In 1996, the International Criminal Tribunal indicted both Mladic and Krstic for ‘crimes against humanity’. In July 1999, the Tribunal found that the atrocities at Srebrenica had been operating under a ‘direct chain of military command’ from Belgrade and the Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic. Before he could be brought to justice, Milosevich died on 11 March, 2006, while on trial at The Hague.
The United Nations should also feel compelled to share responsibility for allowing the massacre to happen right under their noses. They released a self-critical statement in November 1999, which stated:
Through error, misjudgement and the inability to recognize the scope of evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to save the people of Srebrenica from the Serb campaign of mass murder.
The memory of the Srebrenica men has been kept alive by their women, who have organized themselves into a group called ‘The Women of Srebrenica’. They continue to press for further forensic investigations, which so far has turned up some 3,000 bodies.
Genocide In Rwanda
Rwanda is a tiny country in Central Africa and is probably best remembered as being the subject of one of the most intensive killing campaigns ever to take place. In a period of 13 weeks after 6 April, 1994, as many as half a million people perished in a mass slaughter, almost three-quarters of the minority Tutsi population. At the same time, thousands of majority Hutus were also slain because they opposed the killing campaign and the forces that were in control of it.
Rwanda’s population is divided into two ethnic groups: the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Hutus make up the larger number and they are by tradition crop growers and farmers. Over the centuries, Hutus have attracted Tutsis from northern Africa to come and work in Rwanda and, for over 600 years, the two groups shared the same language, culture and nationality. Rwanda was first colonized by the Germans, but during World War I the country was taken over by the Belgians, who upset the balance of the community and caused a rift between the two groups. Using the strategy of ‘divide and rule’, the Belgians granted preferential status to the minority Tutsis because they were predominantly the landowners, while the Hutus mainly worked on the land. This thoughtless introduction of a class structure unsettled the stability of the Rwandan population. Proud of their new status, some of the Tutsis started to behave like aristocrats, which made the Hutus feel like the underdogs, and a political divide was formed.
To add to the already vulnerable situation, the Europeans introduced modern weapons and modern methods of war. Missionaries also came from Europe, bringing with them a new twist – they taught the Hutus to see themselves as the underdogs – which helped to inspire a revolution. With the backing of the Europeans, the Hutus chose to fight back, resulting in the loss of over 100,000 lives in the 1956 rebellion. Three years later the Hutus had seized power and were stripping the Tutsis of their land and control of Rwanda. Over 200,000 Tutsis retreated to neighbouring countries, where they formed their own army, the Rwandan Patriotric Front (RPF). The Tutsis trained their men and bided their time, waiting for the right opportunity to get their own back on the Hutus.
After their initial delight in succeeding to take power and Rwanda’s independence in 1962, the inexperienced Hutus started to face turmoil within their own government. Tension built up and, all the while aware that the Tutsis might retaliate, the Hutus started to take repressive measures. In 1990, the RPF rebels seized the moment and attacked, forcing the Hutu president, Juvénal Habyarimana into signing an agreement that sanctioned the Hutus and Tutsis would have equal power. Hutus, however, fiercely opposed any Tutsi involvement in running the government and ethic tensions heightened. The situation was made even worse when a plane carrying Burundi’s president, Melchior Ndadaye, was shot down.
Aware that the fragile ceasefire that had been put in place in 1993 was about to crumble, the UN sent a peacekeeping force of around 2,500 multinational soldiers to try and stop the aggression that was building up. The Hutus, who had openly accused the Tutsis of assassinating their president, decided that the only solution was to annihilate the entire Tutsi population. In April 1994, amid ever-increasing threats of violence, the Rwandan president, Habyarimana and the new Burundi president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, held peace meetings with the Tutsi rebels. The final straw in the camel’s back took place on 6 April, when a small plane carrying the two presidents was shot down by ground-fired missiles as it approached Kigali airport. Their deaths plunged Rwanda into a frenzied state of political violence and the genocide began.
Just 24 hours after the plane was shot down, roadblocks started to appear on the roads around Kigali, manned by the Interahamwe militia. The Interahamwe (meaning ‘Those Who Stand Together’ or ‘Those Who Fight Together’) was the most important of the militias formed by the Hutus. Tutsis were immediately separated from the Hutus and literally hacked to death with machetes on the side of the road. Victims who could afford to pay were given the option of dying from a bullet. Specially organized death squads, working from carefully prepared lists, went from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in Kigali. Not only did they murder all the Tutsis, but they picked on moderate Hutus as well, including their prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The prime minister was protected by Belgian guards, who the Hutus arrested, disarmed, tortured and then murdered, which prompted the Belgians to withdraw the remainder of its UN troops – just what the Hutus wanted.
The violence spread like wildfire, moving from Kigali into the surrounding rural areas. Via the radio, the government urged Tutsis to congregate at churches, schools and stadiums, promising that they would make these safe places of refuge. Little did they realize that by gathering in large groups they actually made themselves easy targets. Surprisingly, some of the helpless civilians were able to ward off attacks by simply using sticks and stones – that is until the joint forces of the Rwandan army and presidential guard were brought in to wipe them out with machine guns and grenades. Against this kind of attack they had no defence. In just two weeks, by 21 April, it is thought that as many as 250,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been slaughtered, making it one of the most concentrated acts of genocide ever witnessed by the world.
What made the genocide even more atrocious is the fact that it was aided and abetted by government officials, who even bribed the killers to do their dirty work. Local officials assisted in rounding up the victims, making suitable places available for the Hutus to carry out their slaughter. Men, women, children and babies alike, were killed in their thousands in schools and churches, in some cases the clergy conspired with the killers. The victims, already frozen by fear, had to bear the fact that they were being killed by people they knew – neighbours, fellow workers, sometimes even relatives by marriage.
The Interahamwe weren’t driven by drink, drugs or even mindless violence, but a fanatical dedication to fight for their cause. They were cold-blooded killers who were urged not only by the media, but also by their own government to wipe out the Tutsis. Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and were even told they could keep the land of any Tutsis that were killed.