What Can African Leaders Learn From Rwanda Genocide

By: Wondwossen Amsalu.

I was selected as an Ethiopian Generation Change Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace and took training in September 2022 at Kigali, Rwanda, and had the opportunity to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda after we completed the Peacebuilding Training in Kigali, So I have written down below what I have learned during my stay and various source that can me different insight learn on Rwanda Genocide.

What Can African Leaders Learn From Rwanda Genocide:
Formal colonization of Rwanda began in 1884 when Germany took control of the region. In 1919, Belgium inherited the colony as part of a League of Nations mandate, which partitioned German territories after World War I.  
Rwanda and Burundi are two small neighboring countries in East-Central Africa that share the same ethnic composition: approximately 84 percent Hutu, 15 percent Tutsi, and 1 percent Twa. Their climate, topography, population density, predominantly agrarian economy, religion, language, and history are also very similar. 
The Belgians presented Tutsi as an alien race & used physical features as a way to differentiate from indigenous adding “race’’ to Rwanda “Identity Cards in they counted 15% as being Titsi, 84% as Hutu & 1 % as two Ethnic identity began to determine Rwanda lives.

Hutu and Tutsi inhabit Rwanda and Burundi in Central Africa. There are no significant linguistic or religious differences between them and they both live in mixed settlements, however, violent ethnic conflicts had erupted between these groups. To carry out this investigation, we will need to look at pre-colonial times in Rwanda to analyze the influence of the Belgians in this massacre and also, we will need to look at post-colonial Rwanda, mostly after the 1980’s where we can analyze the influence of the French and understand what role they had to play in this massacre. A brief description of the 1990 civil war will also be presented to show how it impacted the genocide. Throughout this entire investigation therefore, my aim is to show to that the Rwandan genocide was indeed greatly influenced by the Belgians and French.

Communal elections were held in 1960, resulting in a massive transfer of power to Hutu elements at the local level. And in the wake of the coup (January 1961) in Gitarama in central Rwanda, which was carried off with the tacit approval of the Belgian authorities, an all-Hutu provisional government came into being:
- 1501 - 1600 Tutsi are dominant in the area which now comprises modern Rwanda.
- 1890 Germans colonize Rwanda.
- 1910 the northern and western boundaries of Rwanda are agreed upon by colonial powers and remain essentially unchanged until the present.
- 1916 Belgian forces easily displace the German administration in Rwanda (then known as Ruanda-Urundi, an area which included Burundi).
- 1923 The League of Nations formally mandates Rwanda to Belgium (Belgian rule lasts until independence in 1962).
- 1926 Belgians decide that the population of Rwanda should be classified as either Tutsi or Hutu. Unlike in previous times, when the Hutu-Tutsi distinction was fluid (prosperous peasants could become Tutsis, while Tutsis who fell on hard economic times could suffer reduced social status and become Hutus), this Belgian administrative measure now strictly designates those who own more than ten cows as Tutsi and all others as Hutu, with no possibility of movement between the two groups. Imposing a Belgian practice, all citizens are issued national identification cards which include an entry for tribe. Thus, the complicated hierarchy of pre-colonial times is simplified, with more power concentrated at the top, and fewer benefits and prerogatives accruing to those at the bottom. In addition, Europeans want a uniform territorial system and therefore eliminate the pockets of autonomy which had existed in pre-colonial Rwanda. Some of these autonomous regions are in fact Hutu-controlled, further reducing the status of that group and enhancing Tutsi supremacy under European tutelage.

- 1946 Ruanda-Urundi became a UN trust territory under the administration of Belgium. The Belgians begin developing institutions of self-government among the people.
- 1951 - 1960 Hutu resistance to the Tutsi monarchy increases, as does the movement for independence from Belgium among both Hutus and Tutsis.
- 1959 The Hutu-Tutsi divide widens as ethnic politics intensify. The Parmehutu (Party for the Emancipation of the Hutu People) is pitted against the monarchist and Tutsi-led UNAR (National Rwandese Union). Belgium suddenly abandons its traditional clients and dispatches paratroopers to extirpate the Tutsi power structure. Clashes between Hutus and Tutsis commence in the north and quickly spread throughout Rwanda. An estimated 10,000 Tutsis are killed, with perhaps 200,000 more fleeing the country.

- Jan 1 - Oct 31, 1961 Hutu-led political forces proclaim a Republic and abolish the Tutsi monarchy. A new constitution is drafted. The first Tutsi exile guerrilla group is formed.
- 1961 - 1970 Tutsi exiles form paramilitary units and mount incursions into Rwanda which target local Hutu officials. Tutsi exiles operate from sanctuaries in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. The Hutu government counters Tutsi guerrillas by deploying Belgian paratroopers and by orchestrating reprisal massacres of Tutsis.
- 1962 Thousands are killed in Hutu-Tutsi clashes provoked by incursions by Tutsi exile guerrillas.
- Jul 1, 1962 Rwanda gains independence from Belgium. On the same day Rwanda becomes a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

- 1963 Tutsi exile guerrillas invade Rwandan territory in three waves on November 25, December 20, and December 27. In a pattern that is becoming typical the Hutu government permits and encourages vengeance killings against Tutsi civilians [see entry below for "1964" for numbers of Tutsis killed and exiled].
- 1964 Rampaging Hutus, in response to Tutsi rebel incursions [see entry above for "1963"], kill 5,000 to 14,000 Tutsis and drive another 200,000 (out of a total of 600,000 Tutsis in the country) into exile in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire.
- 1966 Reports of Tutsi-Hutu clashes with 200 dead.
- 1972 – 1973 Violence breaks out in southern Burundi as local Hutus attack local Tutsis followed by widespread massacres of Hutus by Tutsi army units and supporting elements throughout the country (an estimated 80,000 Hutus are killed). Apparently in response to the unrest in Burundi, the Hutu-dominated regime in Rwanda begins a program of expelling Tutsis from positions in government, education, and business. In addition, counter-massacres of Tutsis occur in Rwanda resulting in about 500 deaths.
- Jul 1973 A bloodless military coup is led by Major General Juvenal Habyarimana (a Hutu), who proclaims himself President. Crowds of Hutus (possibly orchestrated by the military) attack Tutsis. Portions of the 1962 constitution are suspended, the legislature is dissolved, and a more centralized administration is created. A comprehensive program of expelling Tutsis from schools, government, and business is reportedly undertaken.
- 1974 Bujumbura Conference in which Zaire, Burundi, and Rwanda agree to coordinate defense and economy.
- Jul 1975 President Habyarimana's National Revolutionary (changed to Republican in April 1991) Movement for Development and Democracy (MRND) is formed and declared the only legal political party (its chief task is proclaimed to be the eradication communal conflict).
- 1976 Economic Community of the Great Lakes (CEPGL) is formed between Rwanda, Zaire, and Burundi.
- 1979 The Rwandan Patriotic Front is founded by Tutsi exiles resident in Uganda, then calling themselves the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity. Harkening back to Rwanda's militia tradition, RPF fighters also refer to themselves as the "Inkotanyi," or the "the indefatigable ones." Close ties are forged between Ugandan rebel leader Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) and Uganda's Tutsi exiles. Thus when Museveni is later installed as Ugandan President, political and military debts are owed to the Tutsi exiles.
- 1985 From this point forward, Rwanda's neighbors (Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zaire) repeatedly try to negotiate a program of systematic Tutsi repatriation, but Rwanda consistently stalls claiming, with some justification, that there is no land or jobs for returnees (of course, Rwanda's neighbors face these same limitations).
- 1988 As a result of disorganized rural violence by politically and socially discontented Hutus against local Tutsi officials, notables, and civilians in the north of Burundi, the Tutsi-dominated army conducts unpremeditated massacres of Hutus. Hutu deaths are estimated to be between 5,000 and 20,000, or as high as 50,000. An estimated 50,000 Hutus also flee to Rwanda. Almost this entire wave of refugees returned home by the end of the year.
- Oct 1, 1990 From this point forward, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invades Rwanda from its bases in Uganda. In response, the Rwandan security service distributes arms to local civilian officials. Eventually, the army is increased in size to as many as 50,000 effectives. RPF forces are almost exclusively made up of Tutsi fighters with a few Hutus in showcase "political" positions. However, in a statement to the press the RPF denies that it is waging an ethnic war against the government, but instead describes their goals as merely political in nature. Habyarimana's National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) is divided between a hardline faction which opposes accommodation with the Tutsi rebels and a smaller conciliatory faction. There are reports that the government has arrested Tutsi businessmen, teachers, and priests as collaborators with the rebels. It is particularly significant that the government labels resident Tutsis with no connection to the RPF as rebel "accomplices." In fact, many Tutsis initially support the government against the RPF, but the regime decisively rebuffs them. Habyarimana admits that elite Zairian troops are helping to neutralize the RPF offensive. Habyarimana skillfully draws France directly into the conflict by staging a mock RPF "attack" on the capital, thus deceiving foreign journalists and diplomats into believing that the rebels are on the verge of overthrowing his government. France, as well as Belgium, quickly dispatches contingents to bolster the internal security of Rwanda. Anti-Tutsi French political and military officials refer to the RPF as the "Khmers Rouges" of Africa. Belgium cuts off military aid to Rwanda after RPF offensive, but it still furnishes the government with non-lethal aid.
- Nov 1990 The RPF invasion is repulsed by government forces. President Habyarimana announces that he will allow multi-party politics commencing in 1991. Perhaps more importantly for settling the Hutu-Tutsi issue, he also declares that the practice of specifying ethnicity on the national identification card will cease, although this measure is never implemented. The World Bank loans Rwanda 80 million dollars to help solve chronic economic problems and calm heated political conditions brought on by the RPF invasion six weeks earlier.
The Hutu Ten Commandments
Hutu Power, a political movement that held the racist ideal of Rwanda as a Hutu nation, proclaimed its founding principles in the “Hutu Ten Commandments.” This document was published in the December 1990 edition of Kangura, an anti-Tutsi, Hutu Power newspaper in Kigali Rwanda.
1. Every Hutu should know that a Tutsi woman, whoever she is, works for the interest of her Tutsi ethnic group. As a result, we shall consider a traitor any Hutu who
• marries a Tutsi woman
• employs a Tutsi woman as concubine
• employs a Tutsi woman as a secretary or takes her under protection.
2. Every Hutu should know that our Hutu daughters are more suitable and conscientious in their role as woman, wife and mother of the family. Are they not beautiful, good secretaries and more honest?
3. Hutu women, be vigilant and try to bring your husbands, brothers and sons back to reason.
4. Every Hutu should know that every Tutsi is dishonest in business. His only aim is the supremacy of his ethnic group. As a result, any Hutu who does the following is a traitor:
• makes a partnership with Tutsi in business
• invests his money or the government's money in a Tutsi enterprise
• lends or borrows money from a Tutsi
• gives favours to Tutsi in business (obtaining import licenses, bank loans, construction sites, public markets, etc.).
5. All strategic positions, political, administrative, economic, military and security should be entrusted only to Hutu.
6. The education sector (school pupils, students, and teachers) must be majority Hutu.
7. The Rwandan Armed Forces should be exclusively Hutu. The experience of the October 1990 war has taught us a lesson. No member of the military shall marry a Tutsi.
8. The Hutu should stop having mercy on the Tutsi.
9. The Hutu, wherever they are, must have unity and solidarity and be concerned with the fate of their Hutu brothers.
• The Hutu inside and outside Rwanda must constantly look for friends and allies for the Hutu cause, starting with their Hutu brothers.
• They must constantly counteract Tutsi propaganda.
• The Hutu must be firm and vigilant against their common Tutsi enemy.
10. The Social Revolution of 1959, the Referendum of 1961, and the Hutu Ideology, must be taught to every Hutu at every level. Every Hutu must spread this ideology widely. Any Hutu who persecutes his brother Hutu for having read, spread, and taught this ideology is a traitor.
1991 The US Department of State Human Rights Report for 1991 notes that up to 200 Tutsi civilians are killed in random attacks carried out by Rwandan army units and Hutu civilians. These killings are perpetrated in the northern provinces of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, the two districts most directly threatened by RPF rebels.
1991 - 1992 The RPF conducts repeated, small-scale incursions into Rwanda.
Mar 1991 France gives Rwanda 13.6 million dollars’ worth of grant aid for the purchase of essential imports.
Jun 1991 Habyarimana signs a new Constitution which provides for multi-party politics, the creation of a prime ministership, a limited Presidential term (a candidate could seek a maximum of two terms of five years each), and separate executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.
Jul 1, 1991 From this point forward, a new Political Parties Law goes into effect. It bans parties based on ethnicity or religious affiliation. Shortly thereafter, five new political parties are legally registered, and by the beginning of 1992 this figure rises to twelve. Although large street rallies are held demanding political changes, there is no indication that the non-RPF opposition to Habyarimana is militant (for example, they do not acquire guns or train for insurgency).
Aug 1991 The Justice Minister announces that an initiative is underway to improve the human rights situation in Rwanda. The release of 5,500 people arrested following the RPF invasion of 1990 is announced.
Sep 1991 Belgium grants Rwanda 5.6 million dollars to support a structural adjustment program. Among other purposes, the funds are to be used to train Rwandan journalists in Belgium as the first step in establishing a television network based in Kigali. At this time, Belgium also announces that it will furnish Rwanda with additional food aid.
1992 Habyarimana makes a series of visits to Mobutu of Zaire and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo for advice on how to maintain his power. On their advice, Habyarimana maneuvers to split two key opposition parties (one of which was composed of both Hutus and Tutsis), thus polarizing the political situation and promoting tribalism.
Jan 5, 1992 Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi agree to form a joint security commission to monitor their common frontiers.
Mar 14, 1992 Three of the largest opposition parties (the Rwanda Democratic Movement, Liberal Party, and Social Democratic Party) and Habyarimana's own MRND agree to form an interim coalition government.
Apr 1992 a continuing political crisis forces Habyarimana to agree to include two more opposition parties in his government. In addition to the RPF campaign, the following developments contribute to the mounting political stress placed on Habyarimana: protest marches by four opposition parties (carried out in January in Kigali and Butare and threatened in March); a threat by Habyarimana's only coalition partner, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), to resign from the government (February); pressure from Catholic and Protestant Church leaders to grant a share of power to opposition parties; domestic press criticism (prompting the government to arrest at least two prominent Rwandan journalists); and criticism of Habyarimana's regime in the international press (including a March 1992 charge by a scholar with France's scientific research center, CNRS, that Rwanda is practicing genocide against Tutsis). Under the April agreement, the prime ministership goes to an opposition party, thus ending two decades of effective political monopoly by Habyarimana and his movement.
Jun 1992 Rwandan (Hutu) soldiers go on rampages in several districts as the appointed date for cease-fire talks approaches. Habyarimana announces that he intends to restructure the armed forces following widespread looting by troops who fear that they will be demobilized if a peace agreement is reached with rebels. In addition, the President announces that the army and gendarmerie commanders, as well as four other colonels, will be retired.

Jul 1992 In negotiations conducted under OAU auspices and attended by Western and regional diplomats, both the Rwandan government and RPF rebels agree that a neutral group of OAU military observers will monitor a cease-fire. The OAU group consists of 50 members drawn from the armed forces of Zimbabwe, Senegal, and Nigeria with logistical support provided by Belgium, France, Germany, and the United States. Amid much wrangling by various member states on the propriety of this action, and due to the manifest lack of effectiveness of the observer team, the OAU force is later withdrawn.
Aug 1992 the regime and RPF rebels agree on sweeping political reforms and the formation of an interim government which will include substantial RPF representation. Rwanda and Uganda sign a security pact aimed at ending tensions over Uganda's alleged aid to Rwanda's RPF rebels. Troops from Zaire fighting in Rwanda against rebels are withdrawn.
Oct 1992 an agreement in principle is reached to transfer important powers to a new all-party interim cabinet, simultaneous with greatly reduced presidential prerogatives.
Nov 1992 Habyarimana positions his MRND in close alignment with the CDR by joining with it and three other parties in the "Alliance for Reinforcement of Democracy." Despite the democracy-friendly name of this new umbrella group, Habyarimana has now forged a united front with the most radical anti-Tutsi elements in the Hutu political spectrum.
Jan 1993 the government signs a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, however nine Hutu MRND ministers issue a statement saying that the MRND should not accept the minority role assigned to it under the accord. In addition, in an official statement the MRND accuses Rwanda's Foreign Minister of treason for signing an agreement with the RPF. At the same time, moderate elements of the Hutu power structure lobby for a more comprehensive settlement with the rebels.

1993 Habyarimana's regime begins to train militia cadres known as the "Interahamwe" (or "those who attack together"), and the "Impuzamugambi" (translated as "single minded-ones" or "those who have the same goal"). The Interahamwe, eventually the largest and most deadly militia, are Hutus recruited from the youth wing of the President's MRND. Similarly, the Impuzamugambi are drawn from the youth wing of the CDR. The Hutu militias reportedly receive training by the army, and are furnished with grenades and AK-47 rifles, as well as machetes, knives, clubs, and bows and arrows. Other observers suggest that the French may provide direct or indirect training to the militias when they are in camps in the northeast of the country. Deployed throughout the Rwanda, the MRND and CDR militias commit massacres at the behest of both local Hutu officials and central Hutu authorities. In mid-March 1993, the militias are ordered to stand down by the government, but their network remains in place for speedy reactivation.
Feb 8, 1993 Breaking a cease-fire, the RPF launches major incursions into Rwanda from Uganda (on February 14 up to 600 rebels cross the border).

Mar 24, 1993 In response to a harsh report by a human rights panel, Habyarimana denies that any massacres have taken place since he took office. Habyarimana blames violence on the insurgency exclusively, and denied ethnicity was a factor in Rwanda's problems. Ethnic problems will end when the war ends, the President says.
Jul 1993 the Prime Minister lashes out at President Habyarimana for failing to sign a peace treaty with the RPF.

Aug 1993 at Arusha in Tanzania, a new comprehensive accord is concluded between Habyarimana and the RPF. A coalition government is promised, featuring a Hutu Prime Minister, and a 21 member cabinet with five Tutsis. The military forces and RPF troops are to merge, creating a new Rwandan army. The reformed officer corps is to be split equally between Tutsis and Hutus, with 60 percent of the troops recruited from government forces and 40 percent from the RPF. All refugees are to be allowed to return, and multi-party elections are promised for mid-1995. Vocal elements of Habyarimana's MRND denounce the Arusha accords, as does the Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), a Hutu extremist organization closely allied with (and perhaps controlled by) the MRND. There are reports that the government (in violation of agreements) is distributing arms to its supporters.

Nov 1993 a UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) is deployed consisting of 2,500 troops to monitor the Arusha accords reached between the RPF and Habyarimana in August. However, the ineffectiveness of this force is soon apparent. The UN force's mandate is peace-keeping, not peace-making; hence it cannot actively intervene to prevent killings. In addition, it is composed of more than 20 different nationalities, each with its own language, few of whom can speak French.
Jan 1994 another power sharing agreement is signed between the government and the RPF. Under the terms of this settlement, Habyarimana's MRND receives six of 22 government offices, including the positions of Prime Minister and Defense Minister, and the RPF is to receive five portfolios including Deputy Prime Minister and Interior. Remaining cabinet posts are to go to other parties. The organization Human Rights Watch issues a comprehensive report entitled Arming Rwanda which documents the extent of Rwandan involvement in the international arms trade. Human Rights Watch concludes that the massive influx of foreign weapons (mostly from Egypt, South Africa, and France on the government side) greatly contributes to the number of civilian deaths in the conflict.

Feb 1994 The Minister of Public Works is assassinated in the capital. The Minister, Felicien Gatabazi, was a Hutu but his political movement, the Social Democratic Party, is closely aligned with the Tutsi RPF insurgents. Clashes among his supporters and their hardline Hutu political rivals in the CDR ensue. Youths associated with the CDR target government opponents, both Tutsis and Hutu moderates, for beatings and killings. Africa Watch subsequently claims that the army also went on a selective rampage as a test to determine if the UN and world will react.
Feb 21, 1994 Elements of the Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), a Hutu extremist organization opposed to accommodation with the Tutsi rebels, storm the foreign ministry building in Kigali.

Apr 1, 1994 From this point forward, military clashes occur in the Rwandan capital of Kigali between RPF elements and the Rwandan military. Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi (both Hutus) are killed when their plane is shot down by a missile over Kigali, Rwanda. The Presidential Guard in Kigali and army and militia elements in other parts of Rwanda begin attacking Tutsis and Hutus who are believed to be political opponents of the regime.

The official government position is that RPF forces in the capital staged attacks on the Presidential Guard. After the massacres begin, the government describes the violence as a spontaneous "popular uprising" against Tutsis in revenge for their support of the RPF and its assassination of Habyarimana. Government radio calls on Hutus to kill Tutsis. With the targeting of moderate Hutus for extermination, the RPF for the first time is able to recruit appreciable numbers of Hutus into its ranks. By mid-1994, due to civil war and genocide, Rwandan society is in a state of complete collapse: at least 500,000 people killed between April and July, approximately two million refugees abroad and one million internally displaced people, the cessation of business and agricultural activities, the death or flight of the educated and talented, and the breakdown of routine government activity including legal, educational, and health operations. President Clinton issues an Executive Order imposing an arms imbargo on Rwanda.

May 17, 1994 The UN accuses RPF of perpetrating massacres. May 26, 1994 The Washington Post quotes the UN General Secretary on Rwanda: "It is genocide which has been committed. More than 200,000 people have been killed, and the world is still discussing what ought to be done."
May 30, 1994 The UN Security Council adopts a resolution condemning the violence in Rwanda, but it avoids describing the situation as genocide.
Jun 1994 Press reports appear in the American media regarding the fact that the Clinton administration is deliberately avoiding use of the word genocide. Even as late as early June, State Department officials only state that "acts of genocide" are occurring. It is not until late July, after the fall of the Hutu-dominated regime and the end of the mass murder, that Clinton's envoy to Rwanda accuses the military of committing genocide and demands that an international court prosecute the perpetrators.

Jun 11, 1994 OAU ministers call the Rwandan massacres "a crime against humanity" (they do not specify which parties are responsible for the killings, however).

Jun 23, 1994 France begins dispatching 2,500 (marine and Foreign Legion) troops to Rwanda to establish a "safety zone" where Hutus, including presumably individuals who organized the genocide, can take refuge from the RPF.
Jul 1994 The UN Security Council authorizes the establishment of a commission to investigate genocide in Rwanda. The victorious Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) forms a government committed to the principals annunciated in the Arusha Accord signed in August 1993: societal reconciliation, national unity, and access to political power for all ethnic groups. Thus, today the Arusha agreement and the constitution form the fundamental laws of Rwanda. On a practical level, the RPF controlled government consists of 22 ministers recruited from five political parties. Hutu radio broadcasts exhort Hutus within French safe-haven zone to flee before advancing RPF forces, causing 250,000 to go into exile in Zaire.

UNHCR estimates that between April and July 1994 200,000 to 500,000 Rwandans were killed (out of a total of 8.2 million). UNHCR reports that since April 1994 about 2.1. million Rwandans (half Hutu and half Tutsi) have fled to other countries (estimates: 1.5 million to Zaire, 200,000 to Burundi, 460,000 to Tanzania).
France provided arms and military training to Habyarimana's militias, the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, which were among the government's primary means of operationalizing the genocide following the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994.

On the evening of 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down at 20:23 with surface-to-air missiles as their jet prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda. BY 21:15 road blocks & Hous searches shooting began in anhour - death lists prepared in advance. The assassination set the Rwandan genocide in motion, one of the bloodiest events of the late 20th century.

All twelve aboard the Falcon were killed. They were: 
• Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda
• Cyprien Ntaryamira, President of Burundi
• Bernard Ciza, Burundian Minister of Public Works
• Cyriaque Simbizi, Burundian Minister of Communication
• Major General Déogratias Nsabimana, Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army
• Major Thaddée Bagaragaza, responsible for the "maison militaire" of the Rwandan president
• Colonel Elie Sagatwa, Member of the special secretariat of the Rwandan president, Chief of the Military Cabinet of the Rwandan president
• Juvénal Renaho, foreign affairs advisor to the Rwandan president.

• Dr. Emmanuel Akingeneye, personal physician to the Rwandan president April 6th 1994, marked the beginning of the most recent and terrific genocide that took place in Rwanda, a country located in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa. Rwanda, colonized by Belgians during the 20th Century, was populated by 8,139,270 people at the time. In a span of 100 days, Hutu extremists mercilessly butchered between 500,000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Their aim was ‘ethnic cleansing’ – to literally eradicate the entire Tutsi population even if it meant killing innocent women, children and men. The killings were against Tutsis by Hutus who lived together, whose children schooled together, spoke the same languages, followed the same religion, and had inter-marriages between themselves for a very long time.

The Rwanda genocide therefore, is an event of extreme terror. It leads us to wonder as to why a group of people, who were practically neighbors for years, would mercilessly try to eliminate fellow Rwandans and promote Hutu power over all. Moreover, expect to begin developing Rwanda as Hutus alone.

This question demands answers and this demand is not aimed at cleansing ones conscience because nothing had been done. Yes, a lot could have been done to prevent this massacre. 350 American marines stationed in Burundi, just half an hour’s helicopter’s flight away could have helped stop these killings. Several French and Belgian soldiers stationed in countries neighboring Rwanda could have helped secure refugee which in turn could have saved a lot of lives. The international community could have helped make a difference in reducing the death toll, but their lack of response is not the aim of this investigation.

For the sole purpose of this investigation, we need to look for answers so as to get an understanding of what actually happened in Rwanda and also to help solve similar conflicts in similar countries such as Rwanda so as to avoid a Rwanda part II and give a lesson for the rest of African countries.
To understand the intentions behind the killings therefore, it is necessary to critically analyze the occurrence of events before the genocide so that we understand that this wasn’t an overnight planned event, instead, it was preplanned long before 1994. This critical analysis of events will lead us into investigating the short term and the long term causes of the genocide.

When investigating the short term causes, apart from the shooting of the president’s plane, we are also led to the Rwandan civil war and also the events that occurred right after the civil war till 1994 and this leads us to the role the French played in this massacre. In the long term causes however, we are led back into history where the impact of colonialism in this country is observed. When summing up the two, we could say the Rwandan genocide was greatly influenced by the Belgian and the French and for investigational purposes, the question as to what extent did the French and the Belgians influence the 1994 Rwandan genocide is formed.

Since then, we have seen Western intervention in various African countries, even to give an example: Libya, Central African countries, Nigeria, and the ongoing civil war in Sudan can be considered a few examples.

I can say that the time has come for Africans to solve their problems, just as Westerners don't consult any African countries in their internal affair, nor do they request our permission to find solutions for them. We also have to solve our problems by ourselves without their interference.

References:
Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for Hutus in Rwanda, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38d51e.html [accessed 12 September 2022] 
UKEssays. (November 2018). Belgian And French Influence On The Rwandan Genocide. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/belgian-and-french-influence-on-the-rwandan-genocide-history-essay.php?vref=1 
The Media and the Rwanda Genocide, Edited by Allan Thompson Statement by Kofi Annan 
Appendix 3, Seminega, Tharcisse (2019) No Greater Love. Davenport, IA: GM&A Publishing.