Rwanda Conflict
...to use this incident. After researching more about the conflict, I realized that it is not that cut and dry. The issues between the Hutu and Tutsi of Rwanda started way before 1994, and have been an ongoing issue for many decades. This may be a little longer than normal, but I felt that it was necessary to understand the whole conflict. After World War I the Belgians gained control over Rwanda, and it became part of the Belgium League of Nations. The Belgians favored the Tutsi because they looked more “white”. They put the Tutsi in the leadership positions and discriminated against the Hutu. MuturaIII, who was a Tutsi, was elected as president. The Hutu were denied any form of higher education along with landownership and government positions. A reclassify program was put in to force, and all Rwandans were ordered to carry ID cards that specified their ethnic group. In the 1950’s resentment began to grow, due to the inequalities. The Hutu began to speak out, and also began protesting about the political and social injustices. In 1959 King Mutura died, and a new king was put in to place, King Kigeri. The Hutu felt that he was not properly chosen. Fighting broke out between the Hutu and Tutsi, and the Hutu came out victorious. At this time several hundred thousand Tutsi fled to neighboring countries and formed the RPF, Rwandan Patriotic Front. Hutu’s Greoire Kayibandabecame the intern prime minister; he was later elected as president, and then reelected in 1965 and 1969. In 1961 Rwanda was proclaimed as a republic, and on July 1, 1962 Belgium granted them their independence. The government used the same system of racial oppression, as the Tutsi did, but in reverse. During this time there were mass killings of Tutsi and more fled to other countries. These incidents continued from 1961-1973, all while the RPF strengthened. In 1973 Major Juvenal Habyarimana was...
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