Rwandan Genocide of 1994 Essay -- essays research papers

The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 lasted only for a brief period and lasted for approximately a hundred days. During that time, an estimated amount of 800 000 people were slaughtered. Beginning on April of 1994, massacres were held on a daily basis with the intent to eliminate an ethnic group known as the Tutsi by another ethnic group known as the Hutus. This genocide was overlooked by the United Nations, and the superpowers of the time offered very little or no assistance at all to Rwanda. The civil unrest between the Hutus and the Tutsi has been in place since the Belgians segregated the two groups after being handed Rwanda after World War I. The Tutsis were favoured and placed above the Hutus and identity cards were distributed to distinguish the two different groups. The hatred linking the ethnic groups is evident from the very conception of segregating the Hutus from the Tutsis. The civil turmoil had remained relatively dormant for almost a century until the assassination of Presiden t Habyarimana of Rwanda in 1994. This act prompted genocide and a century’s worth of quiet hatred suddenly erupted into massacres in the country’s capital of Kigali. Blockades would be set on roads and bands of Hutu youths with machetes and sticks would go door to door to kill Tutsi families. The United Nations could not physically intervene as they were merely monitoring the situation and were acting as peacekeepers, and not as peacemakers. Soldiers watched while civilians were brutally murdered and were unable to respond because their mandate refrained them from doing so. It was not until months after the initial killings that the United Nations finally acted and sent soldiers to protect civilians. In their absence, hundreds of thousands of people we... ...d the two groups after World War I, they created a civil rivalry between the by favouring the Tutsis and the disregarding the Hutus as inferior. This rivalry would remain relatively dormant for almost a century until President Habyarimana would be assassinated in 1994. This act would initiate the genocide and the suppressed feelings of animosity would erupt into massacres all around the country and would even spill into neighbouring countries such as Burundi. The genocide was disregarded by the United Nations and few countries would offer assistance to Rwanda. Beginning in April of 1994, the Rwandan Genocide lasted only around a hundred days and eliminated almost a million Rwandans. With the lack of action taken by the United Nations, its mandate should be changed to provide immediate protection to civilians and citizens who are at risk because of a national crisis.