When we talk about “Ruanda genocide“We mean the massacre of citizens of ethnicity Tutsi by the population of ethnicity hutuwhich took place between April 6 and July 15, 1994 in the small state of Central Africa. The causes of the massacre must be traced in the centuries -old hostility between the two groups and in the role of European colonial powersthat at the time of their domination the interatnic divisions exasperated, the trigger, however, was the assassination of the president Juvenal Habyarimana. The genocide was made byRwandan army and from paramilitary militias founded by Etnia Tutsi, the number of victims is not known with certainty: estimates oscillate between 500,000 and over one millionmost of which was killed with Machete strokes. After the genocide, the UN established a court to punish those responsible, but only a few people have been tried so far.
The premises: the Rwanda and the rivalry between Hutu and Tutsi
To understand the reasons for the genocide of Rwanda, it must be remembered that the African population is divided in numerous ethnic groups and that different ethnic groups coexist in the same state. This situation derives from European colonization, because when the countries of the old continent divided the African territory together, they did not trace the boundaries between states respecting the ethnic divisions, but they only cared for the relationships of strength between them: in such a situation there is also Rwanda, a country in central-eastern Africa, with Kigali capitalinhabited today by about 14 million of people. They live in the country two ethnic groups Greater: the hutuwhich before the genocide represented about 80% of the population, and Tutsialso known as vatussewhich are about 20% of the total. In the country there is also a third ethnicity, i twinhowever today they constitute less than 1% of the population.
Ethnic divisions were exasperated during European colonization. At the end of the nineteenth century the country was conquered by Germany who, after the First World War, sold control to Belgium. The Belgian authorities accentuated the divisions between Hutu and Tutsi, in order to more easily control the territory, and established that ethnic belonging had to be indicated on identity documents. The Ruanda then made itself Independent in 1962 and to power ascended a government controlled by hutuwho soon began to discriminate the Tutsi, many of whom left the country and took refuge in nearby Burundi.
The civil war and the beginning of the genocide
In the 1990 The civil war between the government began, led by ethnic dictator hutu Juvenal Habyarimanaand the Rwandan patriotic front (FPR), a political and military force founded in Burundi by refugees Tutsi. After three years of ferocious clashes, the two sides undertook peace negotiations under the auspices of the UN and in 1993 signed the Arusha agreements (a city in Tanzania, home of the interviews), to put an end to the war. In October 1993 in the country a contingent of 2500 UN blue helmets was deployed, called Unamirto interpose between the two factions. The war seemed on the verge of ending, but the following year the situation fell: on April 6, 1994 the plane on which President Habyarimana was traveling was knocked down by a terra-air missile. The author of the attack is still unknown, it may have been hutu extremistswho did not want peace with the Tutsi and had already planned the genocide, or the FPR. The fact is that the supporters of Habyarimana assumed power and, accusing the Tutsi of the attack, they started the genocide.
Massacres and methods of execution
The genocide had been carefully planned and the militias hutu they had lists of Tutsi To be eliminated: already on the evening of April 6, in Kigali and in other locations, the paramilitary groups started a real hunt for Tutsikilling the victims with Machete strokes or with firearms. The genocide was encouraged by the authorities and, more specifically, by an extremist group known as Akazu (literally “La Casetta”), formed by the narrower entourage of the deceased president Habyarimana. The members supported the theory ofHutu Powera supremist ideology that discriminated not only Tutsibut also the hutu not in favor of genocide. The latter were considered traitors and a part of them was among the victims of the massacres. The radio controlled by the government, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collinesexplicitly invited listeners to kill “the cockroaches TutsiAnd it gave indications on the people to be eliminated and the places to be assaulted.
The Unamir assisted helplessly to events and, after the beginning of the genocide, was reduced to only 500 men; Meanwhile, the FPR resumed hostilities and gradually managed to subtract the control of large portions of the national territory to the government hutu. In addition, on June 22, the French government started a military operation under the auspices of the UN, theOpération Turquoiseoccupying a part of the Rwandan territory. Officially the operation served to create a frank zone for refugees, but many analysts suspected that the French wanted to protect the hutu from possible reveals of the FPR.
The end of the genocide of the Rwanda and the account of the victims
In July the FPR completed the conquest of the Rwandan territory e he put an end to the genocide. A government was formed of which the president was presidenthutu moderate Pasteur Bizimungu and his deputy the Tutsi Paul Kagameone of the leaders of the FPR. The number of the victims of the genocide is not known: estimates oscillate between about 500,000 to over a million. Also the authors of the genocide There were hundreds of thousands: the planners were supposed to have been around 20,000, the executors 250,000 and that another 250,000 had collaborated, in various ways, to the massacres.
The consequences of the genocide in Rwanda
In November 1994 the UN established a Special Court for Rwandabased in Arusha, who until now has judged about twenty people, a negligible number considered the scope of events. The genocide altered the Ethnic composition of the countrymaking the majority of the hutuwhich today represent about 84% of the population. The office of President is held by Paul Kagame Since 2000, always re -elected in plebiscitaries and far from transparent: in the last election, held in 2024, it has obtained more than 99% of the votes! The massacres, however, have ended. Today exist memorial in homage to the victims both in Rwanda and in other countries, but The genocide is not officially recognized by the United Nations, due to the veto of the United States.
