Comparative Genocide: Rwanda and the Holocaust
The 1994 Rwandan Genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi lasted 100 days and claimed the lives of approximately 800,000 men, women, and children. The number comprised of approximately three quarters of the entire Tutsi population. The president, Juvenal Habyarimana’s assassination on April 6, 1994 saw the beginning of the mass killings. The reaction to the assassination was violent. Hutus upset about the death of their president began killing, en masse, the Tutsi population as well as the Hutus who were sympathetic towards the Tutsis. The killings continued until mid-July. By that time, approximately 20 percent of the country’s total population was exterminated (UHRC).
For over 600 years the Hutu and Tutsi lived peaceably. The Hutu, who were traditionally crop growers, and the Tutsi, who were traditionally herdsmen, shared the business of farming along with their culture, language, and nationality. Intermarriage was common. Because the Hutu traditionally grew the crops, they tended to be the laborers while the Tutsi were landowners (PPU 1).
The Tutsis, who comprised approximately 14 percent of the country’s total population, controlled the majority of the power in Rwanda. This was largely due to the Belgian colonization of the country. When the Europeans colonized a country, they typically sought out a group to whom they would give preferential treatment. The Belgians chose the Tutsi because in addition to being landowners, they were tall, had fairer skin and European facial features. This introduction of class caused tensions between the Hutu and the Tutsi, who had previously lived peacefully (PPU 1).
In addition to introducing a “class-conscious” society, European settlers also introduced modern weapons and war. European missionaries came and taught the Hutu’s to view themselves as oppressed. This motivated the Hutus to revolt (PPU 1).
By the 1950’s, the Hutus had become increasingly displeased with the Tutsi control of the country. The Hutus had chosen armed resistance. The rebellion began in 1956, and at its cessation, would cost over 100,000 lives (PPU 1).
The Hutu Emancipation Movement (Parmehutu), published “The Hutu Manifesto,” in 1957, which stated that the Tutsis had a monopoly of power in Rwanda. They seized power from the Tutsi in 1959 and began stripping them of their land. Many Tutsi fled to neighboring countries to escape the violence. Once out of Rwanda, the Tutsi formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), trained soldiers, and waited for an opportunity (PPU 1).
The Hutu gained power from the Tutsi in 1959, and then went on to gain their independence from Belgium in 1962. They established a Republic headed by Gregorie Kayibande, the leader of the Hutu Emancipation Movement. His government victimized the Tutsis, especially those who were previously in power (UHRC).
In July of 1973, Juvenal Habyarimana, Kayibande’s cousin, took control of the country. He would remain president until his assassination on April 6, 1994. During his time as president, Tutsi’s “remained marginalized.” Tutsi’s faced discrimination in secondary schools. Every person carried an identification card. On the card was the person’s ethnic group. Some people illegally changed their ethnic group and were sent to prison, had to pay a hefty fine, or, more often than not, both (Prunier 75-76).
In the 1980’s, the government began arresting “loose women” living in Kigali, the country’s capital. These loose women were typically Tutsi women dating Europeans who were staying in the capital. Loose women were sent to the Rwamagana re-education camp (Prunier 77, 88-89).
By October of 1990, the Tutsi’s had had enough. The RPF, which had years to organize and train, decided to attack. Men began crossing the border into Rwanda, shooting the Hutus guarding the border. The RPF’s numbers reached 2,500. The Rwandan Civil War had begun (Prunier 93).
The Civil War went on until April of 1993, when the Arusha Accords were signed in Arusha, Tanzania. The purpose of this was to create a power sharing government. The Arusha Accords, which were in negotiations for almost a year before their signing, were drafted by The United States, France, and The Organization for African Unity. “France, Belgium, the U.S., Germany, Burundi, Senegal, Uganda, and Zaire had been represented throughout and the U.N. had sent observers for the final sessions.” The United Nations sent an international peacekeeping force, of which General Romeo Dalliare of Canada was in charge, was sent to Rwanda to oversee the Arusha Accords. (Prunier 111) (Des Forges 95) (Annan 1, 44).
The Arusha Accords were unsuccessful, however, in creating peace once more between the Hutu and Tutsi people. Habyarimana’s followers were determined to shatter the peace agreement. They intended to massacre Tutsi and Hutu opposed to Habyarimana. They successfully armed most of the men with machetes, which they planned to use in the massacre. During 1993, some 581,000 machetes were imported into Rwanda (Des Forges 9, 97). In August of 1994, less than a year after the signing of the Arusha Accords, President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane was shot down in Kigali. The genocide had begun.
The United Nations Peacekeeping force in Rwanda had a clear idea of what the Hutu were planning. Reports of the worsening situation were sent to superiors who ordered the men to do nothing, but keep reporting on the situation as necessary. Dalliare sent six messages claiming that action needed to be taken. The UN ordered Dalliare not to act, they were still suffering the blow of Mogadishu in Somalia, where several of their men were killed trying to keep the peace (Des Forges 130).
Despite the obvious signs of impending violence, France and the United States both failed to respond with any new initiatives. Belgium, wanted a greater international commitment, but failed to invest the energy needed to make the other powers respond (132).
RTLM was a private radio station that served as the voice for Hutu power. A group of extremists who were close to President Habyarimana, established the radio station. It often parroted other extremist media sources, like the newspaper Kangura. During Dalliare’s attempts to get the UN to take his requests seriously, RTLM was spewing venomous threats to the Tutsi. As soon as President Habyarimana was killed, RTLM wasted no time in blaming the Tutsis. They often referred to the Tutsi people as “cockroaches,” nothing more than an unwanted infestation that must be killed. The station claimed that the Tutsis were the enemy and Rwanda would be better served if they did not exist (Annan 2) (Des Forges 132).
RTLM consistently targeted the Tutsis as being inherently evil. They were constantly referred to as “the enemy,” and women were considered “seductive agents” for the enemy. The Tutsis must be exterminated because they posed such a political threat (Annan 2).
Hutu in authoritative positions used “lies, exaggeration, and rumors about the local situation to make the general propaganda against Tutsi more immediate and frightening. They staged incidents or reported events which had not in fact occurred to ‘prove’ that Tutsi inside Rwanda were ‘accomplices’ of the RPF. This accusation, repeated constantly and by officials and community leaders alike, was itself a recurring “created” event, meant to bring the threat inside and to make the danger real,” (Des Forges 71).
RTLM had qualms with people other than Tutsi’s as well. They harbored ill will towards the Belgian UN Peacekeepers because they refused to provide the Rwandan Government with weapons. One RTLM radio host said that the Belgians would “face a fight without pity and hatred without mercy,” unless they left Rwanda. True to their word, soon after Habyarimana’s plane was shot down, 10 of the UN Belgian troops were slaughtered (Annan 46-48).
Within hours of the attack on Habyarimana’s plane, some of his closest associates ordered the Presidential guard and other troops led by colonel Bagosora to murder Hutu government officials. This allowed Bagosora and his people to take control. Military leaders were sent to kill Tutsi and Hutu political leaders in their local areas (Des Forges 10).
The next day, the RPF resumed combat against the Hutu government, officially ending the Arusha Accords and reigniting the war.
With the resumption of war, UN peacekeepers responded weakly. They attempted only for a few hours to maintain peace before abandoning their posts, as ordered per superiors in New York. Officers against Bagosora pled with the UN, knowing that their presence was the only thing standing between them and an all out massacre. French, Belgian, and Italian troops evacuated the foreigners in the country. The United States was quick to follow. It seemed that Rwanda would be left to fend for itself (11).
The U.N. Security Council refused to order the peacekeepers to stop the escalating violence in Rwanda. There was talk about withdrawing them from the country completely. While the U.N. struggles with their indecisiveness, the killing campaign continued to expand. Anyone in a position of power who was opposed to the killing campaign was overthrown. Those people were often imprisoned or killed (sometimes along with the rest of their family) (11).
The killing campaign had its own distinct language. Hutu and Tutsi opposed to the new government were called “accomplices.” The killing campaign was considered “self-defense.” Slaughter was simply “work” and machetes and guns were nothing more than “tools,” (11).
“By appropriating the well-established hierarchies of the military, administrative and political systems, leaders of the genocide were able to exterminate Tutsi with astonishing speed and thoroughness. National Police directed all the major massacres throughout the country,” (11-12).
Administrators of the genocide were responsible for removing Tutsi from their homes and convening them at places of slaughter. Tutsi properties were looted and land was confiscated. These practices were done for “the common good,” or “umuganda,” (12).
The killing was systematic. During the first few days of killing, administrators went from house to house in certain areas and slaughtered any Tutsi (or Hutu) know to, or suspected to have been, opposed to Habyarimana. Roadblocks were imposed to capture any Tutsi trying to escape, (13).
Any Tutsi who managed to flee their homes were stopped at roadblocks, identified by their cards as being Tutsi, and killed. Tutsi who remained in their homes were slaughtered there (72).
A few days into the killings, a new plan was implemented. Tutsi were driven from their homes to larger buildings like churches and schools where the killing could take place on a larger scale (13).
By late April, an order of Pacification was sent out. This did not put and end to the killings, but merely assured more control over killing. Some administrators had taken the killing out of hand, slaughtering Hutus with whom they had a dispute, etc. This pacification campaign was meant to calm international concerns (though there seemed to be very few), and to lure the Tutsi into a false sense of security so they would come out of hiding (14).
The last phase of the attack took place in May. The object was to find any remaining Tutsis and kill them. During this time, the RPF was still waging war with the Hutu government, and slowly making its way through the country. The last phase was to ensure that any Tutsi who might be able to attest to the massacre was eliminated (14).
Regular citizens not in the army were also encouraged to join in on the killings. They received food, drink, clothes, and money if they participated. Many young people displaced by the waging war were eager to jump on the opportunity to claim Tutsi land for their own and to make money that they desperately needed. Some participants were given Tutsi homes or vehicles. Some were allowed to keep rare items like television sets and computers. Over 60% of the under 20 population of Rwanda eagerly responded to such incentives (13-14).
In order to survive the killings, many Tutsi and targeted Hutu hid in ceilings, holes in the ground, or in the swamps. One young girl hid in a church for months to save her life. Others paid for their lives and safety repeatedly during the months of the genocide in any way they could, including sexual favors (15).
In the end, it was the RPF that successfully ended the genocide. They took the airport and major military camp at Kanombe in Kigali in late May. The Rwandan Army (the Hutu) attempted to fight back but the RPF was able to fend them off. The RPF continued to advance through the regions of Rwanda. In July, they managed to gain control of the capital. The people responsible for the genocide were quick to flee. The genocide was over (229-231).
The Rwandan Genocide and the Holocaust, the genocide that took place in Germany during WWII against the Jews, share many similarities. Both were carefully planned and executed. Hierarchies in the government and military made it possible. It was common in Germany to project all the countries problems on the Jews, much the same way it was common in Rwanda to project the problems on the Tutsi.
People in positions of authority used propaganda to get ordinary citizens to believe in their cause. In Germany Hitler and the Nazis used endless sources of propaganda to instill a Nazi Conscience into the ordinary citizens. The same was true in Rwanda. It had been imbedded into their heads for so long that when it came time to execute the plan, they didn’t think they were doing anything wrong, only doing what was necessary.
The radio played a huge role in both genocides as well. It is often said that without the radio, the Holocaust would not have been possible. Without the radio, Hitler’s famous speeches would not have reached the ears of nearly enough German citizens to instill the Nazi Conscience in them. In Rwanda, the radio served as a constant source of incitation for the genocide. Even the first cue to begin the massacres was given over the radio, and such cues continued throughout the genocide.
Ordinary citizens benefited from both genocides. Hutus were given homes and land of the Tutsi victims as well as their confiscated possessions. During the Holocaust, Germans too were given these things.
The international world did little to assist in either genocide. With evidence plain as day in front of them, and with people consistently providing them with more evidence, still they did nothing. The international community saw now benefit to them by helping out in either genocide.
It was Voltaire who said, “to the living we owe respect; to the dead we owe only truth.” The truth about the Rwandan genocide is that approximately 800,000 people were killed in a matter of months. They were killed for no other reason than their “ethnicity.” They were slaughtered brutally with machetes.
Bodies piled up in the streets and the stench of death filled the air. People who could have done something to stop the genocide from happening, or at the very least, ended it sooner, did nothing. The international world stood by as hundreds of thousands of innocent people were massacred.
Those who survived did so only by their ability to hide, often times among the dead bodies, or by paying for their lives time and time again, be it with money, sexual favors, or other forms of payment. Some were lucky enough to have connections with a Hutu who was able to save them from the swing of the machetes.
Homes were raided. Land was stolen. Lives were taken. The atrocities continued for months before the Rwandan Patriotic Front was able to seize the capital and end the genocide. Today, the skulls and other bones of the victims are on display as a constant reminder of what happened in a small country in Africa. Movies and documentaries have been made to remind the world of what happened. “Hotel Rwanda,” and “Sometimes in April,” are based-on-a-true-story movies made about the genocide. “Ghosts of Rwanda” is a documentary film about the genocide with interviews of the survivors and perpetrators as well as with Dalliare, as he recounts what it was like to be there and not be able to do anything.
Rwanda was a tragedy. It was just one of many genocides that have taken place in the last century. It is, unfortunately, not going to be the last genocide of the century. We, as an international community, owe it to those who lost their lives in genocides to learn their stories, because only then can we learn how to prevent future genocides.
Sources
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<http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_rwanda.html>.
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