The killings were an attempt by a radical splinter, the Hutu Power, of the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, to eliminate a small minority, the Tutsis. The beginning of the genocide is usually traced to April 6, 1994 when a plane crashed with Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimanya on board. However, roots the genocide were established much earlier; the Hutu Power militia was being armed and trained for months before. Their intention was known to all; the Hutus had announced, over the radio and through various other channels, that they were going to exterminate the Tutsis. Within hours of the crash barricades had been set up around the capital. Anyone passing through was required to show identification papers, and all Tutsis were kill

Now that the genocide in Rwanda has ceased the countries that are partly responsible are attempting to shift the blame elsewhere, even to the Catholic Church. The French, who are arguably mostly to blame, conducted a parliamentary inquiry that deflected blame to US and UN policy. Now the top Catholic official in Rwanda, Bishop Misago, is being tried for the planning and execution of genocide, even though the 300-page evidence file contains no evidence of the actual crime. Many people believe that he is simply a scapegoat used by the governments who did nothing. An CNN.com article said it best, "The apparent sloppiness of the prosecution's case, the witnesses who contradict each other, and the apparent disregard of evidence pointing to Misago's innocence- such as the testimony of a worker in the bishopric who says Misago parted with large sums of money to keep the genocide at bay- seem to confirm that this is a political trial against the Catholic Church." Apparently the government wants the Catholic Church to pay for not offering protection against a mob of armed killers when the largest human rights organization on earth did nothing. The unarmed clergymen would have been slaughtered along side those they were trying to protect, however the tribunal is ignoring that fact and labeling them as mass murderers while the officials who truly allowed the genocide to occur are being neglected.

ed on the spot. Soon killings were occurring all over the country and the Tutsis were not the only victims, lists of moderate Hutus had been drawn up, and the people on that list were killed as well. Other Hutus who would not participate in the killing were slaughtered, in this way many people who w

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Approximate Word count = 1144
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)