http://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/witness-royal-court-theatre
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zb6xhca561rgptk/rwanda%20genocide.docx
The Rwandan Genocide was the mass murder
of around 800,000 people in 1994. It happened over the course of about 100 days and started with
the assassination of
Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6.
The first people settled in Rwanda raised cattle,
the people who owned the most cattle were called Tutsi and the other people
living in Rwanda were called Hutu. During this period you could change from
Hutu to Tutsi or Tutsi to Hutu through marriage or decreasing /increasing the
amount of cattle you owned.
The Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda
in 1894. They looked at the Rwandan people and thought the Tutsi had more
European characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller build, so they gave
the Tutsi the responsibility.
When Germany lost the war they stopped
controlling Rwanda instead the Belgians took other and they made every citizen
in Rwanda in 1933 carry a identity card. This card would say whether you were
Hutu, Tutsi or Twa (hunters-gatherers).
Tutsi took up 10
percent of the Population, Hutu nearly 90. The Belgians gave the Tutsi all the
leadership positions. When Rwanda struggled for independence from Belgium, the
Belgians switched the status of the two groups. The Hutus were now in charge of
the new government.
The animosity
between the two groups continued for decades.
The Event That
Sparked the Genocide
At 8:30 p.m. on April 6, 1994, President Juvénal
Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania when a
surface-to-air missile shot his plane out of the sky over Rwanda's capital city
of Kigali. All on board were killed in the crash. Within 24 hours after the crash, Hutu extremists had taken
over the government,
blamed the Tutsis for the assassination, and begun the slaughter.
100 Days of
Slaughter
The killings began in Rwanda's capital city of
Kigali. The Interahamwe an anti-Tutsi youth organization set up road blocks and killed any citzen
carrying a Tutsi identity cards. Most of the killing was done with machetes, clubs, or knives.
Over the next few days and weeks, more road blocks were set up around Rwanda. On
April 7, Hutu extremists began purging the government of their political
opponents, which meant both Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed. The
priminister and the peacekeepers trying to protect him were also killed. This
caused Belgium to start withdrawing its troops from Rwanda.
The
violence spread over the next few weeks. Since the government had the names and
addresses of nearly all Tutsis living in Rwanda the killers could go door to
door, slaughtering the Tutsis. Since bullets were expensive, most Tutsis were
killed by hand weapons, often machetes or clubs.
Many
were often tortured before being killed. Some of the victims were given the
option of paying for a bullet so that they'd have a quicker death.
Slaughter Inside
Churches, Hospitals, and Schools
Thousands of
Tutsis tried to escape the slaughter by hiding in churches, hospitals, schools,
and government offices. These places, which historically
have been places of refuge, were turned into places of mass murder during the Rwanda Genocide. One
of the worst massacres of the Rwanda genocide took place on April 15-16, 1994
at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church. The mayor of the town told Tutis to hide in
the church to be safe but he betrayed them, he told the hutus where they all
were. The killing began with grenades and guns, but soon changed to machetes
and clubs. Killing by hand was tiresome, so the killers took shifts. It took
two days to kill the thousands of Tutsi who were inside.
Corpses
The
Hutu extremists would not
allow the Tutsi dead to be buried. Their bodies were left where they
were slaughtered, exposed to the elements, eaten by rats and dogs. Many
Tutsi bodies were thrown into rivers, lakes, and streams.
The World Stood By
and Just Watched
Some people have
said that since Hutu moderates were killed in the early stages then some
countries believed the conflict to be more of a civil war rather than a genocide. Other research has shown that the
world powers realized it was a genocide but that they didn't want to pay for
the needed supplies and
personnel to stop it. No matter what the reason, the world should have
stepped in. They should have stopped the slaughter.
The Rwanda Genocide
Ends
The Rwanda Genocide ended only when the RPF took
over the country. The RPF
(Rwandan Patriotic Front) were a trained military group consisting of Tutsis who had been exiled
in earlier years, many of whom lived in Uganda.
The RPF were able
to enter Rwanda and slowly take over the country. In mid July 1994, when the RPF had
full control, the genocide stopped.
·
During this period, more than 6 men, women
and children were murdered every minute of every hour of every day.
This efficiency of killing was maintained for more than 3 months.
·
There are between 300,000 to 400,000
survivors of the genocide.
·
75,000 of
survivors were orphaned as a result of the genocide.
This information is relevant to the play because this is what Alex had to go through. She probably witnessed thousands of people die and she was only a young child. To be able to play her character we have to be able to understand her past. By doing this research I can now see how bad this situation was and how so many like her were orphaned. No child should ever have to go through something like this and I can use this information to understand she is slightly confused about what to do and is curious what actually did happen to her family. Having a photo taken of her by Joseph must be quite for her to witness so we can understand more about why she felt she had to leave university.
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