March 25
Conley, SeanConley 1
Jarcho, Getman
Human rights paper, rough draft
24 March 2007
Human rights vidation; genocide
Human rights vidations happen nearly worldwide, whether its AIDS victims, honor killings, or even genocide in Rwanda. Genocide in Rwanda represents one of the clearest cases of genocide in modern history. Two rival groups the Tutsis and the Hutus expressed great violence and abuse towards each other.
Catholic missionaries, who arrived in Rwanda in 1900, influenced the development of ethnic identity in Rwanda. They believed that Rwanda had three distinct racial groups. The Tutsi were supposedly Hamitic group tall, thin, of aristocratic demeanor, and more closely related to Europeans. The Hutu were supposedly a Bantu group shorter and stronger and fit for manual labor.(Encyclopedia of Genocide, 296) The paraphrase above shows the racial break down of how people look at each other in Rwanda. These interpretations alternately shaped and twisted the views of how Rwandans looked at each other. In year 1959, Hutu held an uprising and drove Tutsi chiefs from there positions and thousands into exile. This marked the beginning of genocide in Rwanda.
Many factors led to the beginning of the new genocide 1994. The murder of Melchor Ndadaye in 1994, first popularly elected Hutu president, had a big impact on the
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Hutu. They claimed that it wasnt right and that Tutsi could not be trusted. Both political and ethnic tensions continuing to rise was another factor that led to this genocide. The factors that triggered the genocide on April 6, 1994 were directly related. The plane carrying the new president, Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira The president of
Burundi, was shot down. This was the straw that broke the camels back. Whoever was responsible for the crash, the assassination of Habyarimana served as the spark that set the plans for genocide in motion. (Genocide 929) The days fallowing the presidents guard assassinated the Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimqra a moderate Hutu, along with Belgian troops who had been guarding her. The 1994 genocide had been carefully planned and coordinated by a small group of government and military officials who used their power to spread the genocide across the country. The genocide that took place in the communities fallowed a pattern. The civilian armys raided homes and killed the Tutsi. Once they gathered the Tutsi together they killed and beat them. The survivors were then mowed down with grenades, axes, and knifes. Buildings that held victims were set on fire or demolished with them in it. By May the mass killings were complete, and the genocide then moved on to seeking out the survivors.
Genocide in Rwanda was never a good thing to be brought into perspective or even thought of. It was a major violation of human right and was a big crime against all
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Humanity of Rwanda and Burundi. The most important thing to be considered is the innocent lives that were taking during this mass killing. It can be viewed as a good cause to some, but to most it was a big loss of innocent lives that should have never been taken.
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Works cited
Dorso, Michael. Encyclopedia of genocide and crimes against humanity. Jones, Maxine.
Vol. 2. 2005
Szumski, Bonnie. Genocide. San Diego, CA:
Greenhaven press, Inc, 2003
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October 26
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