Rwanda Republic By Melissa Ing Summary Rwanda is

Rwanda Republic By Melissa Ing

Summary • Rwanda is home to over ten million people and is a beautiful country with lots of fertile soil. • The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's ethnic based classes: Tutsis, Twas and Hutu. • Between 800, 000 to a million have been killed in one of the world’s worst genocides (extermination of an ethnic group or tribe) • Media played a crucial role in the genocide: local print and radio media fueled the killings, while the international media either ignored or seriously misconstrued events on the ground. (this started after some Hutus presidents got assassinated and then a Hutus controlled radio station started blaming the Tutsis)

Canada’s Involvement • Dallaire argued that with 5, 000 well-equipped soldiers and a free hand to fight Hutu power, he could bring the genocide to a rapid halt. The U. N. turned him down. He asked the U. S. to block the Hutu radio transmissions. The Clinton administration refused to do even that. • With scant resources and one satellite telephone for the whole mission. Dallaire was able to maintain safe areas for those 20, 000 terrorized Rwandans. But he could do little else, and the killing continued. • Gen. Romeo Dallaire defied U. N. orders to withdraw from Rwanda. Without the authority, manpower, or equipment to stop the slaughter, he saved the lives he could but nearly lost his sanity. • Dallaire sees this mission as a complete failure but to others they see this as a remarkable feat done with little supplies and troops.

Outcome • The definite end to the Rwandan Genocide occurred when Tutsi rebel groups under Paul Kagame (the current President of Rwanda) entered Rwanda and pushed the extremist militias and the government out of the country. • However, the conflict didn't stop totally but moved to Burundi and the Kivu area instead creating conflict over there.