Cameron Thrift & Brad Sherrill 1

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Name: Cameron Thrift & Brad Sherrill
Hooper
English 2
15 March 2016
Rwandan Genocide: The Killing of the Innocent
Imagine over a half a million innocent people being killed, this describes Rwandan
Genocide. Just in three months five hundred thousand people were killed even though they
havent done anything to deserve it. On April 6, 1994, Habyarimanas plane was shot down
inside Rwanda. The plane that was shot down contained the president of Rwanda. After the
assassination the new interim government, led by Colonel Thoneste Bagosora, began carrying
out plans for the genocide of the Tutsi. However, the first victims of the violence were those
within the Hutu government who opposed the violent policies of the interim government.
(Berlatsky) However this is the start of a mass killing of many innocent mothers, fathers, and
children.
Once the genocide started in Rwanda the country saw the damage that was being done.
The people of Rwanda were attacked and between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped
during genocide, according to the United Nations. (Trianni) The killings that took place there
totaled at almost one million deaths in only one hundred days. The killings in Rwanda did not
require ghettos, death camps or gas chambers like in previous genocides. Instead victims were
murdered with machetes, clubs or grenades and often by neighbours, friends, even by relatives.
After the world recognized that Rwanda was in trouble, nearly five weeks after the violence
began, the UN decided that something had to be done. (John)

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By early 1994 there was genuine Hutu fear of Tutsi and incidents of ethnic violence were
growing. Despite this, by April it seemed to those close to Habyarimana that he was beginning to
waiver and that his personal hold on power was finally slipping. With the benefit of hindsight it
is now clear that the Hutu elite who surrounded Habyarimana were in no way willing to allow
the president's slow decline to harm their interests; they had a plan. (White)
Almost immediately, Habyarimana's supporters took control of the government. The
army and militia established road blocks; the presidential guard began rounding up opposition
politicians; and organised Hutu gangs began to attack and kill Tutsi wherever they were found.
The RPF's initial response was to call for peace; a plea that was ignored. After two days of
extraordinary violence, the RPF army, at this stage camped in the north of the country, again
began to march on Kigali. For 100 days war raged across Rwanda and at the same time the Hutu
militia hunted down and murdered innocent Tutsi civilians. The killing would only end when the
RPF finally captured Kigali. (White)
Over the next three months, the Hutu killed an estimated 500,000 to one million Tutsi. In
May and June, Bagosoras government was suffering military losses to the RPF, and many Hutu
were ceasing attacks against the Tutsi. The Hutu was losing its power as the RPF was gaining
militarily. (Rwandan) The war between the RPF and the Rwandan government would continue
sporadically but violently for three years and the RPF might have won had France not sent
paratroopers to support Habyarimana. Finally, opposition politicians in Rwanda forced the
president to sign a peace agreement with the RPF. The agreement allowed the Tutsi to return
home, called for a UN peacekeeping force and greatly reduced Habyarimana's power. To the
president and his political allies this third clause was simply unacceptable. (White)

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The southern Rwandan countryside does not look like a hellish killing ground. The
camel-hump hills are variations on green, groomed for the planting season that is just beginning.
Between the hills run equally fertile valleys and plains, and beyond are marshes and rivers that
slalom southward toward Lake Tanganyika. (Wallace) After the huge amount of killings, there is
something beautiful to look at when you see Rwanda. The beautiful fields really help Rwandan
citizens reflect and think about the many loved ones killed in the war. Knowing that the burned
homes and dead bodies on the ground are now replaced with the wonderful fields of Rwanda.
Though the memories of the war still are attached to Rwanda, we now know that Rwanda is safe
and is forbidden from war.
Theyre still dangerous parts of Rwanda, United Nations believes that the Rwandan army
is willing to use force to close the camps. In fact, government soldiers have already tried. On Jan.
7, the RPA raided a camp near the Burundi border in what appeared to be a clumsy attempt to
root out extremists. By the time they pulled back, 13 people lay dead and 35 were injured. At the
same time, humanitarian workers--including representatives of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, which is responsible for the Rwandan citizens now living in camps
in Zaire, Burundi and Tanzania insist that it is unfair to expect Hutu refugees to return home until
they are confident that they will be safe under the new Tutsi-led government. (Wallace) Since the
war's end last July, 151 aid organizations have swarmed into Rwanda, a country half the size of
Nova Scotia and the nightmarishly crowded refugee camps situated just across its borders.
Almost half the agencies have refused even to register with the Rwandan government, and most
argue in direct contradiction of government policy that the camps should not be closed until the
refugees themselves believe it is safe to return home. (Wallace)

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Works Cited
Trianni, Francesca, and Diane Tsai. "Scars And The Smell Of Grass: One SurvivorS
Lasting Reminders Of Genocide." Time.Com (2015): N.PAG. Middle Search Plus. Web.
4 Mar. 2016.
Wallace, Bruce. "Aftermath Of Genocide." Maclean's 108.6 (1995): 32. MasterFILE Complete.
Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
John Hartwell Moore. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p52-59. From U.S.
History In Context.

Berlatsky, Noah, and Chalk Frank. Rwanda. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Greenhaven, a Part of
Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.
White, Dean. "An African Holocaust." History Today 64.6 (2014): 40. MasterFILE Complete.
Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Rwandan Genocide." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2015): 1p. 1. Funk &

Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

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Outline
I. Before Genocide
A. Politics
B. Tribes history
II. During Genocide
A. Killings
B. Destruction
III. After Genocide
A. Lost loved ones

B. Destroyed homes