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The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. [4] Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were systematically killed by Hutu militias.
The Democratic republic of Congo was a country of refuge for Hutu and Tutsi groups that fled genocide on foot. Tutsi also fled Rwanda (when the monarchy was overthrown) into the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. In Burundi during the genocide of the Hutu many Hutu fled into the DRC as well these also form part of the Bayarwanda community.
The origins of the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa peoples is a major issue of controversy in the histories of Rwanda and Burundi, as well as the Great Lakes region of Africa.The relationship among the three modern populations is thus, in many ways, derived from the perceived origins and claim to "Rwandan-ness".
In the period leading up to the genocide, 1990–1994, major splits emerged within most churches between moderates who promoted democratic change and conservatives allied with the Habyarimana regime. Many of the clergy were Tutsi, and they generally supported democratic reform, but many moderate Hutu within the churches supported reform as well.
The Hutu is the largest of the three main population divisions in Burundi and Rwanda.Prior to 2017, the CIA World Factbook stated that 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutu, with Tutsis being the second largest ethnic group at 15% and 14% of residents of Rwanda and Burundi, respectively.
The modern conception of Tutsi and Hutu as distinct ethnic groups in no way reflects the pre-colonial relationship between them. Tutsi and Hutu were simply groups occupying different places in the Rwandan social hierarchy, the division between which was exacerbated by slight differences in appearance propagated by occupation and pedigree.
Nevertheless, a few Muslims played a crucial role in the Rwandan genocide: Hassan Ngeze, a leading Hutu Power intellectual best known for writing the Hutu Ten Commandments, was born to a Muslim family. [11] However, Negeze's religious background had no connection to his anti-Tutsi views, which was based on Hutu supremacism. [11]
The Tutsis (14% before the Genocide, probably less than 10% now) are a pastoral people who arrived in the area in the 15th century. [11] Until 1959, they formed the dominant caste under a feudal system based on cattle-holding. [12] The Twa (1%) are thought to be the remnants of the earliest settlers of the region.