The Contributing Factors of the Rwandan Genocide
In the novel Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculèe Ilibagiza, she describes the horrifying experience she encountered in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda was made up of three different groups: A Hutu majority; a Tutsi minority; and a very small amount of Twa, a pygmy-like group of forest dwellers. Ilibagiza was a student a college during the genocide, in which about 800,000 died in 100 days including Ilibagiza’s mother, father, and two brothers. Ilibagiza’s story is an extraordinary experience to the power that gave her the strength during that horrific time. Some of you might wonder: What factors might ...view middle of the document...
In the article Church, State, and the Rwandan Genocide by Peter Celestine Safari he states “that the greatest number of genocidal killings, between 6 April and the end of July 1994, took place in Rwanda’s churches or in church premises”. This is because of the violence that ensued many survivors resorted to their own spirituality by seeking refuge in churches, but were killed.
Even after the Rwandan Genocide violence continues among the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s. After the civil war people were not the same as before the civil war where Ilibagiza can recall describing her home as “paradise”, but also while growing up her parents never classified anyone therefore Ilibagiza did not know the difference between a Tutsi and a Hutu because there was no racial divide established they shared schools, churches, and were neighbors. “Immaculée Ilibagiza, you didn’t stand up when I said Hutu, you didn’t stand up when I said Twa, and you’re not standing up now that I’ve said Tutsi” (13). She clarifies to the teacher that she did not know whether she was a Tutsi or a Hutu because her parents raised her that way. After the Rwandan genocide the Hutu’s enforced and maintained their authoritative control, which consequently, meant more wars to come. In the article “After the Genocide” Philip Gourevitch explains:
the exception that a new war could spark a regional conflict involving Zaire, Tanzania, and Burundi raises the prospect of bloodshed on a scale that would make last year’s horror seem a prelude. What makes this strange is that a new war would be a war about the genocide; for, while Hutu power still seeks to make its crime a success by making it indistinguishable from the continuum of Rwandan history, the R.P.F. and the new government it leads depends on the genocide to justify their rule.
Since the genocide violence will increase among the Tutsi and the Hutu because of justice for the Tutsi people who lost a lot of family and friends. How does a victim overcome the mass murder of their family and friends if they have to pretend like nothing...
