The Rwandan Genocide: A Humanitarian Catastrophe in the Pages of History

Year 2025, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 13 - 28, 28.08.2025

Yaşar Onay

https://doi.org/10.26650/hupej.2025.2.1.1718146

Abstract

The 1994 Rwandan Genocide remains one of the most shocking humanitarian catastrophes in modern history. In just 100 days, nearly one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were brutally murdered in a systematic campaign of violence. This study explores the historical background, causes, and execution of the genocide as well as the international community’s response, legal processes, and national recon/ ciliation efforts. By applying theoretical frameworks from social psychology, international relations, and transitional justice, the article hypothesises that the genocide was a modern, state/engineered political project, enabled by elite orchestration, dehumanising propaganda, and a profound failure of international responsibility. The study adopts a comparative case methodology with discourse analysis and aims to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms behind mass atrocities and strategies for their prevention.

Keywords

Rwandan Genocide , Ethnic Violence , Dehumanisation , International Failure , Transitional Justice , Group Psychology

References

• Annan, K. (1999). Causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa United Nations. google scholar
• Anyanwu, J. C. and Erhijakpor, A. E. (2010). Does human capital matter in the finance-growth nexus? African Development Review, 22(2), 334-363. doi: 10.111l/j.1467-8268.2010.00237.x google scholar
• Arendt, H. (1963). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil. Viking Press. google scholar
• Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority Psychological Monographs, 70(9), 1-70. doi:10.1037/h0093718 google scholar
• Barnett, M. (2002). Eyewitnesses to a genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda Cornell University Press. google scholar
• Chretien, J.-P. (2003). The Great LaKes of Africa: Two thousand years of history. Zone Books. google scholar
• Clark, P. (2010). The Gacaca courts, post-genocide justice and reconciliation in Rwanda: Justice without lawyers Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Dallaire, R. (2004). Shake hands with the devil: The failure of humanity in Rwanda. Carroll and Graf. google scholar
• Des Forges, A. (1999). Leave none to tell the story: Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch. google scholar
• Fujii, L. A. (2009). Killing neighbours: Webs of violence in Rwanda Cornell University Press. google scholar
• Gourevitch, P. (1998). We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda. Picador. google scholar
• Hinton, A. L. (2005). Why did they kill? Cambodia in the shadow of genocide University of California Press. google scholar
• Holtzman, S. B., et al. (1996). Aftermath: Post-conflict recovery in Rwanda. World Bank. google scholar
• Human Rights Watch. (1996). Shattered lives: Sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath google scholar
• International MonetarY Fund (IMF). (2019). Rwanda: Staff report for the 2019 Article IV consultation. https://www.imf.org google scholar
• Jones, A. (2007). Genocide: A comprehensive introduction. Routledge. google scholar
• Kelman, H. C., & Hamilton, V. L. (1989). Crimes of obedience: Towards a social psychology of authority and responsibility Yale University Press. google scholar
• Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on moral development: Vol. 1. The philosophy of moral development. Harper and Row. google scholar
• Kuperman, A. J. (2001). Limits of humanitarian intervention: Genocide in Rwanda Brookings Institution Press. google scholar
• Mamdani, M. (2001). When victims become killers: Colonialism, nativism, and the genocide in Rwanda. Princeton UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Melvern, L. (2006). Conspiracy to murder: The Rwandan genocide Verso. google scholar
• MunYaneza, F. (2019). Ecotourism and gorilla conservation in Rwanda Rwanda Tourism Board Reports google scholar
• Myers, D. G., & Lamm, H. (1976). The group polarisation phenomenon. Psychological Bulletin, 83(4), 602-627. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.83.4.602 google scholar
• Newbury, C. (1988). The cohesion of oppression: Clientship and ethnicity in Rwanda, 1860-1960. Columbia University Press. google scholar
• Nowrojee, B. (2005). Your justice is too slow: Will the ICTR fail Rwanda’s rape victims? United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. google scholar
• Power, S. (2002). "A problem from hell": America and the age of genocide. Basic Books. google scholar
• Prunier, G. (1995). The Rwanda crisis: History of a genocide Columbia UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Schabas, W. (2006). Genocide in international law: The crime of crimes (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Spenceley, A., et al. (2017). Rwanda's tourism sector. UNWTO Publications. google scholar
• Staub, E. (1989). The roots of evil: The origins of genocide and other group violence Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Staub, E. (2011). Overcoming evil: Genocide, violent conflict, and terrorism Oxford University Press. google scholar
• Straus, S. (2006). The order of genocide: Race, power, and war in Rwanda. Cornell University Press. google scholar
• Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theorY of intergroup conflict In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Brooks/Cole. google scholar
• Transparency International. (2022). Corruption perceptions index. https://www.transparency.org google scholar
• UNHCR. 1995. Rwanda: The refugee crisis. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees google scholar
• Uvin, P. (1998). Aiding violence: The development enterprise in Rwanda. Marian Press. google scholar
• World Bank. (2000). Rwanda: Post-conflict reconstruction report. https://www.worldbank.org google scholar
• World Bank. (2022). Rwanda economic update. https://www.worldbank.org google scholar
• World Economic Forum. (2021). Rwanda: The path to recovery. https://www.weforum.org google scholar