Rewanda

English II Reflective essay

Can you imagine having to watch your neighbors being killed, or even worse-your own family. No one is coming to help you and the chaotic murders are not some breed of madman but people from the community, possible people you even know like your teacher, your neighbor, or maybe your own family. The streets are filled with mutilated corpses; pandemonium is all around you. This type of madness is the reality marking the present situation of Rwanda, especially the reality during the genocide of 1994 where the Hutu rebels massacred over a million Tutsi citizens in under a year.

When the Rwandan president was assassinated by the Hutu rebels, having signed a peace agreement between the Tutsis and Hutus, the Hutu rebels claimed the Tutsi were responsible and used this false claim as a trigger to put the Rwanda Genocide into effect. This false allegation by the Hutu rebels allowed the Hutu rebels to form together, using military weapons illegally bought from France, and under the guise of a fake justification murder numerous innocent Tutsi civilians and any Hutu who may have defied them. This genocide was all encompassing, in fact even the Rwanda military was involved. The only body that helped was the UN, whom sadly did not do much to stop (or prevent) the genocide either.

The roots of the Rwandan genocide can be traced back to the fourteenth century when the Hutu settled in the region know today as Rwanda. In Rwanda, Tutsi immigrants started to dominate the Hutu. During World War One Belgium gained control over Rwanda and because of their favoritism for the Tutsi the Belgians put the Tutsi minority into power over the greater majority population of Hutu. After World War One, there were years of ethnic wars between the two tribes, heightened because of the Belgian's placement of the Tutsi minority into power over the Hutu majority. During these tension the Hutus drove out the Tutsi King and demanded an independent republic. In 1961 Rwanda obtained its independence from Belgium. However, in 1962 the Tutsi retaliated against the Hutu in a massive violent backlash against the Hutus killing thousands in the process. Over the next forty years these waves of violence between the two tribes continued until finally in 1992 the president (a Hutu) signed a peace deal (forced by the United Nations) between the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front)-a group made mostly of exiled Tutsi-and the Rwanda government (led then by Hutu). Not pleased with this agreement, the Hutu rebels shot down the president's plane and claimed the RPF was responsible for the assassination. This false claim acted as a justification and propagation tool to unite all the rebel forces together in the relentless massacre of Tutsi cvilians in 1994-now known as the Rwanda genocide. When the RPF finally assumed control over the country, the Hutus responsible for the genocide had fled to the Congo. Was the conflict solved or not?

After the RPF took control over Rwanda they were able to stop the massacring of the Tutsis people; however, the problem was even worse than it was before. Now millions of Rwandan refugees lived in camps outside of Rwanda, mixing the innocent with the murderous criminals responsible for the genocide. While most of the violence had stopped, the country was left scarred with death and horrible memories. The hatred then had developed even deeper and fear consumed all the people. Not one person was left living in their old life before the genocide, most lived in camps with little food and shelter with nothing-no home, no family-to return to. Orphaned children and widowed wives were left with miserable grief; with no hopes to bring their dead families back. If we are to really stop this conflict I feel we must break up the identity of two separate tribes and perhaps unite the people into one common tribe-into a common tribe of Rwanda. This union may prevent the hatred from developing and festering into another massacre. Whatever action that is taken, the entire world must be aware to it since the Rwandan genocide was a crime not only perpetuated by the Hutu rebels but by the worlds lack of action. This crime against humanity has opened the eyes of people all across the world.

The Rwanda conflict impacted not only Rwanda but the entire world. People now saw what was really happing over there through images in the media. How can this ever happen, people thought but the truth is that no no one helped and this truth is perhaps what stunned the world the most. Every country had turned their heads, pretended it was not happening. The United Nations, the body which is suppose to ensure international peace and security, deliberated about Rwanda for weeks while thousands and ultimately more than a million innocent Tutsi were savagely murdered. This lack of action from the outside world, this lack of intervention to help one's fellow man, ashamed the world the most. This rude awakening crippled many people's faith in what humanity is and what humanity represents. The worst truth about Rwanda is that no one can rewind time and save these people, no one in Rwanda could ignore this crime and continue with their normal day life with the things they saw or the things that happened to them. The Genocide of 1994 will be in Rwanda's mind for the rest of time, existing as a stain on the fabric of Rwanda's social and moral being.

Can you image what these people went through? No you cannot, no one can, this is how horrible the genocide was. Blood filled the streets, the blood of friends, family, and maybe even your own. People are not here right now with the ones they love because of this conflict and I feel some of them, if not most of them, could still be here if the world has not ignored their situation. If we helped stop it, if we had taken a stand, when it happened or even before it happened this could have all been prevented. Some may argue that if the world acted that the world would not have been able to stop the hatred, which may in part be true, but we could have stopped the hatred from escalating into a genocide. We all are in some part victims of the genocide; victims of our own inability to act. Would you want people to ignore you if everyone of your race. your religion. your country was being exterminated? What can you do about it with out the help of others? Not much, if anything at all. I find that the ultimate lesson of the Rwanda Genocide is to learn to do more than watch-the lesson is that I, just like anyone else, am just as responsible and have the power to act before such intolerable crimes like this one take place again. After all, at the end of the day I can make a difference, it only takes one to start a movement.

Annotated Bibliographies

"Conflict