The peacekeepers who were sent to Rwanda were unable to intervene effectively despite the requests from Canadian general Roméo Dallaire for reinforcements from the United Nations (UN).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
After German colonization in 1898 and Belgian colonization in 1923, relations deteriorated between the Tutsis and the Hutus of Rwanda. When Belgian authorities of the colony discovered (around 1959) that Tutsi leaders were lobbying for control of Belgium, they encouraged the Hutus to rise up against the would-be Tutsi usurpers. What ensued was the massacre of tens of thousands of Tutsis, and power fell into the hands of the Hutus who gained independence from Rwanda in 1962. Tutsis took refuge in Uganda and founded the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).

SUMMARY
In 1973, a coup d'etat organized by the Hutu extremist General Juvenal Habyarimana, overthrew the existing government. This dictator encouraged discrimination between the Hutus and the Tutsis. In 1990, violent clashes broke out between Habyarimana's and RPF's armies. Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus also became the targets of attacks by Habyarimana's forces. Despite the signature of the Arusha Declaration of 1993, the conflict worsened after the suspicious death of Habyarimana in 1994. The massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. The Peacekeepers, who were assigned to the site to keep the peace (led by Canadian General Roméo Dallaire) found themselves powerless in the face of this all-out genocide taking place before their very eyes. Indeed, insufficient troops, coupled with a restricted mandate - they had initially been dispatched to oversee that the parties conformed to the Arusha Declaration - hampered the Peacekeepers; they could not intervene effectively despite the intense pressure applied to the UN by General Dallaire for more troops and equipment. In less than four months, the death toll reached one million, most of the victims being Tutsis and moderate Hutus. When the RPF took power, more than two million Hutus fled to border countries. They eventually returned under the supervision of the UN with the approval of the Rwanda Patriotic Front but then food shortages reached crisis levels with one third of the population suffering from malnutrition. There were also many orphans and increasing cases of AIDS.

Concepts
Colonization
Expansion of a country seeking to occupy and exploit foreign lands.

Tutsi
Although ethnic differences existed well before colonization, those differences were reinforced under Belgian influence. The Tutsis were the dominant upper class and lived in the belief of their supremacy over various ethnic groups, notably the Hutus.

Hutu
Although ethnic differences existed well before colonization, those differences were reinforced under Belgian influence. The Hutus were the lowest class in Rwandan and Ugandan society.

Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)
Group of Rwandan Tutsis who fled to Uganda after the massacre of their people by the Hutus and who wished to regain power in Rwanda.

Coup d'etat (insurrection)
Act of rising up, revolting against an established power.

Dictator
Political person who has absolute power within an authoritarian political system maintained by violence.

Discrimination
Different treatment granted to a group of persons in relation to (and usually in favour of) another group.

Peacekeeper
Armed force mandated by the UN, whose mission is to ensure that peace is maintained. Lester B. Pearson conceived the idea of such a force in 1956 during a General Meeting of the United Nations. The soldiers serving in the force are called peacekeepers. They wear blue helmets that clearly differentiate them from enemy forces known as Belligerants.

Genocide
Crime which aims to exterminate a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The first time the word "genocide" was used specifically on an international basis was during the war crime hearings at Nuremberg, when Nazi wartime criminals were tried on August 8, 1945 by the London Treaty.

Border countries (of Rwanda)
Countries which share borders with Rwanda and which allowed entrance to many Rwandan refugees. These border countries include Zaire, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania.