Tension Erupts

                During President Habyarimana’s reign, Rwanda was clearly set on a tract for lands of bleak desolation. Despite the fact that the economy barely avoided collapse, and that his office was shockingly corrupt, ethnic tension peaked. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) comprised of Tutsi exiles, as well as supporters, began fighting in order to gain reformation. This newly militarized, long standing conflict between two ethnicities led to the desecration of a nation and its peoples.

                On October 1, 1990 the RPF launched an invasion of Rwanda from Uganda, they were quickly suppressed, and Habyarimana went about strengthening his forces.(13) The UN attempted to step in to reform Habyarimana in 1993 with the Arusha Agreement,(14) the Agreement was not accepted, and the UN essentially sat and watched as the future horrors unfolded. On April 6, 1994 President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, (15) shortly after, the well planned massacres began. The unabated killings of Tutsi continued for weeks, with thousands of Tutsi being executed a day. The government even encouraged civilians to take place in the massacres, to go out and kill their Tutsi neighbor. The RPF was finally able to forcibly take control of the country, abolish the government, and end the mass murders. All in all, near 1,000,000 Tutsi and Tutsi supports were victim to the vile genocide. Families were destroyed, children orphaned, and bodies were strewn decaying in the sun. (16)

                The International community did near nothing to stop this tragic event, finally stepping in to help repair. Millions of refugees took shelter in refugee camps, however this also led to the spread of deadly diseases and shortages of food and water. Statistics taken by the UN reveal a shocking story from the perspective of the young, “99.9 percent of children witnessed violence. 69.5 percent witnessed someone being killed or injured, 90.6 percent believed they would die, 87.5 percent saw dead bodies or parts of bodies.”(17) Everything that had previously transcended was mere buildup to this final atrocious finale which had been so long coming. However, though it has not completely disappeared, racial tension is gradually reducing.

                With strongly supported RPF founder President Kagame at the helm, the nation of Rwanda is making a slow but sure recovery. One of the main goals of which is to dissipate any remaining hatred lingering between the two ethnicities. Though the RPF could have mounted revenge to the genocide, they chose instead the path of reconciliation, a path which is to the behoovement of the people. Atrocities of unimaginable magnitude befell a people who have struggled to accept that they are indeed one people.   Hutu, Tutsi, Rwandan, as is the philosophy of the future.