Rwanda

1. Rwanda

2. Before the 90s • Rwanda was a colony of Belgium from 1919-1962 • The Belgians identified two major ethnic groups; the Hutu and Tutsis • The Hutus outnumbered the Tutsis 8 to 1 • The Belgians gave more power to the Tutsis and were cruel to the Hutu • They forced the Rwandans to carry ID cards that stated their ethnicity • When Rwanda gained its independence, the Hutus came to power and attacked the Tutsi in revenge.

3. Before the 90s • Some Tutsis fled to Uganda and formed the Rwanda Political Front (RPF) • Rwanda Political Front (RPF): Group of Tutsis in Rwanda that fought the Hutu to stop the Rwandan Genocide in the 1990s. • 1990 the RPF returned to Rwanda. In response, the Hutus became even more violent against Tutsis. • 1994 the Hutu blamed the RPF for shooting down the Rwandan president in a plane. • The RPF was mostly likely was framed • The govt. then encouraged Hutu to take to the streets and attack Tutsis.

4. Rwandan Genocide • The U.N. was brought in to keep the peace, but it was under-supported and not given permission to act • Most of the West did not want to call it a genocide. If we did, we would have been required by UN law to act. • Genocide: the attempted mass extermination of a group of people. • Over the course of 100 days, between 500,000 and 1 million Tutsis and Hutu that supported Tutsis were killed • That rate of murder is faster than the Holocaust! • And most of the murder was done hand-to-hand with machetes!

5. Rwandan Genocide • The conflict was only ended when the RPF advanced across the country and killed/chased off the Hutu troops • Besides the dead, many fled the to neighboring countries, creating a huge refugee problem • The U.S. and other countries sent aid to help people in these refugee camps • Since the genocide, Rwanda has grown economically strong again. • But many ethnic hostilities remain • In a village, a person might live up the street from the man who hacked your brother to pieces with a machete.