Rwandan Genocide
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The Rwandan Genocide was the slaughter of Batutsi as well as abahutu against the genocide. Though it is commonly thought of as the slaughter which took place from April 6th to mid-July in 1994, the genocide had been happening on a smaller scale since the so-called Hutu Revolution in 1959. It was five times more efficient than the Holocaust, and was carried out mostly by primitive tools like imimpanga (machetes) and clubs. The international community did almost nothing to stop it, and some nations, such as France, even aided the génocidaires.
[edit] 1994
The 1994 genocide started when the plane of Hutu Rwandan dictator Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down on the night of April 6th. It is still not known who shot the plane down, though it is widely thought that Hutu extremists shot it down in order to make Hutu supporters angry and start the 1994 genocide. Within a half an hour, roadblocks had been set up all over Kigali by the Hutu extremist Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi militias. They and the army soon began going house to house in Kigali, killing abatutsi (whom the killers called inyenzi meaning 'cockroaches') and moderate abahutu. By morning on April 7th the massacre had reached full swing in Kigali. Roadblocks were all over the streets and corpses were everywhere. Interahamwe were running around with bloody tools killing and looting. Foreign journalists were able to film many of these things. Abautsi gathered in places they thought would be safe, like schools and chuches. In a few days, the genocide had spread throughout the country. Three days in, Westerners were being evacuated while Rwandans were forced to stay behind. One memorable case was at Rwanda's only psychiatric hospital, which had been surrounded by the Interahamwe. Belgian soldiers came to evacuate Westerners. Journalists had come with them to film the event. A large group of abatutsi came running out with their hands raised, asking for help. A few of them who could speak French tried negotiating with the soldiers for help. But the soldiers would not let them come. As they left, they could clearly see the Interahamwe starting to massacre the group. Similar events occured all over Rwanda. Foreign countries would not help much. The U.S.A. tried to avoid calling it a genocide. The French supplied the Hutu army with weapons. The genocide continued until the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) liberated Rwanda.
[edit] Recovery
Recovery has been slow but significant. A gacaca court system has been established to try the killers. A lot of victims are starting to forgive the killers, and it is widely said that the first step to preventing it from happening again is forgiveness instead of vengeance.