Page 43 - Coespu Magazine 2018-2

CoESPU visit to the Rwanda Genocide Memorial Center

The “Rwandan Genocide”, also
known as the genocide against the
Tutsi, was a genocidal mass
slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by
members of the Hutu-majority
government. An estimated
500,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans
were killed during the 100-day
period from 7th April to mid-July
1994, constituting as many as 70%
of the Tutsi population.
Additionally, 30% of the Pygmy
Batwa were killed. The genocide
and widespread slaughter of
Rwandans ended when the Tutsi-
backed and heavily armed
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Paul Kagame, took control of the Country.
The genocide took place in the context of the Rwandan Civil War, a conflict began in 1990 between the
Hutu-led government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which largely consisted of Tutsi refugees
whose families had fled to Uganda after the 1959 Hutu revolt against colonial rule. Waves of Hutu
violence against the RPF and
Tutsi followed Rwandan
independence in 1962.
International pressure on the
Hutu government of Juvènal
Habyarimana resulted in a
ceasefire in 1993, with a road-
map to implement the Arusha
Accords, which would create a
power-sharing government
with the RPF. This agreement
was not acceptable to a number
of conservative Hutu, including
members of the Akazu, who
viewed it as a conceding to
enemy demands. The RPF

41