How did this genocide occur?
This genocide occurred by Hutus hacking and clubbing Tutsis to the death
using clubs and machetes (as illustrated in the image below). When foreigners saw Rwanda's
ethnic groups, they always treated Tutsis as the higher class and gave
them higher government jobs. Hutus were in the low classes and the only
way they could move up in society was to become a servant in a Tutsi
household. The two ethnic groups are actually very similar - they spoke the same
language, inhabited in the same areas and followed the same traditions.
However, Tutsis were often taller and thinner than the Hutus. Resentment among the Hutus gradually built up, culminating in a
series of riots in 1959. More than 20,000 Tutsis were killed and many fled to neighboring countries like Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda. When Belgium relinquished power and granted Rwanda its independence
in 1962, the Hutus took over. Over the following decades, the Tutsis became the scapegoats for every crisis.
Hutus