The Great Lakes Region of Africa had one of the bloodiest acts of genocide ever seen on the planet. 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers were killed over a 100-day rampage in 1994. Now the world has put those figures into the annals of history; but it’s not over. The carnage never ended it just shifted sides. Tutsis went from victims to perpetrators and are killing Hutus by the millions.
1994 Rwandan Genocide Continues
The recent outbreak is merely a continuation of the 1994 conflict which saw such a massive loss of life. Made famous by movies (Shooting Dogs & Hotel Rwanda) the West is sensitive to its previous inaction and is more involved than in 1994.
Recall that the majority Hutu population of Rwanda went on a killing spree after the death of Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana. The minority Tutsi population was systematically rounded up and slaughtered in a killing binge that lasted over three months. The ineffectual Belgian UN force did nothing for the Tutsi people and allowed the genocide to continue. Eventually the Tutsi forces regained control and pushed the Hutu band into neighboring DRC.
Rwanda had taken the offensive and invaded the Eastern part of the DRC in 1996-1997, 1999-2003, & 2004. Committing their share of atrocities, the Tutsi-lead Rwandan government must be held accountable as they continue to exploit border areas in 2007. However, the DRC, a Hutu government, has allowed the remnants & descendants of the Rwandan Hutus (FDLR), who orchestrated the genocide in 1994, to roam across the boarder as well.
Unlike the Janjaweed Militia in Darfur’s Genocide, the FDLR is a highly-organized fighting corps. As Mark Doyle said in a November 23rd 2004 BBC News report: “According to a well-informed military analyst in this region, the Hutu FDLR…are in fact a well-organized unit with impressive military command and control. ‘They're one of the most effective armies in this region’ said the military analyst, who asked not to be named."
Racial Classification
Before the colonization of Rwanda at the end of the 18th century, the three groups (Tutsi, Hutu and Twa) were social groups rather than ethnic groups. In the past you were a Hutu if you were in agriculture and a Tutsi if you had cattle. If you changed from farming to herding, you changed from Hutu to Tutsi.
In 1926 the Belgians abolished the local posts of "land-chief" and in doing so stripped the Hutu of their limited power. Belgians attempted to divide groups based upon race and migratory patterns, but by this time the groups had intermarried, changed ethnic groups and possessed similar features. Subsequently, the Belgian’s method of classification was based on cattle. Ten or more cattle made the owner an aristocratic Tutsi.
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