Rwanda Genocide
Throughout history groups of people have tried to eliminate other groups for various reasons, but these attempts have been marked by the human race's refusal to allow such systematic extermination to occur. Unfortunately in 1994 the global community collectively turned a blind eye toward the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. The Rwandan Genocide revealed the governments of the world's ignorance and apathy, as well as their continuing selfishness and refusal to take blame. The killings were an attempt by a radical splinter, the Hutu Power, of the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, to eliminate a small minority, the Tutsis. The beginning of the genocide is usually traced to April 6, 1994 when a plane crashed with Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimanya on board. However, roots the genocide were established much earlier; the Hutu Power militia was being armed and trained for months before. Their intention was known to all; the Hutus had announced, over the radio and through various other channels, that they were going to exterminate the Tutsis. Within hours of the crash barricades had been set up around the capital. Anyone passing through was required to show identification papers, and all Tutsis were kill
To cover this, the French President, Francois Mitterand, even went as far to say, "In such countries, genocide is not so important. Now the top Catholic official in Rwanda, Bishop Misago, is being tried for the planning and execution of genocide, even though the 300-page evidence file contains no evidence of the actual crime. In the end the Hutu Power was able to eliminate 800,000 Tutsis in only 90 days, two-thirds of Tutsi population in Rwanda. Mass graves still are being discovered to this day, and the task of burying the dead is expected to continue for some time. In the future the hard lessons learned from this incident must not be forgotten. The French diplomatic cover probably delayed the mobilization of the UN forces, costing thousands of lives, only so they could maintain power in that region. Other Hutus who would not participate in the killing were slaughtered, in this way many people who would not normally facilitate such atrocities were pressured participating themselves. The Belgians then refused to accept the risk of maintaining their force there and withdrew their troops; that action reduced the UN force to 500 men, which was far too few to attempt to halt the massacres. Soon killings were occurring all over the country and the Tutsis were not the only victims, lists of moderate Hutus had been drawn up, and the people on that list were killed as well. The efficiency of this system was horrendous; using only knives and spiked sticks the Hutus surpassed the death camps employed by the Nazis during the Holocaust in pure brutal efficiency. Even more shocking is the French actions once the massacres began. The French government maintains policies that treat this region as an extension of the motherland and involves itself in the political and military affairs of the countries of the Francophone. They provided political cover for the mobilization of the militias and for the actual massacres. They established a comprehensive protocol, outlining a system for the most effective way to slaughter their former comrades.
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