Review: Stories From Rwanda

A detailed Summary of Review: Stories From Rwanda

The stories from the genocide in Rwanda display many imperfections in human civilization. There are tragic moral flaws that Gourevitch makes very evident throughout the book. These flaws apply to the Rwandans that partook in the genocide, the leaders of the Rwanda and it's neighboring countries, and the international countries that stood by and watched the horrific event take place. Philip Gourevitch gives a complete story of the genocide through many first hand accounts, interviews, and puts in his perspective relative to the genocide. I first would like to give an overview of the events that led to the genocide and then explore some of the topics that Gourevitch argues.

Rwanda's inhabitant's origins are largely unknown. The Tutsi people are segregated from the Hutu because of appearance and history. The Tutsi have noses that are thinner than that of the Hutus, have straighter hair, and are taller and skinner. They are, by legend, known to have come from north and east Africa. The Hutu people on the other hand, came from the south and the west of Africa and have opposite traits of the Tutsi. Over time the Tutsi and the Hutu intermarried and crossed heredit

In the early 1960's violence broke out between the Hutu and Tutsi because the Hutu began to demand a change in the system. At this time a Tutsi Diaspora developed because of the harsh treatment of Tutsi. A "social revolution" was underway and was fueled by a Belgian named Guy Logiest who openly supported the Hutu. Colonel Logiest staged a countrywide coup d'tat that replaces Tutsi leaders with Hutus. In 1962, Rwanda was granted full independence and Hutu president Gregoire Kayibanda took the presidency. Under Kayibanda violent acts against Tutsi were regular occurrences and the Tutsi place in society kept declining. In 1973 General Habyarimana took power of Rwanda and called for a stop in violence against the Tutsi. Habyarimana continued to tighten his grip on Rwanda as he refused to let the Tutsi return from their refugee positions mainly in Uganda. In 1986 Rwanda's economy collapsed and Habyarimana's power began to slip away and be controlled by the powerful group of northwesterners in Rwanda. The beginning of the end for Habyarimana agreed in 1990 to establish a multiple political party in Rwanda. The start of the major events that occurred over the next few years began with the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) formed by Tutsi refugees, attacking the northeast border of Rwanda. Though they posed no danger to the Hutu based government but the Hutu extremists took full opportunity of the attacks and began to persecute Rwandan Tutsis. The RPF continued to battle against Rwanda. In 1993, at a conference in Arusha, Tanzania, President Habyarimana signed a peace agreement with the RPF. By signing the peace agreement the president sealed his death, as the Hutu Power leaders accused him of treason. President Habyarimana was killed on April 6, 1994 as he was returning from Tanzania on an airplane. His plane was shot down and crashed near Kigali, leaving everyone aboard dead. Directly after Habyarimana's death the mass killings of Tutsi began. Every Hutu was called upon to kill Tutsi and small oraginzations known as interahamwe were formed to organize the killings. Radio broadcasts encouraged the killers and spread propaganda for Hutu power throughout the country. UNIMAR was the only protection of Tutsi left in Rwanda. They knew of the coming genocide but could do nothing except ask for aid from the United Nations. After the killing of ten Belgian troops on April 14, 1994, UNIMAR pulled out of Rwanda, leaving the Tutsi completely helpless. Hutu power now had a free hand in the killing of Tutsi. The murdering of Tutsi continued until the RPF invaded Rwanda and pushed the Hutu Power and all of the Hutu murders out of Rwanda. By this time it was too late to save Tutsi's because most had already been killed. The Hutu fled to Zaire where they were protected by President Mobutu and aided by UNHCR and other foreign aid. The killings of both Hutu and Tutsi continued and eventually the Hutu refugees were brought back to live

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Approximate Word count = 1991
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics