How European colonial powers set the stage for one of the worst atrocities in history
The genocide in Rwanda in many Western minds was a brutal conflict between savage tribes in a primitive African country.
The split between Hutus and Tutsi was neither ethnic or religious. The primary identity of all Rwandans in the pre-colonial era was originally associated with eighteen different clans including Hutu and Tutsi. Those ethnicity-based ID cards stating ‘Tutsi’ became death sentences at checkpoints during the genocide in 1994.
Violence in 1959 left 20,000 Tutsis dead and many others fled to neighbouring countries, such as Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. A Rwandan Patriotic Front soldier holds a weapon captured at Kanombe May 26, 1994 in Kigali, Rwanda. Refugees flee the genocide of more than 800,000 Tutsis and Twas in the ongoing civil war.
The French mission became directly responsible for arming, training and strengthening and growing the Rwandan Government Army - forces that would go on to orchestrate the genocide.was even appointed as a special military advisor to Habyarimana.
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