Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T19:27:26.802Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acts of Human Kindness: Tutsi, Hutu and the Genocide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Villia Jefremovas
Villia Jefremovas*
Affiliation:
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Most press reports would have us believe that the genocide in Rwanda was the result of a “centuries-old” ethnic/tribal hatred. There is no denying that mass murder and genocide took place in Rwanda. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the most appalling way. Those killed were from all ethnic groups, Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa; but the vast majority of those killed were Tutsi. However, it is important to understand the process by which this took place: we must stop and ask if this genocide was inevitable, if it was universal, and if it was the result of ancient irreconcilable hatreds.

The reference to tribal warfare, or even ethnic conflict, implies that there are (at least) two sides fighting, and that all members of society are caught up in the killings. But in this case, the great preponderance of deaths resulted not from “conflict” but from murder.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 28 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1995 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

African Rights. 1994. “Rwanda Death, Despair and Defiance,” London.Google Scholar
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1994. “Revenge in Rwanda.” Sunday Morming Radio Program, October 23, 1994.Google Scholar
Jean-Claude, Desmarais.1978. “Le Rwanda des anthropologues: l’archéologie de l’idéologie raciale.” Anthropologies et Sociétés, 2(1): 71–93.Google Scholar
Dialogue Editorial Staff. 1994. “Merci à nos frères rwandais” Dialogue No. 177, Août-Septembre 1994: 35.Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch/Africa, 1994. “The Aftermath of Genocide in Rwanda.” New York, N.Y. September 15, 1994.Google Scholar
René, Lemarchand. 1994. Burundi: Ethnocide as Discourse and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mujawamariya, Monique. 1994. Rapport De Visite Effectuée Au Rwanda Du 1/9/94 Au 22/9/94. Montréal, P.Q., Canada: L’Association Rwandaise pour la Défense des Droits de la Personne et des Libertés Publiques (A.D.L).Google Scholar
Catharine, Newbury. 1988. The Cohesion of Oppression: Clientship and Ethnicity in Rwanda, 1860-1960. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
David, Newbury. 1994. Historical Perspectives on Ethnicity in Rwanda. Unpublished Manuscript.Google Scholar
Catharine, Newbury and Newbury, David. 1994. “Rwanda: The Politics of Turmoil.” Africa Notes. October 1994: 1–2.Google Scholar
Jennifer, Olson. 1994. “Factors Behind the Recent Tragedy in Rwanda.” Paper presented to the World Bank, Washington, D.C. 2 Nov 1994. Department of Geography and the Center for Advanced Study in International Development. Michigan State University.Google Scholar