Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution

Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

Assignment 1

Report: Rwandan Genocide

Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

Executive Summary
The Rwandan Genocide is a conflict that happened in the late 20 th century, a civil dispute that lasted
all of three months yet had devasting casualties. This study researched into the origins of this
conflict to find out what started such discord within the country of Rwanda between the major
actors that caused such violence during the civil unrest and what the main sources of violence were.
The conclusion drawn upon these factors and further analysis concluded that conflict resolution
related to the Rwandan genocide had virtually no existence, and that the repercussions of the
minimal to no action taken to resolve such a strife can still be felt today throughout the international
community.
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
Conflict Origins......................................................................................................................................4
Key Actors..............................................................................................................................................5
Conflict Sources.....................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................8
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

Introduction
The scope of this report is to illustrate my findings on the Rwandan genocide, the massacring of an
ethnic group that led to worldwide coverage and international intervention efforts. This report is to
provide an understanding of the origins of the conflict which dates to Rwanda’s colonial period
where tensions were only beginning to rise and the main actors of the genocide ranging from the
government officials of Rwanda, the Hutu extremists, and the international community. The sources
of the conflict being cultural and economic with political struggles during this period have also been
intertwined to create the conflict that attributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths and a conflict
hard to resolve. The focus of this report is to assess how effective conflict resolution in the Rwandan
genocide was, with only the establishment of the current Rwandan government and the military
service of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) defeating the Hutu-led government and allied militias to
end the conflict proving other parties involved in the resolution to be ineffective.

Conflict Origins
In 1994, Rwanda experienced a large-scale slaughter known as the Rwandan genocide, claiming the
lives of approximately 800 000 people, an ethnic cleansing targeting primarily targeting ethnic Tutsis
as well as moderate Hutus (BBC, 2019). The individuals responsible for carrying out the genocide
were members of the Hutu majority government as well as their supporters with the main goal of
eliminating the Tutsi minority (Corey, A & Joireman, S.F, 2004, pp. 75). Tensions first began between
the two groups after the country gained independence in 1962, which caused political instability as it
came after a colonial period when the Belgian colonial administration accommodated for the Tutsi
minority over the Hutu majority (Ileri, M.B., 2021, pp. 7). The RPF in 1990, a Tutsi-led rebel group
sparked a civil war within the country that spanned over many years due to their invasion through
Uganda (Reyntjens, F., 2005), and 3 years later in 1993, the Arusha Accords were signed so that any
power struggles between the Hutu-dominated government and the RPF could subside at a given
framework (United Nations Peacemaker, 1993). However, the assassination of then Rwandan
President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994 whom was a Hutu, sparked a wave of mass violence
across the country (BBC, 2011). This violence was back by the Hutu government and those who
backed them which launched the systematic killings of the Tutsi population (History, 2022). Due to
this structured campaign like massacre, the violence exude during the Rwandan genocide is a
combination of direct and structural. Structural violence refers to any damage whether emotional or
physical caused by manipulating social, political, and social settings (Rutherford, A, et al, 2007, pp.
676) which can be seen prior to the genocide as power imbalances between the two groups existed
during the Belgian colonial administration as the Tutsi minority was favoured (Britannica, 2023),
which persisted after the country gained independence as poverty and human rights abuses were
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

not the main focus of the Arusha Accords (Storey, A 2012). Direct violence refers to physical violence
such as murders (Harvard Divinity School, 2023) which can be seen throughout the entirety of the
genocide. The Uppsala Conflict Data Project (UCDP) measures most, if not all deaths within Rwanda
that relate to Rwanda to be related to this genocide. The deaths portrayed in the events between
1993-1995 were committed in an act of state-based and one-sided violence, by violent rebel groups
and the Rwandan government themselves (Uppsala Conflict Data Program, 2023). The origins of this
conflict can be seen years prior and within many actors that also do not have any recognised
international sovereignty, yet the consequences throughout that period for 21 st century conflict
resolution in the international political arena is still felt.

Key Actors
The Rwandan genocide consisted of actors who played a direct and indirect role in the resolution of
the violence. The actors that were involved in this genocide were of a great significance as their
actions, or inaction, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The Hutu extremist
groups were essential actors during this conflict as they were the groups responsible for the
organisation and putting the killings into effect (Human Rights Watch, 2006). These hate groups
included members of Interahamwe, a militia group run by Hutu extremists (Britannica, 2023), backed
by other groupings who were influenced by government spread hate propaganda like the radio
station, RTLM (Green, L.L., 2001, pp.733). The Interahamwe carried out a lot of the killings with
boorish weaponry to murder Tutsis, with these actions being sparked from a deep hatred they have
for the ethnic group (Umutesi, M.B., 2004). Without these groups, the genocide could not have
happened to the scale nor the efficiency to how it happened. Rwandan government officials were
also a key actor in the genocide as they would either turn a blind eye to any forms of violence or
support it (Power, S 2001). The Hutu-officer led Rwandan army took part in a lot of the killings
alongside the Interahamwe hate group (McGreal, C, 2008). As mentioned previously, the radio
station RTLM had a significant part in spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda to incite violence (Chalk, F.,
2017, pp. 99). The duplicity of the Rwandan government officials allowed for more severe killings on
a much wider scale. The international community, for their inability to stop the genocide by
inadequately intervening, make them key actors also for what they had not done. The United
Nations (UN), and Western powers such as the United States were all complicit. The UN had no
organisation of any action to interpose, despite warnings from Rwandan officials (Dorn, A.W &
Matloff, J, 2000). Western powers like the United States were averse to interfering because of
concerns about costs and the risks of their intervention (PBS, 2004). These failures from the
international community to effectively intervene led to the tragic consequences of for the Rwandan
people and has since been criticised as a moral failure (Martiz, D, 2012). The main actors in the
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

Rwandan genocide are important as their action and inaction had a profound impact on the events
in Rwanda. The understanding of what the actors roles and motivations were are pivotal for
understanding what happened during the conflict and how to prevent future violence with better
conflict resolution.

Conflict Sources
The genocide that took place in Rwanda was tragic and complex, involving many factors at the
source of the violence that evolved through different phases throughout the span of the conflict.
Distinctions between the Tutsi and Hutu people were not based on ethnicities, rather it was more of
a cultural and socio-economic divide (Buckley-Zistel, S., 2006, pp. 112). Though the system of
identification cards being categorised based off ethnicities added to the divide between the two
groups (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 201). In the lead up to the genocide, the use of
dehumanizing propaganda against the Tutsi people by Hutu extremist groups and portraying them
as national threats is what set the groups apart more so than their previous historical, cultural and
economic disparity struggles (Ndahiro, K, 2019). The reason for the genocide in Rwanda was due to
the many different ethnic grievances that people had. The main reason for wanting to kill all the
Tutsi people was because they were different from the other Rwandans. The goal of the genocide
was to wipe them all out (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2021). These sources of
conflict are how to “greed and grievance” model applies, a model that explains how a civil unrest or
other forms of violent interactions arise due to groups either wanting control over resources and
gain opportunities or how groups fight due to feeling discriminated against or marginalised ( Keen,
D., 2012). Rather than having a desire for control or gain opportunities through economic means,
the primary cause of the conflict was the ethnic differences between the Tutsi and Hutu. Therefore
the “grievance” model is more applicable to understand the conflict sources. The conflict also
changed drastically as the conflict continued as the militias and Hutu government changed tactics
(Beauchamp, Z, 2014). In the early days of the conflict, the violence had already intensified to a point
of roadblocks had been set up for extermination and being shot, burned, or hacked to death were
common practices (Mitchell, J., 2007). Even after international pressure to stop the killings, the
Rwandan government did nothing and the violence only intensified with the government arming
more sophisticated tactics such as bulldozing people and burying them alive (McGreal, C, 2004). The
way that the violence exponentially increased over the three-month duration of the genocide was
exacerbated by the group’s mutual hatred for each other through ethnic divides. The sources of the
conflict through the lens of models and the continuous build of up violence showcases the lack of
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

response or resolution by immediate and surrounding parties, showing and conflict resolution was
unsuccessful in the case of the Rwandan genocide.

Conclusion
The Rwandan genocide was an appalling loss of life in an act of violence that spanned across three
months, with little to no conflict resolution to stop the acts being committed. International actors
and high-profile actors within Rwanda had primitive knowledge of the structural, one-sided conflict
that enveloped the country and the actions and inactions of these actors exacerbated the violence
to a severe case. The origins of the conflict stemmed from decades prior and the sources or the
violence showcased how a deeply rooted the systematic oppression and injustices of the country
was for a genocide to happen as the scale that it was happening for so long. The Rwandan genocide
was a conflict resolution fail and for 21 st century peacemakers to look back on with disdain as this
reports finding shows nothing positive for conflict resolution during this dispute.
Student Name: Alexander Bozinov Conflict Resolution
Student ID: 104028048 Assignment 1: Report

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