Rwandan Conflict

Grace Sanchez
7 June 2011
Rwanda: Conflict Between Two Peoples
Rwanda, a small country in Central Africa, has been facing political and ethnic conflict between two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, for the past century. This conflict has brought huge problems to the country, as well as a genocide that killed about 800,000 people in 100 days. Even though the genocide has ended, theconflicts still continue. These conflicts go on in surrounding countries like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well. Many of these conflicts lead back to one major event: the joining of Rwanda and Burundi into Rwanda-Urundi and the latter being forced into Belgian hands by the League of Nations (“Rwanda: Belgian Colonization”).
After World War I, the League of Nations decided toput Rwanda and Burundi in the hands of the Belgians as a nation called Rwanda-Urundi. Families and villages were ripped apart because of this division and they were living with tribes that were completely foreign and unknown to them. During the beginning stages of the Belgian’s power, they relied on the previous Tutsi power. This is where it all started (“Rwanda: Belgian Colonization”).
Afterthe beginning stages of the Belgian colonization, the Belgians started to take more power. They were harsh and brutal with the natives, but not as much with the Tutsis because they considered the Tutsis superior. The Tutsis had lighter skin and were taller; this is what led the Belgians to believe in the Tutsis’ superiority. Because of this, the Tutsis were most literate and had higher positionswhile the majority of Hutus were illiterate and had poor, lowly jobs. When the Hutus began to notice this, the conflict began (“Rwanda: Belgian Colonization”).
The reaction to several years of harsh treatment started in the 1950’s. The Hutus started to see that they did not have the same opportunities as the Tutsis. They were being pushed aside. There were a lot more Hutus than Tutsis, but theTutsis were being considered a majority. They began to fight for what they believed were there rights. The first violence took place in November of 1959, three years before independence, when the Tutsis beat up a Hutu sub chief after the Hutus had overruled the Tutsi kingdom (Meredith 160). This caused the Hutus to go wild and attack the Tutsis. On July 1, 1962, Rwanda gained its independence fromBelgium (Meredith 159). The problems were only beginning.
The main conflict came in 1990, when a civil war broke out between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Hutus started fleeing to neighboring countries like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The people lived in fear of their own neighbors. There was no peace in the country. Still, the greatest opposition had not taken place (CIA – TheWorld Factbook).
The real battle started in 1994. At this time, the population of Rwanda consisted of 85% Hutus, 14% Tutsis, and 1% Twas (“Genocide in Rwanda”). The Hutu president of Rwanda, Habyarimana, who was in power, was killed when the plane he was on was shot down. The president of Burundi, who was also Hutu, was also killed on that plane (“Year in Review: 1996”). The identity of the personwho shot down the plane remains unknown to this day, but there are suspects. One of these is Kagame, the current president of Rwanda. The massive killings began after these events (“Rwanda: How the”).
The Hutus were out for revenge when they found out that the President had been killed. In 100 days, they killed 800,000 Tutsis. It was a crazy genocide. The Tutsis tried to fight back these killingsbut they were a minority compared to the Hutus (“Rwanda: How the”). Three quarters of the Tutsi population were wiped out (Anup, “Rwanda”).
The Tutsis fled to neighboring countries, but most of them could not leave fast enough. Whole families were wiped out. There was physical, emotional, and psychological abuse of these people. Children and women were raped (“Genocide in Rwanda”). The...