Causes of the Genocide
1. Ethnic division due to colonial history
2. Government and Media Polarisation
3. Failure of International Community
Facts to Prove Point:
Historiography:
6 April Habyarimana signed a communique regarding the Arusha accords. On his way back, along with the Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, his private jet (Dassault Falcon) was shot down, sparking the beginning of the Genocide
- From the death of King Mutari III in 1959, ethnic violence was widespread. Colonial powers viewed the taller and slimmer Tutsi as superior, and fostered this myth to enforce Western rule. This tarnished the cohesive integration of the two ethnic groups, and the sense of inferiority experienced by the Hutu majority sparked violent intent.
- Special schooling treatment: Tutsi were educated in French, Hutu in local language, Kinyarwanda
- Made Christianity compulsory for Tutsi elite, and employed them in civil service
- John Henning Speke of the Tutsi - they displayed an "intelligence and refinement of feelings"
- Rather unsubstantiated statement based off a visual impression, yet this formed the basis of Belgian treatment of the Tutsi during colonial rule
- Gregoire Kayibanda Mar 1963 - "suppose you take Kigali by force, how will you measure the chaos of which you will be the first victims?... it will be the total end of the Tutsi race"
- Hutu president of the first republic threatening the Tutsi after uprisings by refugees
- Illustrates government opposition to Tutsi and willingness to undertake military action against the Tutsi
2. Government and Media Polarisation
- Through Hutu-controlled media outlets such as the RTLM (Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines), Kangura magazine and Interahamwe (militia youth wing) indoctrination, the government intentionally belittled and denigrated the Tutsi
- Hutu Ten Commandments Dec 1990 in Kangura (p45)
- "Hutu must stand firm and vigilant against their common enemy: the Tutsi"
- Kangura published fewer than 3000 copies per month --> extremely effective
3. Failure of International Community
- After failed UN development missions in the 1940's, and failure to respond to the "genocide cable", the international community did little to recognise the impact of events in the lead up to the genocide. Furthermore, peacekeeping efforts were ineffective due to lack of commitment from global powers to put men on the ground, and debates regarding international law. The UN tell UNAMIR that they can't confiscate weapons and protect the "genocide cable" informant, as this is outside their mandate.
- Expensive
- In aftermath of Somalia (Battle of Mogadishu), any African intervention would have been unpopular
- US Presdiential Decree Directive 25 (PDD25) - effectively prevented US forces from being used by the UN against US foreign policy interests
- International Law prevented it - Limited mandates of UN intervention prevented direct military engagement.
Facts to Prove Point:
- Only 2,500 of the 8,000 promised peacekeepers were sent to UNAMIR
- Over 900 of the troops were soldiers from Bangladesh - not trained in peacekeeping
- Belgium's 400 troops were pulled out when Belgium withdrew from UNAMIR on the 14th April 1994
- Kagame: “something cataclysmic is coming, and once it starts no one will be able to control it”
Historiography:
- Samantha Power: "Indeed, staying out of Rwanda was an explicit US policy objective."
- Bill Clinton March 1998: "The international community... must bear its share of responsibility for this tragedy as well. We did not act quickly enough"
- May not classify this as historiography, as it was said only 4 years after the genocide. Nevertheless an important acknowledgement of international failures
6 April Habyarimana signed a communique regarding the Arusha accords. On his way back, along with the Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, his private jet (Dassault Falcon) was shot down, sparking the beginning of the Genocide