 "If the pictures of tens of thousands of human bodies being gnawed on by dogs do not wake us out of our apathy, I do not know what will." This is what Undersecretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan said when the 2nd genocide in Rwanda occurred.
An overview of the situation?
In 1994, just a year after the Hutus and the Tutsis of Rwanda signed a peace treaty, there was propaganda spread on the radio and newspapers saying the Tutsis were calling for violence, and that they were "subhumans". The Hutus organized armies and gathered weapons.
In 100 days, the Hutus had killed about 1 million people. It was low tech. Knives, spears, and machetes were used by the majority Hutu, who were trying to wipe out the minority tribe, Tutsi. One out of every four Tutsi were killed. Even Hutu who were on the Tutsis' side were killed. The world did not call the situation a genocide until a month after the genocide began. You might be wondering, how could so many people be killed in such a short period of time? Why would the Hutus do this? Learn about the genocide, watch the short, introduction video below, then click here. |