The thousands of the ethnic Tutsis were killed during the hundred spring days in Rwanda in 1994. The open violence against the Tutsis demonstrated by the Rwandan Hutus resulted in mass killings which can be defined as the genocide against the Tutsis. However, in spite of the genocide’s tragic consequences and terrific destructions within this Central African country, the Rwandans showed the significant courage and patience to re-build the society where the Hutus and Tutsis continue to live side by side.
Thus, many countries facing the problems associated with the relations between different ethnicities can rely on the Rwandans’ experience to recover from the terrific results of the genocide because the Rwandan society changed significantly based on the positive transformations; because the government’s effective approaches to re-building the society allowed to stabilize the situation in the country; and because the genocide was ceased with references to the actions of the internal actors rather than international actors’ activities.
Today, the killers and the victims of the genocide live side by side, and the government focuses on finding the effective measures and legacies to overcome the consequences of the genocide and to state the principles of justice in the country. Although the echo of the genocide is still observed, the Rwandans did a lot to contribute to the positive social transformations and to recover from the tragedy.
From this point, the Rwandans are inclined to use the principle of operating what they have to recover instead of hoping for better opportunities. The Rwandans achieved significant successes in recovering from the genocide not only with the help of transforming the society but also because of changing their visions of the genocide (Wilkens presentation, October 31, 2013). As a result, the other countries can operate the experience and lessons of the Rwandans in order to recover from the similar tragedies.
The main change which occurred in the Rwandan society after the genocide and which contributed to the process of recovery is the observed stabilization in relation to the social and economic life.
During the genocide, “leaders used family ties to target male relatives for recruitment into the killing groups, which were responsible for carrying out the genocide”, and during the years after the tragedy, the leaders or authorities intended to promote the peace in the country with the help of reforms to stabilize the economic and social lives (Fujii 2008: 568).
With references to the case of Rwanda, it is necessary to discuss the concept of stabilization in its close connection with the idea of decreasing the ethnic divisions in order to prevent the further demonstrations of violence based on the ethnic prejudice (Fujii 2008: 596; I’m Not Leaving 2013).
It is important to note that the international actors played a minimal role in affecting Rwanda’s recovery from the genocide because the genocide was ceased predominately with references to the internal forces. The international community showed little interest in the problems experienced by the Rwandans. Thus, the attempts of the United Nations to regulate the process can be accessed as minimal and not enough to influence the development of the crisis (Wilkens presentation, October 31, 2013).
Although the Rwandan genocide destroyed the lives of thousands of people, the country has recovered from that horrific event relying on the internal forces and authorities’ policies rather than on the activities of the international actors.
Works Cited
Fujii, Lee Ann. “The Power of Local Ties: Popular Participation in the Rwandan Genocide”. Security Studies 17.3 (2008): 568-597. Print.
I’m Not Leaving. 2013. Web.
Wilkens, Carl. “Stories of Rwanda’s Recovery from Genocide”. UC Irvine School of Social Sciences. Irvine, California. 2013. Lecture.