RWANDA Take out your maps to hand in

TAKE OUT PACKETS FROM YESTERDAY, BUT STAY IN YOUR REGULAR SEATS TE Skill: C-4 Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions Goals:  Understand what genocide is  Discuss why genocide happens  Using Rwanda as an example of genocide… Who fought? What the were the causes? What was the international reaction?

HISTORY OF THE HUTUS AND TUTSIS Rwandans shared a common culture and had an organized government structure before the colonists arrived. Belgian and German colonists divided the people of Rwanda into 3 different racial classifications: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Belgians thought that the Tutsis were a superior people because they were more “white.” Hutus: 85% and Tutsis 14% After independence in 1959, the Hutus gained power and oppressed the Tutsis, using the same racial classification that was used again them. The genocide was planned and carried out through orchestrated public opinion campaigns using radio, television, newspapers, and other hate propaganda.

VALENTINA’S STORY The genocide took place over a period of 100 days. Nearly a million people were killed. Mostly Tutsis were killed, but moderate Hutus were also targeted. The killing took place everywhere - in houses and neighborhoods, even in churches and schools where people had fled to take safe haven and find a place of sanctuary. The perpetrators/killers were not only members of militia forces. They were also regular people – teachers, bank managers, clerks, business people, neighbors and friends. Valentina’s Story: o What happened to Valentina and her family? o How did she survive? o What happened to Valentina after the genocide? o What happened to one of the killers she knew (Bagaruka)?

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE The international community ignored warning signs of the genocide. The government used the media and the school system to broadcast racist ideas about the Tutsis and to incite violence. Openly trained militia. Although the international community had agreed after the Holocaust to intervene if genocide happened again in the world, they failed to do so in Rwanda. The United States and Belgium urged the United Nations to remove its troops from Rwanda during the genocide. Did not want to call the conflict genocide The genocide might have been stopped if the international community had been willing to get involved. General Dallaire notified New York and the UN of their plans 3 months before the attacks occurred In 90 days, nearly one million innocent and unarmed people were killed – nearly 1/3 of all of the Tutsis on earth were wiped out. Years later, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US President Bill Clinton apologized to the Rwandan people, saying that they should have done more to stop the genocide. “They used to say you have to shorten the Tutsi, who are supposed to be taller than the Hutu. So in Rwanda, when the radio military used to say you have to shorten the Tutsis, everyone understood that you have to kill them.”

POST-GENOCIDE RWANDA Rwanda was a shattered country at the end of the genocide. Many leaders had been killed, the roads, buildings and services had been badly damaged and many people were traumatized by the violence. Many people fled the horror of the genocide and went to neighboring countries like Burundi, Congo and Tanzania to live in refugee camps. Some of the perpetrators of the genocide also lived in the refugee camps. Largest location was Zaire (current DR Congo) Three different mechanisms have been set up to prosecute and punish the people responsible for the genocide: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is run by the United Nations Over 100,000 people are in jail in Rwanda today awaiting trial by the Rwandan criminal courts. The Gacaca process is modeled on ancient tribal customs July 1994, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi rebel force, took over the government and put President Paul Kagame in power under a unified government

When Rwanda gained independence (1962) the Belgians left the power to the Hutus. After years of serving as the lower class many Hutus sought revenge against the minority Tutsis with oppression and ethnic clashes – including an armed Tutsi rebellion. Civil War between the mainly Hutu government and the Tutsi- led rebel RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front).

END TO CIVIL WAR?  The Arusha Accords signed on August 4, 1993, by the government of Rwanda and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), under mediation, to end a three-year Rwandan Civil War  Weakened Hutu hold on Gov.’t, allowed Tutsi participation  Upset Hutu extremists  United Nations Security Council established the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to assist in the supervision of implementation of the Arusha Accords.

HISTORY ON THE BIG SCREEN: HOTEL RWANDA Paul is a hotel manager and a Hutu who must protect his wife and neighbors who are Tutsis. The UN Forces are ineffective against the anti-Tutsi militia Gen Bizimungo

Hotel Rwanda is based on real life events that occurred during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The movie captures the story of Paul Rusesabagina, who is the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Paul, a moderate Hutu, has tried to build up connections by appeasing and bribing key people in the Hutu military and interhamwe. Paul uses his position and connections to maintain a sense of normality and to protect his family and, ultimately, many Tutsi refugees. Paul is married to a Tutsi, Tatiana, and has friends, relatives, and neighbors who are Tutsi.

UN Peacekeeping mission An informant tells Gen. Dallaire (UNAMIR) about Hutu extremists' extermination plans. But Kofi Annan's U.N. peacekeeping office is skeptical; Annan tells Dallaire not to raid arms caches and avoid using any force. The extremists are now confident the U.N. won't stand in their way.

The spark that set off the genocide: On April 6th the Rwanda president’s (Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu) plane is shot down – killing him and the president of Burundi. Hutu militias began killing hours after the President’s death. Dallaire again requests U.N. guidance and again is told to avoid armed conflict. Responsibility was never determined.

Minority Tutsis were the main targets of the genocide. Hutu extremists carried out the killings.

RPF – Rwandan Patriotic Front. A mostly Tutsi rebel group led in 1994 by Paul Kagame, now president of Rwanda. Hutu state radio – dehumanized the Tutsi using phrases such as “cockroaches.” Tutsis were the targets of the genocide. Not allowed to be buried. Hutu Rwandan President Habyarimana plane was shot down. He was flying to sign a peace agreement that the UN had brokered. Interahamwe: Carried out much of the killing. Hutu militia were formed in late 1990 as a youth wing of an extremist Rwandan Hutu political party Identity cards

Day 9 – 72,000 dead Day 77 – 616,000 dead Day 18 – 144,000 dead Day 8 – 64,000 dead Day 100 – 800,000 dead Day 14 – 112,000 dead Day 1 – 8,000 dead Day 12 – 100,000 dead Day 49 – 392,000 dead Day 25 – 200,000 dead Day 4 – 32,000 dead At what point will the USA get involved?

By mid-July the RPF captures the capital (Kigali) Genocide over when RPF in full control. The Hutu government and thousands of refugees flee to Zaire (DR Congo) and other neighboring countries.

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he could and should have done more to stop the genocide in Rwanda. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the international community of deliberately failing to prevent the genocide in the country 10 years ago. Kagame: Rwandan lives "regarded as insignificant" Annan headed UN peacekeepers at the time of 1994 genocide

WHAT CAN WE LEARN? Today the lessons of Rwanda need to be taken into account as we look at other events in the world around us – in Africa, Europe, Asia and all parts of the world. What can we learn from the genocide in Rwanda? Have we learned these lessons? Why didn’t we respond? Has genocide ended?

First They Came for the Jews First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Pastor Martin Niemöller, 1945