2. What are human rights?
Human rights are rights that are believed to belong justifiably to every person. No one can take away
these rights from you no matter what and if they did they would have to face the court and get
punished for what they did. A long time ago there was no such thing as human rights, and after
WWII happened the world came together and decided that
we needed to set some standard human rights that should be
given to everyone. So the human rights declaration was
written and every country started to add human rights to
their constitutions like America’s bill of rights and
England’s bill of rights. But unfortunately, these rights are
only words written on papers and none of it is actually
applied in the real world. The biggest example for that is
the genocide that happened in Rwanda a few years back.
The world stood there watching the Rwandan people get
stripped from all their human rights and the first one was
the UN. The first human rights organization did nothing at
all to help the Rwandan people and save them from unfair killings. That’s why I chose to make that
my topic of research in this project.
3. What is genocide?
Genocide is trying to get rid of mass of people just because they relate to a specific group. Genocide could also
be killing many innocent people just because of who they are not what they did. Genocide acts include things
such as mass murder, Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group deliberately inflicting
conditions calculated to physically destroy the group and forcefully transferring children of the group to another
group. That’s because all these acts lead to destroying a group of people that did nothing except being part of
that group regardless of their age or conditions. Genocide is an awful and disgusting crime because it not only
kills people but also brainwashes people to destroy the other group not considering their families, their age or
even their innocence and weakness. That’s why those found
guilty of genocide will be punished for their crime, regardless
of whether they are or were legally constituted ruler, public
officials, or private individuals. The most famous genocide
crimes in history was the one in Rwanda where the Hutu
people built up so much hate for the Tutsi that they decided to
kill them all and end their race from the face of the earth.
What happened in Rwanda?
The conflicts in Rwanda were born a very long time ago
and became even worse when the League of Nations gave Belgium
power to administrate Rwanda. Rwanda is a country in central Africa with a population of about 10 million people.
The Tutsi formed about 15% and the Hutu were 85% of the Rwandan population. The Tutsi tribe ruled the country
and had all the money and the Hutus were basically their servants and they were used in cheep labor. In 1933
People were given ID cards that showed which tribe they belonged to. In 1959 the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi king,
150000 Tutsi’s were killed and many exiled. The children of the exiled Tutsis came back to Rwanda and made the
Rwandan Patriotic Front. This started a civil war in 1990 and genocide in 1994. The Hutus were furious with the
Tutsis and believed they were ‘cockroaches’ as they called them. On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President
Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down. Violence began almost immediately after that. Under the cover of war, Hutu
extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population. Political leaders who might have been
able to take charge of the situation and other high profile opponents of the Hutu extremist plans were killed
immediately. Tutsi and people suspected of being Tutsi were killed in their homes and as they tried to flee at
roadblocks set up across the country during the genocide. Entire families were killed at a time. Women were
systematically and brutally raped. It is estimated that some 200,000 people participated in the perpetration of the
Rwandan genocide. In the weeks after April 6, 1994, 800,000 men, women, and children perished in the Rwandan
genocide, perhaps as many as three quarters of the Tutsi population. At the same time, thousands of Hutu were
murdered because they opposed the killing campaign and the forces directing it.
4. Who is responsible for what happened?
Although the Rwandans are fully responsible for the genocide, governments and people elsewhere all
share in the shame of the crime because they failed to prevent and stop this killing campaign. Policymakers in
France, Belgium, and the United States and at the United Nations were aware of the preparations for massive
slaughter and failed to take the steps needed to prevent it. Aware from the start that Tutsi were being targeted for
elimination, the leading foreign actors refused to acknowledge the genocide so they did not have to act against it.
Not only that but they also declined for weeks to use their political and moral authority to challenge the
legitimacy of the genocidal government. They refused to declare that a government guilty of exterminating its
citizens would never receive international assistance. They did nothing to silence the radio that televised calls for
slaughter. Even after it had become obvious to everyone that what was going on in Rwanda was a genocide,
American officials had shunned the g-word, fearing that it would cause demands for intervention. If The UN
itself stood watching the biggest violation on all human rights then who should have tried to stop it.
Does it still happen today?
The crises seems to be still going on even now a days but in different parts of the world. Till today
thousands of people are being killed and slaughtered not because of they did, but because of who they
are. Everywhere in the world people are dyeing and the UN stands watching not doing anything as
usual. After the second world war Rapheal Lemkin tried very hard to find a word to name the most
violent crime in history that was committed by Hitler. If genocide is not a word that describes the
killing going on in Syria, Palestine, Burma, Myanmar and many more countries, then the world must
need a new word to represent this crime since now one wants to name it genocide.
One of the most recents and ongoing genocides in the current day would be the killing going on in syria. The
syrian president is killing everyone who doesn't want him in power or is against him. Who knew that the love
of power can make someone kill millions of his own people. The UN made a new report about the crisis
going on in Syria for three years now. This report shows that Syria is no longer a country suitable to live in
because of the destruction in it and lack of services. Most of the health care centers have been bombed no
students attend school or collage, there is no more work and people barely have an income to support their
families. That because of the civil war that’s going on in every street of the country and the random bombing
of the regime. Almost half of the population fled the country and are refugees in neighboring countries that
can no long be able to pay for all these people. Three out of four Syrians now live in poverty, with more than
half the population – 54.3 per cent in 2013 – living in extreme poverty. As the conflict grinds on with no end
in sight, some 20 per cent of the population now barely has the means to meet basic needs. Everyone is doing
what they can do but still the UN stands still not doing anything except writing reports and counting dead
bodies. Until now no one has the power to stop this dictator from killing any more of his people.
5. What influence will the Rwandan genocide have on our
lives?
The Rwandan genocide effected the whole world by first making the UN notice that they couldn’t stop
such a huge human rights violation even thought that’s their job. It also showed greater injustice to the world and
gave a lesson that violence destroys countries and affects everyone in the end. But yet, from Syria to South Sudan
to the Central African Republic and beyond, today’s conflicts sadly show that efforts to protect populations from
atrocities remain elusive. So the world is still seeing great
genocides like that one and worse but still the UN does not do
anything about it.
How could Genocide be
prevented?
To be able to prevent genocide the very first thing to do is
recognize it as genocide not just call it war or killing. Then the
UN needs to put together a procedure to deal with acts of
violence against civilians if it doesn't already have one. After
that everyone who commits any of the crimes of genocide should be punished in front of the whole world so
everyone else would know that genocide is an forgiven crime and now one who does it shall escape from justice.
But if everyone sees it happening and doesn’t do anything to stop it and apparently the civilians have to protect
themselves against their own army then genocide will never stop. There must be a way of seeing such crimes and
protecting humans from their unfair and inhumane government system.
Bibliography:
"United Human Rights Council." United Human Rights Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014. <http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/
genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm>.
"'Health of 1000s at risk in Myanmar'." PressTV. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014. <http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/29/305976/health-
of-1000s-at-risk-in-myanmar/>.
"What an open mind can learn." : 2013-04-07. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2014. <http://
somethingthatdescribesmeandmyarticles.blogspot.com/2013_04_07_archive.html>.
"Genocide." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 12 June 2014. <http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/treaties/genocide.asp>.
"Rising levels of violence in Syria resulting in growing humanitarian needs – UN official." . UN News Center, n.d. Web. 12 June 2014.
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47961#.U5lhgsbZopE>.
