RWANDA

RWANDA|

HUMANITY SHOULD NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN.

May 1994 : Refugees cross the Rusumo border into Tanzania from Rwanda  Photo: Reuters

Many films have been made of atrocities throughout history. The Diary of Anne Frank, Shindlers list, Blood Diamond, Desert Flower, The Gardener, In The Land of Blood Honey. Often these films make our skin crawl, make us cry, cover our eyes and sometimes our ears and some may even turn off the television. Though for millions of people around the world- it was their life. Hotel Rwanda was the film that changed my life. It was the film that made my throat tight and my heart ache. People around the world had continued to live each day, many oblivious to what was happening, whilst over 800,000 people were brutally murdered. 

In 1994- 21 years ago, I was five years old and Rwanda’s population of seven million was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu (approximately 85%), Tutsi (14%) and Twa (1%). Rwanda, a country in Africa, covers 26,338 km² and to put that in perspective, Tasmania is 90,000 km², NSW is  809,444 km² and Rwanda could be compared to the size of Maryland in the United states. It is sitting in the middle of Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda- land locked. In the early 1990s, Hutu extremists within Rwanda’s political elite began to blame the ENTIRE Tutsi  population for the country’s increasing social, economic, and political pressures. These were not groups who lived separately and were divided- no. The Hutus and Tutsis lived side by side- they were husband and wife, school teachers and students, neighbours and friends. Living together as one family, one community. 

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down. Immediately, fighting broke out.  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. Imagine, 80% of high profile politicians in Australia, murdered? 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. In the weeks after April 6, 1994, 800,000 men, women, and children died 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. In response, more than 2 million people, nearly all Hutus, fled Rwanda, crowding into refugee camps in the Congo (then called Zaire) and other neighboring countries.Remembering, Rwanda is a land-locked country, no water or ocean to escape, only land that was blocked and guarded. Entire families were killed at a time. Women were systematically and brutally raped and it is estimated that some 200,000 people participated in the Rwandan genocide- 2 times the size of the Melbourne cricket ground- fill it up twice and each person filling those seats participated in the death of over 800,000 people. Fill it up four times, each person filling those seats, murdered.

Did I mention that the Rwandan genocide- the death of 800,000 people happened in 100 days. From April to June- 3 months- 100 days- 2,400 hours. That equates to 8,000 murders a day. 800,000 people murdered in 100 days.

The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. Although the Rwandans are fully responsible for the organization and execution of the genocide, governments and peoples elsewhere all share in the shame of the crime because they failed to prevent and stop this killing campaign. The results of this hideous genocide left children orphaned and traumatised by the country’s sudden burst of violence, their parents and siblings murdered in front of them. Mothers – more than 20,000 of them – pregnant as a result of rape. Women and children missing limbs as a result of machetes wielded without mercy. 

Are you feeling grateful? You should. Are you feeling guilty? You shouldn't. We cannot change where we are born. But we can change what happens when we are. You should continue to read, learn and educate yourself. Commit to it, because it is people who change the world.

#tendaystotellme #tellmeaboutRwanda