Genocide Rwanda

The author seeks to explain variation among ethnic conflict using data from Rwanda and Burundi. Through a computational model, the author shows how groups that coexist handle with trust and violence. The question used for the model is, how far does trust go when you live with another culture and how does that affect the amount of violence between the two groups? The author challenges that extreme violence is necessary in order to see the correlation between trust and violence. In Rwanda extreme violence did take place when the Hutus killed 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsis in 1994. The Hutu final solution was carried out so well because the Hutus killed with speed and efficiency. With such attributes, they met little resistance. According to a Tutsi refugee, the militias had been training for months before the president's plane was shot down. This shows that there might have been some evidence of advanced planning. Violence, trust, hate, and planning all play huge roles in the genocide that took place in Rwanda.

According to the source there were four main episodes of the Rwanda genocide that date back to 1963. But before 1963 little is know about the hatred between the Hutu and Tutsi. In 1963 The Rwandan army killed 10-13,000 Tutsi and left 150,000 refugees. In 1972 The Tutsi dominated army killed 80-100,000 Hutu and left 150-300,000 Hutu refugees. In 1988 elections failed to change political authority. The Hutu responded in violence against the Tutsi, but the army responded and killed 20,000 Hutus. In 1994 President Habyarimana was killed in a plane that was shot down. This led to the genocide of the Tutsi where 500-800,000 Tutsi were killed.

I agree with the four things needed to start genocide, as said by the author. It makes sense that violence and trust are key factors for two different cultures to coexist. Hate towards another group and the planning of committing the heinous act are the final steps of the genocide.