"In both London and Washington, and at the UN in New York, there were politicians and civil servants who took decisions that cost the lives of an incalculable number of people. They should bear full responsibility for those decisions.” - Linda Melvern, Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide
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📌 Key Takeaways - Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide
🏛️🌍👥🔒 In the early 20th century, when Rwanda was a colony of Belgium, the colonial administrators instituted a policy of racial classification. They issued identification cards that labeled people as either Hutu or Tutsi. This was based largely on arbitrary physical characteristics and socio-economic status. Despite the fact that Hutus and Tutsis had intermarried and lived together for centuries, the Belgians enforced this division, contributing to a sense of ethnic difference between the two groups.
🏁👑➡️🌐 In 1959, the Rwandan monarchy, traditionally a Tutsi institution, was overthrown in what is known as the Hutu revolution. This event marked the end of Tutsi dominance and the start of pro-Hutu policies. It led to widespread social unrest, and tensions between the two groups escalated. This deepening social mistrust set the stage for the horrific events that were to come.
⚔️🇷🇼😢🔎 In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), made up of Tutsi refugees who had fled earlier waves of ethnic violence, invaded Rwanda, initiating a civil war. The war caused significant damage and displacement, and it also allowed the Hutu government to justify arming militias, ostensibly for the purpose of defense.
⚔️🤝🏛️📜 The civil war officially ended with the signing of the Arusha Accords in 1993. This agreement was meant to create a power-sharing government between the Hutus and the Tutsis. However, many in the Hutu government and the armed forces were opposed to the Accords and did not intend to implement them.
🌍👥🤷♀️🚨 During this period, Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, the commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda, sent several reports to UN headquarters warning of the risk of mass violence. However, these warnings were largely ignored. The UN was dealing with other international crises at the time and did not take the necessary action to prevent the impending genocide.
🇷🇼👨💼💥🔫 On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down. This assassination was the spark that ignited the genocide. Following the president's death, Hutu extremists embarked on a systematic campaign to exterminate the Tutsi population.
😨🔥🌍👥 As the genocide unfolded, the United Nations pulled its peacekeeping troops out of Rwanda, effectively abandoning the Rwandan people. Despite pleas from General Dallaire and others, the UN Security Council voted to withdraw most of the peacekeeping force, leaving behind a skeleton crew that was unable to prevent the violence.
📆🗡️🌍👀 For weeks, the international media largely ignored the genocide. It was only after images of the atrocities began to reach a global audience that the international community started to respond, although this response was largely ineffective.
🏆🇷🇼💪🇫🇷 In June 1994, as the RPF was gaining the upper hand and the genocide was beginning to slow, France launched Operation Turquoise, ostensibly a humanitarian mission. However, critics argue that this operation was actually an attempt to support the genocidal Hutu government, which had been a French ally.
👉🔪⚰️🌐 While the individuals who carried out the genocide bear direct responsibility for their actions, the international community also shares blame for its failure to prevent or stop the genocide. The UN's withdrawal, the disregard of Dallaire's warnings, and the belated and ineffective international response all contributed to the scale of the tragedy.
