Background and Causes of the Genocide in Rwanda
![handle is hein.journals/jicj3 and id is 811 raw text is: I. How COULD IT HAPPEN?
The Background and Causes
of the Genocide in Rwanda
Paul J. Magnarella*
Abstract
This article begins with an account of significant events and socio-political relation-
ships in the history of Rwanda, leading to mass murder and genocide in 1994.
An explanation is then offered of these crimes, based on an analysis of certain
ecological, economic, cultural and political factors specific to Rwanda, but shared
to an important extent by much of East Africa.
1. Introduction
In 1994, Rwanda erupted into one of the most appalling cases of mass murder
the world had witnessed since the Second World War. The killings fell into three
broad categories: (1) combatants killing combatants; (2) Hutu citizens and
military and paramilitary forces killing Hutu citizens because the victims
were either moderates willing to live and work with Tutsi or persons whose
land and wealth the murderers wanted to appropriate; and (3) Hutu killing
Tutsi because they were Tutsi. Of these, the second and third clearly consti-
tuted grievous crimes; the third amounted to genocide. Since mass murder
and genocide are the most aberrant of human behaviour, they cry out for
explanation. In this article, I offer an analysis and explanation that involve
the consideration of those ecological, historic, economic, cultural and political
factors that I believe contributed significantly to the mass murder of Hutu and
the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda.
2. Rwanda's Ecology
Rwanda, the landlocked 'land of a thousand hills', consists of only 26,340
square kilometres, making it one of Africa's smallest countries. Its size is com-
parable to that of Burundi or Belgium. Throughout the twentieth century,
* Ph.D., J.D.; Director of Peace Studies at Warren Wilson College, USA.
[pmagnarella@warren-wilson.edu]
Journal of International Criminal Justice 3 (2005), 801-822 doi:10.1093/jicj/mqi059
D Oxford University Press, 2005, All rights reserved. For permissions please email journals.permissions@oupournals.org](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jicj3&div=67&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Background and Causes of the Genocide in Rwanda
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