted and murdered in their domiciles and those who attempted to escape were killed. Entire families were drastically murdered during this genocide. Many women were consistently & viciously raped. Over 200,000 people partook in the Rwandan genocide.
After April 6th, 1994, over 800,000 men, women and children died during the genocide; and at the same time thousands of Hutu were executed. They were executed because they were against the genocide of the Tutsi population. The genocide in Rwanda was caused from the mindful selection of the elite who encouraged both fear and hatred to keep power. This favored group set the majority to stand an increasing political obstruction in Rwanda. Then, with the RPF success on the battleground; and at the negotiating table, the few power holders altered the strategy…