What best explains the cause of the genocide in Rwanda?
Many academics have reached a consensus that the central cause of the genocide is clear: it was the result of an over-powerful government and regional elite attempting to maintain their hold on power by creating ethnic tensions (Uvin 1997; Newsbury 1995).
What was the ethnic conflict in Rwanda?
During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority.
What caused the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi?
Generally, the Hutu-Tutsi strife stems from class warfare, with the Tutsis perceived to have greater wealth and social status (as well as favoring cattle ranching over what is seen as the lower-class farming of the Hutus).
What are the effects of ethnic conflict?
In addition, ethnic conflicts have very direct effects far beyond their epicentres. Those involve refugee flows, internal displacement, regional instability, economic failures, environmental disasters, diffusion and spillover effects, and conditions favourable to organized crime and terrorism.
What are the major causes of ethnic conflict?
Ethnic conflict arises if ethnic groups compete for the same goal—notably power, access to resources, or territory. The interests of a society’s elite class play an important role in mobilizing ethnic groups to engage in ethnic conflicts. Ethnic conflict is thus similar to other political interest conflicts.
Is there still ethnic tension in Rwanda?
Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There have always been disagreements between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, but the animosity between them has grown substantially since the colonial period. However, Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus, with some saying their origins lie in Ethiopia.
What was the significance of Operation Turquoise?
The charges raised against the French army during Operation Turquoise from June to August 1994 are of “complicity of genocide and/or complicity of crimes against humanity.” The victims allege that French soldiers engaged in Operation Turquoise helped Interahamwe militias in finding their victims, and have themselves …