h the Tutsi. This was a hoax, for the Hutu government was secretly planning revenge on the Tutsi. The revenge being planned was the extinction of the Tutsi. With help from Hutu extremists, hate propaganda, sub-humanization of Tutsi, firearms, and machetes were distributed among the Hutu citizens. The extremists assassinated the president for fear of giving in to the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s demands. Through these elements necessary for genocide, the killing began on April 6, 1994. Checkpoints were set up, covering the major routes and borders around Rwanda. These checkpoints consisted of Hutu military checking ethnic identity cards, if they were Hutu they lived, if they were Tutsi they were killed immediately. Many of the Tutsi gathered in churches, which were considered sacred, but they turned into slaughterhouses where many were massacred. The killing lasted for one hundred days. More than eight hundred thousand people were massacred, one third of the Tutsi population being wiped out. During this time there was no outside help from the United States or any other country. The UNAMIR (United nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda) were given orders to stay on “stand by” and were not allowed to intervene because they would breach their monitoring mandate. Eventually, though, the Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated the militias and the Rwandan army, and the genocide ended.Although the genocide is over, disease and war still plagues this small, poor country. Many Tutsi, trying to regain their lives in Rwanda, are still tortured and harassed by the Hutu. This is because there are many witnesses to the brutal crimes of the Hutu, and many have not been put on trial yet. Painstakingly lengthy trials have prevented many of the accused murderers from ever being put on trial. The Rwandan economy remains dependant on coffee and tea exports and foreign aid, and “the economy suffers greatly from the failure to main...
