Rwandan Genocide

In the 1920’s Belgium colonized in Rwanda and noticed some Rwandans were taller and had whiter skin than the others. They called these Rwandans Tutsis and gave them special privileges such as western style education. This separated the Rwandans from Tutsis to Hutus and they started making different customs and traditions. The Hutus were the majority of Rwanda though. In 1926 Belgium gave identity cards to every Rwandan that identified if they were Hutu or Tutsi. In 1960 Belgium separates from Rwanda and they become independent. Soon after, the President of Rwanda was murdered by Hutu extremists before he signed a paper signifying peace between Hutus and Tutsis.

The Hutu extremists later attacked the Tutsis all at once by sending the message, “It is time to cut the tall trees,” on the radio. They went house to house with big knifes killing all Tutsis they saw. The Tutsis ran to neighboring countries but some were tracked down and killed. Most Tutsis lost their jobs and property if they were not close to the Hutu army or they would be killed. Thousands of Tutsis were being killed and even some moderate Hutus were killed in the war. U.N. forces only stayed at hotels and resorts and there were just a few hundreds of them. In 1994 countries send military force to rescue all their citizens, no Rwandans are rescued. That same year U.N. council votes to send all U.N forces back leaving all the Rwandans in the war. A month later U.N council sends 5500 troops to Rwanda admitting, “Acts of Genocide may have been committed.” Mid-July 1994 the Tutsi-led RPF forces capture Kigali (main city for Hutu army) and war is over.