HISTORY OF Ethnic Tension IN RWANDA

Rwanda

The hatred and anger has grown between the MAJORITY Hutus and MINORITY Tutsis since the colonial period. The hatred and anger has grown between the MAJORITY Hutus and MINORITY Tutsis since the colonial period.

The two ethnic groups speak the same language, live in the same areas and follow the same traditions. The two ethnic groups speak the same language, live in the same areas and follow the same traditions.

The problems started from about the years 1870 to 1914,when many European countries acquired colonies in Africa. The country of Belgium claimed Rwanda.

The country of Belgium is dark green.

Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, saw the Tutsi and Hutu people as two distinct groups, and produced identity cards classifying people according to ethnicity.

Comparison of Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa Tutsi Hutu Twa

Tutsi's were taller, and their skin was lighter. As a result, Europeans believed that Tutsis had Caucasian ancestry, and were "superior" to Hutus. Each citizen was issued a racial identification card, which defined one as legally Hutu or Tutsi. The Belgians gave the majority of political control to the Tutsis.

The size of the nose and the color of the eyes were factors that determined whether a person was classified as Hutu, Tutsi or Twa.

IDENTITY CARD

The Tutsis welcomed the privileges bestowed upon them and enjoyed better jobs and educational opportunities than Hutus.

European colonizers and Tutsi royalty

Leave None to Tell the Story 1994 Rwanda Genocide

Background  Rwanda is characterized by highland plateaus and mountain ranges which dominate the landscape  It is the smallest nation in Africa and historically has the highest population density  Considerable rainfall supports nearly three agricultural seasons and 90% of total population is involved in farming  84% of current population is Hutu, 15% Tutsi and 1% Twa  Coffee is Rwanda’s most profitable crop. It was introduced by the Belgians.

The Twa were the first to inhabit the region long before any other ethnic group. They are called pygmy, a word which means the adult male usually grows no taller than about 4’11” tall. European male with Twa family

Twa Family

When the Europeans came, they encountered a land inhabited by three groups: the Tutsi, the Hutu, and the Twa. They were not distinguishable tribes with different cultures and customs. Instead, they had developed a common language, Kinyarwanda, had the same religious beliefs, and created a culture which valued song, dance, poetry, and rhetoric. The Europeans used the slight differences between the three groups to produce a theory of ethnic superiority: the Twa were at the bottom, followed by the Hutu, with the Tutsi at the top.

Hutu farmer

The Hutu were the majority of the population. They were mostly farmers. The Twa, were either hunter- gatherers or servants. The Tutsi were cattle-herders, extremely tall and thin with angular facial features.

Tutsi King Musinga and the royal family

Rwanda king and Belgian

In 1933 the ID card system was instituted. Ethnic identity was now in the daily lives of all Rwandans. The Hutu, now reminded of their inferiority with ID cards, began to nationalize.

 Resentment among the Hutus grew.  They rioted in 1959 and more than 100,000 Tutsis were killed.  Many fled to the neighboring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.

In 1961 elections, the Hutu received 78% of the vote, and a new president, a Hutu named Gregoire Kayibanda in 1962.

In 1973, President Kayibanda was overthrown by his friend, a general named Juvénal Habyarimana.

Habyarimana was a Hutu. He was president of Rwanda from 1973 until he died when his airplane was shot down in His assassination started more ethnic tensions and marked the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. His death was used as the pretext for the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus.

In 1994, the ethnic enmity in Rwanda developed into a massacre, and over one million innocent people were murdered in about a hundred days.

The massacre is called the Rwandan Genocide. An estimated 800,000 to 1,071,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda, were killed mostly by two extremist Hutu militia groups.

 On April 6th 1994 president Habyarimana’s plane is shot down.  On April 7th the Hutu army troops block the roads and start the slaughter  Tutsi men, women and children are massacred house-by-house  People try to hide in churches and schools but without protection they are massacred  Over 800,000 victims in 100 days The Rwanda Genocide

Rwanda Today  Rwanda is beginning to develop.  Some Rwandans continue to grapple with the legacy of almost 60 years of intermittent war.  One agent in Rwanda's rebuilding effort is the Benebikira Sisters, a Catholic order of nuns whose ministry is dedicated to education and healthcare. Since the genocide, the Sisters have housed and supported hundreds of orphans, and created and staffed schools to educate the next generation of Rwandans.

The president of Rwanda today is Paul Kagame. He is a Tutsi. He has been president since the year 2000.