Thursday, September 12, I attended a discussion on the Rwandan Genocide. Though I have had heard of the Rwandan Genocide and knew the parties involved, I have never talked about it in great detail. Despite this discussion being brief, I gained great understanding of the history of the genocide, the reasonings behind it, and the aftermath. One of the biggest reasons as to why a genocide occurred, was because of the Us vs. Them mentality of Rwandan’s constructed social groups. The genocide occurred between the Hutu and Tutsis. It is estimated around one million people died, and around 250,000 women were raped. One of the bits of information that stuck me, there were a lot of neighbors killing neighbors. The catalyst of the genocide was a plane crash, which resulted in the death of the president. To this day, little is known about why this crash occurred. There are lots of conspiracy theories as to what happened. We also talked about what happened after the genocide, and how Rwanda dealt with the mass numbers of those who committed acts of genocide. Rwanda doesn’t have the death penalty, and the max number of years of a prison sentence is about 25 years. If an individual pleaded guilty to committing an act of genocide, even if they didn’t do it, they could spend half of their sentence in a TGI camp. These camps were designed to help rebuild Rwanda’s infrastructure. Allowing for individuals to spend part of their sentence not in a federal prison, helped with overcrowding. Currently Rwanda is facing unique circumstances. Many of the individuals imprisoned are being released. Here’s what I found extremely interesting: these individuals are going back home, and in many cases, living next to their neighbors whose families they killed. The survivors of the genocide are welcoming them back into their homes, by hosting parties and other celebrations. Looking at this situation, it might strike one as odd, however many fear if they don’t focus on reconciliation, another genocide will occur. Another point we discussed was how genocides interrupt the life plan. Much of Rwanda’s infrastructure was destroyed. Those who survived the genocide suffered because the damage to infrastructure made it practically impossible to continue with an education or to find a steady job.
Perhaps the one thing continuing to stick with me several days after the discussion, is how genocides occur without other countries making an effort to stop them. After they come to an end and the damage is done do genocides get labeled as such. Discussing the definition of “genocide”, the presenter mentioned the five components. They included killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. For me, it’s hard not to think about the children at the southern border of the United States, as many are being taken from there families. The role the U.S. plays in this conflict will be discussed in the future. Though perhaps not on the same level as the Rwandan genocide, the events taking place will certainly cause future generations to think if only someone had done something sooner.