Rivalry in Rwanda
Rivalry in Rwanda
By Kevin Mahoney
On December 13th, Rev. Athanase Seromba, a Roman Catholic priest originally form Rwanda was convicted to fifteen years in prison. The priest was convicted of ordering his church to kill over 2,000 refugees in 1994, by smashing a bulldozer into a Tutsi church. The killings occurred during the Rwanda genocide of 1994, when Hutu extremists began to hunt out and kill members of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu community. Seromba was able to escape persecution for so long by escaping to Florence, Italy and serving as a priest in two churches there. Charges were not filed against him until February 6th, 2002, of which he pleaded not guilty. Although he may be one of the first religious leaders of Rwanda to be punished fro his crime, he will certainly not be the last. There are at least two other Catholic priests are awaiting charges, as well as three other nuns, and over a dozen clergymen and religious leaders. Although there are many members of the Hutu clan who are being penalized for their actions in the 1994 genocide, there is still a great deal of hostility and animosity between the two groups.
The Hutu and Tutsi groups make up most of the population of Rwanda, with the Hutu’s making up around 90% of the population, and the Tutsi making up around 9% of the population. There is some claim that there are slight physical differences between the two groups, but other than that they are relatively the same. They pseak the same language, follow the same clan, and practice the same religion. For almost 400 years the two groups got along quite well, that was until Germany and Belgium began to advise them to do otherwise. Belgium took over the Rwanda colonies in 1916, and thought that clans should be governed on different hierarchical form. They saw the Tutsi as the superior group, and therefore were treated so. This hierarchy lasted for around 40 years, until 1959, where the Hutu clan began to assume higher roles in government and society. Animosity and anger towards each other has lasted ever sense.
It is an absolute shame that the root of anger between the two clans was because an outsider told them who was superior to each other. You would thin k that through all of the bloodshed and lives lost they would learn to work together as a single force.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/world/africa/14rwanda.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/53482/a_history_of_rwandas_genocide_hutu.html
By Kevin Mahoney
On December 13th, Rev. Athanase Seromba, a Roman Catholic priest originally form Rwanda was convicted to fifteen years in prison. The priest was convicted of ordering his church to kill over 2,000 refugees in 1994, by smashing a bulldozer into a Tutsi church. The killings occurred during the Rwanda genocide of 1994, when Hutu extremists began to hunt out and kill members of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu community. Seromba was able to escape persecution for so long by escaping to Florence, Italy and serving as a priest in two churches there. Charges were not filed against him until February 6th, 2002, of which he pleaded not guilty. Although he may be one of the first religious leaders of Rwanda to be punished fro his crime, he will certainly not be the last. There are at least two other Catholic priests are awaiting charges, as well as three other nuns, and over a dozen clergymen and religious leaders. Although there are many members of the Hutu clan who are being penalized for their actions in the 1994 genocide, there is still a great deal of hostility and animosity between the two groups.
The Hutu and Tutsi groups make up most of the population of Rwanda, with the Hutu’s making up around 90% of the population, and the Tutsi making up around 9% of the population. There is some claim that there are slight physical differences between the two groups, but other than that they are relatively the same. They pseak the same language, follow the same clan, and practice the same religion. For almost 400 years the two groups got along quite well, that was until Germany and Belgium began to advise them to do otherwise. Belgium took over the Rwanda colonies in 1916, and thought that clans should be governed on different hierarchical form. They saw the Tutsi as the superior group, and therefore were treated so. This hierarchy lasted for around 40 years, until 1959, where the Hutu clan began to assume higher roles in government and society. Animosity and anger towards each other has lasted ever sense.
It is an absolute shame that the root of anger between the two clans was because an outsider told them who was superior to each other. You would thin k that through all of the bloodshed and lives lost they would learn to work together as a single force.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/world/africa/14rwanda.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/53482/a_history_of_rwandas_genocide_hutu.html
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