Rwanda Genocide

Before discussing how and why genocide happened I think we should first discuss what it

is. Genocide is a crime against humanity, it is an intention to completely exterminate a chosen

group; for this reason genocide is, in my opinion, the greatest crime. The massacres that occurred

in Rwanda from 1993-1994 can definitely be considered genocide. There a slaughter occurred

which claimed the lives of more than a million Rwandans. This genocide is probably the greatest

crime against humanity in the twentieth-century; and no group whether foreign or native

executed enough force to prevent this from occurring. The United States stood by and watched

as people were tortures, raped, and slaughtered. Over one million Rwandan civilians were left for

dead, but that could have been significantly reduced with the initial intervention and aide of the

U.N.

Rwanda had been subjected to a number of historical events that have led up to their

genocide. After World War I, Belgium gained control and came up with a plan on control that

imposed a rigid plan of racial classification, dividing the Rwandans into three distinct groups: the

Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Hutu composed of about 85 percent of the total population in

Rwanda. The Belgians' racist ideals provided a framework for the social classes that would exist

in Rwanda. The Tutsi were deemed superior in all aspects in respect to the Hutus and Twa due

to their "whiteness," including facial features, eye color etc... The Belgians presented them with

an opportunity for education and a positions of power. It was this intervention that sowed the

seeds for the future resentment among the different groups. Disgruntled by their new low-level