Country: Rwanda

Group: Hutu

Date Finalized: 09/28/2022

Team: Noelle Collings (lead), Aria Robinson, Kelsey Dwyer, Anthony Un, Austyn Evans

Content Warning: Violence, Ethnic Discrimination/Racism, Murder, Genocide

Approximate Time Period: 1960-1994

From 1894-1962, the German and Belgian empires colonized Rwanda. The Belgians enforced a class system where Tutsis were placed above Hutus, which led to decades-long tensions between the groups (Draper 2011). In 1960, Tutsi King Kigeli ordered the mobilization of militia to stop Hutu revolts, leading to the militia killing several Hutu leaders (Emmanuel 2010). In 1962, a UNAR raiding party killed four Hutus in the commune of Nkana (Emmanuel 2010). On April 6, 1994, Hutu presidents Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi were assassinated, which was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide (Stanton 2004). Habyarimana’s regime had painted the extermination and execution of Tutsis as ‘necessary’ to better the country. Hutus who refused to participate in this ‘betterment’ were also seen as threats and killed (Strauss 2004). Following the genocide, Rwanda outlawed classification based on ethnicity  (Kamanzi 2021). Rwanda has made great improvements in rebuilding itself and healing from the genocide. Ethnic conflict has largely been avoided in recent years (MRG 2020).

Data Quality: Data quality for lethal violence against the Rwandan Hutus is rated a 2/3 due to most of the research pointing to the Hutus being involved, but not targeted, in lethal violence.

Sources

  1. Draper, R. (2011). Rift in paradise. National Geographic. http://pricewebss.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/80299520/8A.%20Rift%20in%20Paradise.pdf
  2. Emmanuel, V. (2010). Rwanda – A chronology (1867-1994). Mass Violence and Resistance – Research Network. https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/rwanda-chronology-1867-1994.html
  3. Kamanzi, A. (2021). A nation without ethnicity: the Rwandan reconciliation model. IWGIA, News. https://www.iwgia.org/en/news/4556-a-nation-without-ethnicity-the-rwandan-reconciliation-model.html 
  4. Minority Rights Group. (2021). Rwanda. https://minorityrights.org/country/rwanda/
  5. Stanton, G.H. (2004). Could the Rwandan genocide have been prevented? Journal of Genocide Research, 6(2), 211-228. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1462352042000225958
  6. Strauss, S. (2004). How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate*. Journal of Genocide Research, 6(1), 85-98. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.474.5180&rep=rep1&type=pd