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  • Essay / 100 Days of Terror: Genocide in Rwanda

    What happens when a country is allowed to implode on itself? For 100 days, the African country Rwanda suffered from a terrible tribal war between two ethnic groups called Hutus and Tutsis, almost 800,000 people (although the actual number was higher), people were murdered , raped and tortured. For three months, from approximately April 6, 1994 to July 16, 1994, the majority Hutu tribe systematically attempted to eliminate the Tutsi minority, as revenge for the murder of the country's then president, who was Hutu. Already strained relations between the two dominant tribes existed, due to the way they were ethnically identified and perceived socially and culturally. Both tribes have the same nationality (Rwandan), but the way their class system was structured created a strong antipathy between the two tribes. The Tutsis (the haves) were the aristocratic class and the Hutus (the have-nots) were their servants and belonged to the agricultural class, this created a strong hatred of the Hutus against the Tutsis. The ensuing genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus was an act of racism at its worst. For several days, violence, chaos, fear, death and terror are just some of the adjectives that can be used to describe what the Tutsi victims probably felt during the Hutu slaughter campaign, in An average of 8,000 Rwandans were killed daily. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Other countries were reluctant or chose not to get involved in Rwanda's civil war. US President Bill Clinton showed no interest in ending the genocide and stood idly by as the death toll rose into the hundreds of thousands. The United States' misjudgment regarding its intervention in the Rwandan genocide claims that it either did not know the seriousness of the situation or simply did not care by removing all its government and non-government officials. The United States successfully blocked all types of reinforcements and failed to provide its much-needed technology to jam radio broadcasts announcing the daily death list door-to-door. The United States simply failed Rwanda. Other notable figures, such as Canadian Army Major General Roméo Dallaire, commander of the then United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda, operated with minimal U.N. funding, support military and resources seeking to protect and help save Rwandans as best he could. It was not until the Tutsi rebel group FPR (Rwandan Patriotic Front), led by current President Paul Kagame, put an end to the ravages of the Hutu and regained control of the government. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of Hutus were killed in the process. Since the genocide and under the leadership of President Kagame, Rwanda has regained public order. The creation of Mr. Kagame's administration's programs has forced victims (survivors) and offenders (perpetrators) to work side by side in what is called a national reconciliation agenda. Every citizen must participate in the community service program every month or risk being arrested; this form of social control asserted by the government has made President Kagame a controversial figure. He is seen as an authoritarian and repressive leader, who does not allow citizens to identify which tribe they belong to or to speak freely or critically against the government. Rebuilding Rwanda seems to be the only goal, a feeling.