1. Rwanda
Timeline to Genocide

2. Genocide
Genocide is a term defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
Killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

3. Rwanda Genocide
The Rwandan genocide was the systematic massacre of an estimated 1,000,000 Tutsi tribe members and moderate Hutus in Rwanda
The killing was mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu militia groups, Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi
The massacre lasted approximately 100 days from April to mid-July, 1994

4. Rwanda-History 3 tribes of people that inhabit Rwanda
Twa, the original inhabitants
Hutus, migrated in 1000 A.D.
Tutsi, migrated in the 14th or 15th century

5. Rwanda-History (Continued)
The Tutsis tribe of people gained a large dominance over the Hutus
By the late 18th century, a single Tutsi-ruled state occupied most of the present day Rwanda
The rule was headed by a Tutsi King who controlled the land and gave power over the regions to the Tutsi groups
The Tutsis, in turn, dominated the Hutus, who had the majority of the population-The population of Rwanda was :
75% Hutu
20% Tutsi
5% Twa

6. Rwanda 1890
In 1890, Rwanda accepted German rule without resistance and became part of the German East Africa
Germany issued almost no rule over the affairs of the country and initiated no economic development
Tutsis still ruled the country

7. Rwanda 1916-1919 During WW1 (1916), Belgian forces occupied Rwanda
In 1919 it became part of the Belgian League of Nations
Social Structure was not altered
Christian missionary work of converting the locals to Roman Catholicism was undertaken

8. Rwanda 1933
Before the Belgian rule, Hutus and Tutsis lived together as neighbours
When the Belgians took power in Rwanda, they gave political power to the Tutsis
Eugenics movement began-Scientists came and looked for differences between the Hutus and Tutsis
Tutsis were considered to have Caucasian ancestry (through lighter skin, larger skulls) and therefore were ‘superior’ to Hutus

9. Rwanda 1933 (continued)
One of the major contributing factors to the split of ethnic groups was the creation of group classification on ID cards in 1933
The Belgian government introduced a rigid racial concept of group identity where it had not previously existed-the ID cards now stated if the individual was Twa, Hutu or Tutsi
Another important factor was the repeated decision by the Rwandan Government (after independence in 1962) to retain the group classifications on ID cards

10. Rwanda
The Belgians gave the majority of political control to the Tutsis
Tutsis began to believe the myth of their superior racial status and exploited their power over the Hutu majority
Created a resentment of the Tutsis by the Hutu people

11. Rwanda 1959
The Hutus felt that the new king had not been chosen democratically and fighting broke out between the Hutus and the Tutsis (who were aided by the Twa)
The Hutus emerged victorious, and some 100,000 Tutsis, including the king at the time fled the country

12. Rwanda
Hutu political parties won the election in 1960, and they named a new prime minister
In 1961, a republic was proclaimed, and Belgium granted independence to Rwanda on July 1, 1962.
Ethnic Identification was kept on ID cards in Rwanda

13. Rwanda
Grégoire Kayibanda was elected as the first president and stayed in power until 1972
During this time, there were many battles between the Tutsis who had fled to neighbouring countries and the Hutus in Rwanda

14. Rwanda
In July of 1973, a moderate Hutu military group toppled the government
A new constitution was created and the General of the military group was elected president of Rwanda
Due to continued fighting, over 50,000 refugees fled from Rwanda to Burundi during this period

15. Rwanda
In 1990, Rwanda was invaded from Uganda by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), made up mainly of Tutsi refugees. The invasion was unsuccessful, but the president of Rwanda agreed to share the power of the country
In 1993, a power-sharing agreement was signed between Hutus and Tutsis

16. Rwanda 1994
In April 1994, the president of Rwanda and the president of Burundi were killed in a suspicious plane crash
Civil strife erupted on a massive scale
Rwandan soldiers and Hutu gangs slaughtered an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus

17. Rwanda Today Rwanda is struggling to heal and rebuild
It is showing signs of rapid development
Many Hutu members have returned to Rwanda
The government has promoted reconciliation and economic development

18. BBC Media Presentation
Click on the following link:
Warning-some images may be disturbing

19. Resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide

20. Milgram’s Obedience Experiment
The Milgram experiment was a series of famous scientific studies of social psychology, intended to measure the willingness of a participant to obey an authority who instructs the participant to do something that may conflict with the participant's personal conscience
The experiments were designed to understand how people can carry out horrific acts against others
The experiment showed that ordinary people could be persuaded to give what appeared to be lethal electric shocks to another when persuaded by authority figures

21. Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (continued)
Although the genocide was a terrible act, there were many factors that led to the massacre of 1,000,000 people
the people who were actually doing these are not considered ‘bad people’. They were following orders from their superiors. Psychologists have studied this and found that humans will knowingly inflict pain on others simply if they were following orders
The Milgram’s Experiment is an example of this
The soldiers were not to blame; it was the leaders on both sides are the ones that should be considered bad