While we’re getting set up, chew on this.
5/15/2007
Rwanda
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No matter how long it's been, no matter how long it gets to be, one must never forget the Holocaust. For one-hundred - no - not that Holocaust. I am referring to the small east African nation of Rwanda. For one-hundred days, during 1994, approximately 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered, butchered, if you will, by the majority ethnic group, the Hutus. Of the 800,000 killed, about 50,000 were moderate Hutus and Tutsi sympathizers. The remainder of the 800,000 were Tutsi. To understand the situation, I will provide a very short, very abridged history.
Prior to 1994, the ruling government, or occupying force, was Germany. They placed the Tutsis in a position of higher status than the Hutus because the Tutsis had more prominent European features. The Germans left and Belgium took over. The Belgians continued the separation of the Tutsis and Hutus by issuing national identity cards, which declared each citizens ethnic heritage. By the 1950's the Tutsis were seeking their independence, and the Belgians began to switch the high status to the Hutus, as they felt they were less civilized and easier to control. In 1959, ethnic clashes broke out, and the Belgians allowed the Hutus to burn down Tutsi houses with no interference. After two weeks, 300 were dead. Ironically, the majority of those arrested by the Belgians were Tutsi. This internal fighting continued until, finally, the Hutus were in total command. By 1961, the Belgians had allowed the Hutus to engineer a 'legal' coup, thus declaring their independence. Then, in July of 1973, Major-General Juv‚nal Habyarimana, a Hutu, took over governance in a bloodless coup. He asserted, falsely, that he would allow the Tutsis to remain in virtual peace, as long as they did not get involved with politics.
Fast-forward to April 6, 1994. General Habyarimana was returning to Rwanda, by plane, when the plane was shot down, killing everyone on board. No one person or group was blamed for the downing of the plane, but it is almost certain that it was the work of the Hutus, who were convinced that General Habyarimana was beginning to give in to international pressure. Others say that the Hutus were simply willing to sacrifice the general to incite the population. An hour after the plane was downed, roadblocks were set up, and the hunt was on for those whose names were on a pre-prepared list of moderate Hutus, slated for execution. At that point, the Hutus went after every Tutsi in the country, slaughtering them with automatic weapons, machetes and farm tools. The final outcome: 750,000 Tutsis dead and 50,000 Hutus. Rwandan Tutsi refugees (in Uganda) had formed the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) back in 1985, and by now, had finally gathered up enough power to overcome the ruling Hutus in Rwanda by the end of the one-hundred days. By then, the damage was done.
Today, those acts have been condemned as pure and simple genocide. That term, genocide, only came into play after the Tutsi rebels had finally gained control, and put an end to the violence. During the time that the genocide was taking place, the international community was particularly careful not to call it 'genocide'. Some of the most blatant efforts to carry out such a denial were perpetrated by the United States. No politician, no part of the media, and no diplomats were to ever refer to the violence as 'genocide'. The senseless killings were referred to as 'acts of genocide' and 'ethnic in-fighting'. It was never to be referred to as 'genocide'. That would mean that, as a super power, the United States, or any other world power, would be obligated to step in. As it stands, Rwanda was left to all but perish. The UN Security Council voted unanimously to abandon Rwanda, finally pulling out the remainder of its peace-keeping troops.
In 1994, for one-hundred days, a wholesale slaughtering of human lives took place in the small east African nation of Rwanda, leaving 800,000 people dead. No one stepped in. No one even recognized it for what it was - genocide. No matter how long it has been, no matter how long it gets to be, one must never forget the Holocaust.
This is blackstarr saying “Vive La Renaissance”.
Rwanda, Hutus, Tutsi, rebels, 1994, Habyarimana, 80000, genocide, ethnic cleansing, murder rate, homicides, RPF, Uganda, holocaust, media manipulation, ethnic in-fighting, civil war
