...Many of previous genocides shown ineffectiveness of UN peacekeepers. UN peacekeepers failed to prevent genocides such as in Rwanda, Srebrenica an Darfur (Vermeulen & Grünfeld, 2009). Rwanda genocide is considered “to be the fastest, most efficient killing spree of the twentieth century” (Power, 2011 para 1). Rwandan Civil War was a conflict between two ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsis populations (BBC News, 2011). There has always been tension between these ethnic groups in Rwanda. Death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana sparked the civil war and genocide in Rwanda (BBC news, 2011). During Rwanda civil war, “800,000 Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu” were killed within 100 days (Power, 2011, para 1). During the Rwanda civil...
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...African Culture of Rwanda Tutsi’s and Hutu’s The monarchy of the Tutsi was predestine for greatness but, due to the Tutsi’s believe Godly sanctions has occurred and the monarchy over power. I will make a comparison between the culture of Americans and Africans and the similarities of both obsessed ethnic groups in each society and is the culture and the conflict between the various ethnic groups. The Tutsi’s and Hutu's who had an essentialist that stereotypes a powerful factor in mobilizing civilian's to participate in the killing in of the lives of Rwandan's despite, the current state policies. Rwanda civil war began in 1994 where there were two ethnic groups called the Hutu’s and Tutsi’s. It was shortly after World War I when Belgium expanded control over Rwandan. The Tutsi’s were mainly chosen, because of their skin color. The fact’s that their skin was whiter than the Hutu’s. The Tutsi’s enter into a leadership position in which they promote discrimination against the Hutu’s. The Tutsi’s had favored over the Hutu’s because of how light they were. Additionally, they were position to receive the better jobs and better education opportunities but, between the two groups. The Tutsi’s is now as the majority in Rwanda compared to the Hutu’s. They denied Hutu’s the right to own land and a better education. They had to governmental representation in order to maintain the dominancy within the country. They figured out early on how to suppress there people...
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...COLLEGE THABA TSHWANE THE CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF CONFLICT IN CENTRAL AFRICA By Ms C. Auret November 2009 This research paper was written by a programme member attending the South African National Defence College in fulfilment of one of the requirements of the Executive National Security Programme 20/09. The paper is a scholastic document and this contains facts and opinions which the author alone considered appropriate and correct for subject. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any agency, including the South African Government or Department of Defence. This paper may not be released, quoted or copied except with the express permission of the Department of Defence. INDEX |HEADING |PAGE | | | | | | | |Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… |3 | |Introduction………………………………………………………………………….. |3 | |Historical Review of Conflict in Central Africa ……………………………...…….. ...
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...analyze gender stratification and its relation to women in Rwanda; also the demographic imbalance in post-genocide Rwanda will be explored. In addition in the following paragraphs the current roles women in Rwanda play in the areas of economics, politics, and social development after genocide will be discussed. In Rwanda in 1994 genocide occurred with mass killings of hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsis and Hutu. The death tolls are believed to be 800,000 or more. The three main ethnic groups in Rwanda have a very long history of social differences. Although they had differences they were able to live in relative peace until German and Belgian colonizers encouraged the barely controlled animosity between the Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa to erupt into violence. Habyalimana was president at this time and his assassination started the Rwanda genocide, which became one of the most massive killings in history. The women and young girls of this country were the victims of rape, mutilations, and death. The Hutu’s targeted and killed Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu men which not only was this genocide but it was also focused on gender. During the genocide there were a large number of Tutsi males murdered throughout Rwanda, and even today the scars from this civil war are still being felt and it is evident in Rwanda’s demographic imbalance. It is believed by sociologists that the demographic imbalance will continue in Rwanda for many years. One effect that this demographic imbalance...
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...analyze gender stratification and its relation to women in Rwanda; also the demographic imbalance in post-genocide Rwanda will be explored. In addition in the following paragraphs the current roles women in Rwanda play in the areas of economics, politics, and social development after genocide will be discussed. In Rwanda in 1994 genocide occurred with mass killings of hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsis and Hutu. The death tolls are believed to be 800,000 or more. The three main ethnic groups in Rwanda have a very long history of social differences. Although they had differences they were able to live in relative peace until German and Belgian colonizers encouraged the barely controlled animosity between the Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa to erupt into violence. Habyalimana was president at this time and his assassination started the Rwanda genocide, which became one of the most massive killings in history. The women and young girls of this country were the victims of rape, mutilations, and death. The Hutu’s targeted and killed Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu men which not only was this genocide but it was also focused on gender. During the genocide there were a large number of Tutsi males murdered throughout Rwanda, and even today the scars from this civil war are still being felt and it is evident in Rwanda’s demographic imbalance. It is believed by sociologists that the demographic imbalance will continue in Rwanda for many years. One effect that this demographic imbalance...
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...Ethnic Group Conflict Paper Deonte Jones PSY/450 July 5, 2012 Professor Eugene Schimmel Ethnic Group Conflict Paper Social cognition and social perception can be altered through external forces. As evidenced by the exploits of colonialism in Rwanda, the Hutus and Tutsis, two people from the same region in Africa with shared language and customs became the target of such exaggerated and contrived differences. Accordingly, the colonizers effectively constructed ethnic divides, constructed and reinforced differences in social cognition and social perception through repressive means. Even as they did so for the purpose of colonizing the nation and ultimately the minority the Tutsis, these efforts in cognitive reconstruction inspired tragedy. In fact, it led to unintended nevertheless grave consequences, which extended for decades. The Ethnic group conflict that caused problems was the problem in Rwanda East Africa between the Hutus and the Tutsis. According to Langford (2002), in 1994 the Rwandan genocide took place with more than 800,000 people slaughtered. Over the course of 100 days there were a half of a million people killed which is 20 percent of the country’s population. It was a long hold ethnic competition with the minority Tutsi, who had power and control over the country for centuries and the majority Hutu people who became rebellious in the early 1960’s. Discuss the concept of conformity and how it relates to your selected ethnic groups ...
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...shook Rwanda and the world in 1994, there have been many attempts to explain, or at least understand, the nature of the human tragedy known as the Rwandan genocide. Most accounts describe how two rival ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, were engaged in a bitter dispute culminating in 1994. During a period of less than three months, widespread torture and brutality resulted in 500,000 to 800,000 (mainly Tutsi) deaths.[1] After over three years of civil war following an invasion of mainly Tutsi refugees from neighbouring Burundi, a series of negotiations resulted in the adoption of the Arusha accord, which called for the eventual sharing of power between the invaders (known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF) and the former regime of Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana, and his party, the Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND). The widespread killings, mainly committed by the interahamwe, a group of Hutu extremist militias, began after the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down on the night of April 6, 1994. In the months that followed, the international community essentially turned a blind eye to the bloody massacre that was to unfold in the Rwandan anarchy. It seems no overstatement to portray the Rwandan genocide of 1994 as a “failure of humanity,” to use the words of the commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), Canadian General Roméo Dallaire.[2] There is a distinct danger, however, of oversimplifying Rwanda as a case...
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...This essay seeks to discuss the major factors that led to intra-state conflict in Rwanda that ultimately resulted in the April 1994 genocide. My discussion will start by giving a historical background to the nature of relations that existed between the two ethnic groups during the colonial era. It is during this era that seeds of hate between the two ethnic groups were perpetrated. My discussion will then focus on how events in the post-colonial era unfolded resulting in the genocide activities. Before going into the detailed discussion, there is need to define the terms intra-state conflict and genocide. Intra-state conflict is the occurrence of armed conflict within rather than between states. These conflicts involve ethnic or religious groups fighting against each other or against the government to secure autonomy, independence or well-being. Intra-state conflicts are therefore mostly referred to as ethnic or civil conflicts. These conflicts usually break out when one group-ethnic, religious or social feels disadvantaged or exploited by another group in the same state and tries to change that through violence. According to Aldelman (2005), the Rwanda 1994 genocide was the most appalling case of mass murder the world has witnessed since the Second World War. The genocide resulted from the deliberate choice of a modern elite to foster hatred and fear to keep itself in power. According to Shah, (2006), this was a case of the majority Hutu who comprised 85% of the population turning...
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...For over a half of a century in Rwandas history, the Tutsi and Hutu tribes fought over power in a ethnic battle fueled by discrimination and harsh persecution. The Tutsi and Hutu tribes were pushed against eachother by foreign imperialistic powers until finally in 1994 a large scale incedent was finally sparked. The blame of this incedent cannot be put unto anyone without looking into the years of hatred that built up to it. Before the European occupation of Rwanda, The Tutsis and Hutus lived coexistent lifestyles. Tutsis and Hutus were separate ethnic groups that lived peacefully. Some Tutsis and Hutus were local chiefs within Rwanda, and at this time there was no organized discrimination or Clashes between the groups. After World War 1, Belgium overtook Rwanda as a colony and established the Tutsis as the natural born leaders of the Nation. The once peaceful lifestyle that existed in Rwanda was no more, As all Tutsis were given Identity cards to distinguish them from the Hutu Subclass. During this period racial tensions mounted as the Hutus were oppressed. During the 1950s, the Tutsi Elite began to strive towards independence and lash out against the centralized belgian rule in Rwanda. In an attempt to silence this movement, the Belgian Government shifted their support towards the Hutu Majority who lacked experience in domination. Soon after, with the Communist nations in the United Nations supporting Rwandan Independence, Clashes between the weaker Tutsis and the now...
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...as the history of Rwanda, the environmental, cultural, political and the role of the media and how they contributed to the mass killings of the Rwandan population. Raphael Lemkin has defined genocide as the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. Moreover the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has stated that acts such as intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group all account for genocidal acts. In 1994 Rwanda witnessed the unleashing of the genocide of the Tutsi by the ruling Hutu led government. It had been stated that Rwanda erupted into one of the most appalling cases of mass murder the world has witnessed since the Second World War. From 1894 until the end of World War 1, Rwanda was part of German East Africa. An estimation of half a million people was killed. The killings in Rwanda fell into three categories; combatants killing combatants, Hutu citizens, parliamentary and military forces killing Hutu citizens because the victims were either moderate or were willing to live and work with Tutsi and the Hutu killing Tutsi because they were Tutsi. The population of Rwanda is made up of three ethnic groups. One percent of the population are Twa (pigmy hunters), fourteen percent are Tutsi (Ethiopian pastoralists) and eighty five percent are Hutu (Bantu farmers). The Belgians and Germans arrived in Rwanda in the 1900’s and wanted to control and rule Rwanda. The Belgian colonisers...
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...The Solution to Ethnic and Racial Civil Conflict Jacqueline Zhang GOVT 150W Introduction to International Politics Introduction Within a period of three months in 1994, an estimated five to eight hundred thousand people were killed as a result of civil war and genocide in Rwanda. Large numbers were physically and psychologically afflicted for life through maiming, rape and other trauma; over two million fled to neighboring countries and maybe half as many became internally displaced within Rwanda. This human suffering was and is incomprehensible. Similar ethnic and racial civil conflicts have deeply scarred countries and are threatening to break out in many places around the globe. Too much blood has been shed for ethnic and racial causes and too many have died in ethnic and racial wars. In accordance to the constructivist model of nationalism, identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflict. Definition For the purpose of demonstrating how identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflicts, “solve” can be defined as 1) to explain and 2) to put an end to, settle. In addition, “explain” means to make clear the cause, origin or reason of. Furthermore, an ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, on the basis of a real or a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics...
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...A Summary of the Rwandan Genocide Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country Rwanda’s population of more than 7 million people is divided into three ethnic groups: the Hutu (who made up roughly 85% of the population), the Tutsi (14%) and the Twa (1%). Prior to the colonial era, Tutsis generally occupied the higher strata in the social system and the Hutus the lower. However, social mobility was possible, a Hutu who acquired a large number of cattle or other wealth could be assimilated into the Tutsi group and impoverished Tutsi would be regarded as Hutu. A clan system also functioned, with the Tutsi clan known as the Nyinginya being the most powerful. Throughout the 1800s, the Nyingiya expanded their influence by conquest and by offering protection in return for tribute. Ethnic Conflict Begins The former colonial power, Germany, lost possession of Rwanda during the First World War and the territory was then placed under Belgian administration. In the late 1950’s during the great wave of decolonization, tensions increased in Rwanda. The Hutu political movement, which stood to gain from majority rule, was gaining momentum while segments of the Tutsi establishment resisted democratization and the loss of their acquired privileges. In November 1959, a violent incident sparked a Hutu uprising in which hundreds of Tutsi were killed and thousands displaced and forced to flee to neighboring countries. This marked the start of the so- called ‘Hutu Peasant Revolution’ or ‘social revolution’...
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...Rwanda For over a half of a century in Rwandas history, the Tutsi and Hutu tribes fought over power in a ethnic battle fueled by discrimination and harsh persecution. The Tutsi and Hutu tribes were pushed against eachother by foreign imperialistic powers until finally in 1994 a large scale incedent was finally sparked. The blame of this incedent cannot be put unto anyone without looking into the years of hatred that built up to it. Before the European occupation of Rwanda, The Tutsis and Hutus lived coexistent lifestyles. Tutsis and Hutus were separate ethnic groups that lived peacefully. Some Tutsis and Hutus were local chiefs within Rwanda, and at this time there was no organized discrimination or Clashes between the groups. After World War 1, Belgium overtook Rwanda as a colony and established the Tutsis as the natural born leaders of the Nation. The once peaceful lifestyle that existed in Rwanda was no more, As all Tutsis were given Identity cards to distinguish them from the Hutu Subclass. During this period racial tensions mounted as the Hutus were oppressed. During the 1950s, the Tutsi Elite began to strive towards independence and lash out against the centralized belgian rule in Rwanda. In an attempt to silence this movement, the Belgian Government shifted their support towards the Hutu Majority who lacked experience in domination. Soon after, with the Communist nations in the United Nations supporting Rwandan Independence, Clashes between the weaker Tutsis and...
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...documented over centuries continue today. This paper will discuss some of the heinous crimes committed during War World II Holocaust and the Hutu massacre of the Tutsis. War Crimes the Executioners and the Victims of Genocide Military powers around the world inflict some of the most atrocious crimes against humanity, and in each case, there are executioners and victims of these crimes that never get fair justice. “ The German concentration camps of World War II, the horrors of the Vietnam War, the prolific rape and brutality during the break- up of the former Yugoslavia and the Hutu massacres of the Tutsis in Rwanda,” ("20th Century," n.d., p. 5) are just a few named conflicts that displayed devastating atrocities. The executioners in the World War II Holocaust and the Hutu Massacres in Rwanda caused terrible massacre to the human race more than any other conflict in history. These crimes all have a negative impact on the country and the citizens that live there. Every leader, citizen, and Soldier has a responsibility to report criminal acts committed in war. War crimes and atrocities will leave unshakable scares that will last for generations to come. World War II atrocities in the 20th century marked the century of...
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...destroy… a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” In Rwanda, 1994 around one million Tutsi and Hutu opposition members were slaughtered by the extremist Hutu government the Hutu’s; the majority ethnic group in Rwanda. Their aim was to exterminate the minority of Tutsis, whom comprised about 25% of Rwanda’s population, and thus makes it one of the 3 genocides of the 20th century. In order to discuss the Rwandan genocide it is important to analyse the nature of the genocide and investigating the catalytic events that trigged the causing of it, in the first place. This includes the ethnic conflicts between Hutu’s and Tutsis, Western colonisation, propaganda, lack of international intervention and genocide denial. Belgium/Germany colonized Rwanda in 1916, due to the LON. The Belgians divided Rwanda’s unified population into a system of racial classification, mainly consisting of Tutsi’s and Hutu’s. With making the discriminatory system, the Europeans decides to make the Tutsi’s the more superior race, due to the Caucasian-ness of their physical features, when compared to the Hutus. As a result the Tutsi’s were given a more aristocratic appearance in Belgian eyes as they were provided with higher education and job standards while the militia relegated the Hutus to menial tasks. This created resentment towards the Tutsis among the Hutu which was further exacerbated when under Belgian imperial rule, the Tutsis and Hutus were all given cards indicating their ethnic identity. In the...
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