2. Background
• Small African nation
• Two ethnic groups
lived in Rwanda:
Hutus and Tutsis
• Generally lived
peacefully until the
Europeans came
3. Background
Hutus
• Majority - 80%
• Migrated from
southern Africa
• General: found
themselves as laborers
and farmers
4. Background
Tutsis
• Minority - 20%
• Migrated from
Northern Africa
(Egypt)
• General: found
themselves as the elite
and political rulers
5. Background
• German colony until
1918 (end of WWI)
• Belgium took it over
• Put Tutsis in charge
• Handed out “ethnic
identity cards”
• Education only open
to Tutsis
• Hutus could only be
laborers or low level
workers
6. Independence
• Once Belgium granted
independence in 1962,
Hutu majority took
control
• Over 200,000 Tutsis
fled to neighboring
countries and formed a
rebel guerrilla army,
the Rwandan Patriotic
Front.
7. Civil War
• In 1990, the rebel
army invades Rwanda
and forces Hutu
President Juvenal
Habyarimana into
signing an accord
mandating that Hutus
and Tutsis share
power.
8. Escalating Conflict
• Ethnic tensions
heightened in October
1993 upon the
assassination of
Melchior Ndadaye
• United Nations
peacekeeping force of
2,500 is dispatched to
preserve the cease-fire
9. Assassination
• On April 6, 1994,
Rwandan President
Juvenal Habyarimana
is assassinated when
his plane is shot down
• Hutu extremists begin
killing Tutsis
10. Unite Nations Response
• The U.N. Security
Council votes
unanimously to
abandon Rwanda. The
remainders of U.N.
peacekeeping troops
are pulled out, leaving
only a tiny force of
200 soldiers for the
entire country.
11. Aftermath
• Between April and
June 1994, an
estimated 800,000
Rwandans were
killed in the space
of 100 days.
12. Still at Large
• Hundreds of men
are still wanted in
connection with the
Rwandan genocide
• Do they look any
different from
anyone you’d see
on the street?
