On September 2, 1998, Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of the Rwandan town Taba, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the behaviour he engaged in and supervised during the Rwandan Genocide. (Obadina, 2007) It was the world’s first conviction of the newly defined crime of genocide, set down by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a court established by the United Nations. (Melvern, 2006) This was the first step in justice for the Rwandan people for the genocide that occurred in 1994. This nightmare event started on June 6 1994 when Rwandan President Habyarimana was killed after a missile shot down his plane. Almost simultaneously, Hutu extremists quickly seized control of the government. (Horvitz, 2006) Over the following hundred days, 8000 Rwandans a day were slaughtered, based on their race. Approximately ten percent of the countries population was murdered, ninety percent of those were Tutsis, or Tutsi sympathises. (Melvern, 2006) The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that combined in the lead up to the Rwandan genocide are numerous, but almost all come down to the history of a country separated by power and ethnicity.
In order for an understanding of the events that took place in Rwanada, the comprehension of the word genocide is essential. The term ‘genocide’ can literally be defined as race killing. (Melvern, 2006) It is taken from the Greek word ‘geno‘ meaning race or tribe, and the Latin word ‘-cide’ meaning killing. The term was created in 1948 by Jewish-Polish lawyer, Raphael Lempkin, to describe the Nazis policies of methodical murder, during world war two. (Horvitz, 2006) In 1948, with the memory of the Holocaust fresh in their minds, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Genocide could now be defined as an international crime. It classifies genocide as:Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. (Horvitz, 2006)
It was this convention that allowed the Hutu extremists to be convicted of their crimes.
There are many events that need to take place before genocide occurs. Classification is the first, defining the population into ‘us and them’. In the case of Rwanda, the classification of Tutsi and Hutu has been around for decades. (Obadina, 2007) Over history, being Hutu was associated with being in a lower class, and being Tutsi was associated with being of a higher social status. The classification between the two clusters was originally about ethnic groups, developed into power distinctions. (Horvitz, 2006) The next events are symbolisation and identification. Again, these steps occurred many years before the genocide. When the Belgians took over Rwanda in 1918, they issued racial identification cards. The Belgians continued to favor Tutsis over Hutus for positions of power. (Melvern, 2006) Polarization, separation of the two groups has occurred through out Rwanda’s history, to the point that Hutus could go through a process called Kwihutura to ‘shed their Hutuness’ and become of a higher social status by gaining wealth. (Obadina, 2007) Likewise a Tutsi could go through the process called Gucupia, when they lost possessions, moving them down in the social hierarchy. Organisation of the extremist groups involved, and preparation for the mass murders. This involves the take over, or involvement of the government, the plans for genocidal killings, such as death lists being drawn up. Hutu racial groups funded and organised by the government were formed, and it was leaked that there was intentions to exterminate the Tutsi race. (Melvern, 2006) Dehumanisation of the Tutsi people begin, messages of hate and fear were spread across the country, using a radio station. Hutu’s were encouraged to use violence on their neighboring Tutsis. (Melvern, 2006) The next level of action is extermination, the systematic killing of a race. This lasted for one hundred days and approximately eight hundred thousand Tutsis and Tutsi sympathisers were murdered. The 
killings occur rapidly and without remorse.
killings occur rapidly and without remorse. The final event that takes place is denial. The denial can be from the people who committed the genocide, or the neighboring countries or nations denying what happening in the country that is suffering. (Melvern, 2006) In the case of Rwanda, it was the outside world not sending aid and admitting that the events occurring in Rwanda were genocide.
The history of the country seems to play an important role in the social psychological variables that influence the occurrence of genocide. The age old prejudice that has existed between the Tutsi and the Hutu people seemed almost predictable when looking back at the countries history. (Horvitz, 2006)The association of wealth and power with the Tutsi people, led the Hutu’s to form a social revolution in 1959, which ended in twenty thousand Tutsi people being murdered, and a further two hundred thousand to flee the country. (Melvern, 2006) All of the factors that mentioned above have to be present, along with a strong history of prejudice and discrimination to influence the genocide of a race. Each stage is influenced by the one before it, escalating the situation to the extreme action of genocide.
There are many social psychological factors that contribute to genocide. The most distinguished reason is extreme prejudice and discrimination. Another prominent cause is the theory of ‘groupthink’. (Baumeister, 2008) ‘Groupthink’ is the type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict without evaluating ideas. Members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints that contradict or lay outside of what the ‘group’ thinks. In the case of genocide this plays a large role. It could explain why, in particular circumstances; groups of people make irrational decisions and behave in ways that are outside the realm of their ‘normal’ behaviour. (Wood, 2004)
The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that come together to create genocide, are influenced by the history of the country, and the racial tension caused by extreme racism and discrimination. (Obadina, 2007) These variables are classification, symbolisation, identification, organization, polarization, preparation, dehumanization, extermination and denial. The Rwandan genocide exhibited all of these factors, in conjunction with a racial war that had been present for decades, as well as a history of violence, and a corrupt government. (Melvern, 2006) Each variable was influenced by the next, for example symbolisation and identification were influenced by classification.
The only piece of mind that comes from such a horrendous crime as the Rwandan genocide is that the crime is punishable by international law. The United Nations and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been put in place to prevent such perfect storms of variables to occur. (Obadina, 2007)
USEFUL LINKS
This site gives up to date information about what is happening in the world in relation for genocide, it also gives a good outline of the eight steps of genocide that were used in this posting.
This site shows an insight into the Holocaust and the Rwandian Genocide, it is updated regularly.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/
An eye opening link to the documentry 'Ghosts of Rwanda'. Has a full transcript available
An eye opening link to the documentry 'Ghosts of Rwanda'. Has a full transcript available
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/index-rwanda-children.html
An insight into the children affected by the genocide.
An insight into the children affected by the genocide.
http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm
The United Human Rights Counsel homepage, has information on the Rwandan Genocide and others.
The United Human Rights Counsel homepage, has information on the Rwandan Genocide and others.
Information on the people of Rwanda
REFERENCES:
Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Horvitz, L.A., Catherwood, C., (2006) Encyclopedia of war crimes and genocide New York, USA: Schiffer Publishing
Melvern, Linda., (2006). Conspiracy to murder: the Rwandan genocide, (Rev.ed) London, UK: Verso
Obadina, Elizabeth., (2007) Ethnic groups in Africa, Philadelphia, USA: Andersen Press
Wood. 2004. Organisational Behavior: A Global Perspective. Milton; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD
