What caused the Rwandan Genocide? - Susanne Buckley-Zistel

To clarify, the 800,000 casualties mentioned at minute 3:19 in this video were specifically Tutsi.

It is also important to note that the Rwandan government has made it a policy to refer to all citizens as Rwandans rather than by their ethnic group as part of a broader effort to reduce ethnic tensions and prevent the recurrence of violence.

My parents survived the 1994 Tutsi genocide and I can hardly affirm the wounds have fully healed almost 30 years after. We’ve lost so many fam members and dears friends during the genocide!! The aftermath is often under estimated and almost as tragic as the the event in itself. Just a reminder of how much racial segregation and ethnic discrimination can lead up to catastrophic and tragic endings. #NEVER AGAIN😞

I lived in Rwanda for a while. I listened to so many testimony when I was there and it was HORRIFIC. Being Burundian (an neighbor country of rwanda) with a tied history I hope that neither Rwanda or Burundi will ever go through such times of violence and mass murder. Tutsi, Hutu or Twa doesn't mean anything we are just Rwandese and Burundians.

For those who are interested, there's a french novel (which had been translated in other languages since) called "Small Country" (Petit Pays) written by Gaël Faye and it tells the story of ten-years old Gaby who lives in Burundi during the Rwanda genocide with his family and witness the horror of the war coming to its country. It's beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

Minor correction: 800,000 Tutsis were killed. About 300,000 Hutus and Twa were killed due to being considered Tutsi sympathizers. Edit: This might not be correct either. It is only one of several estimates.

And not forgetting, the Rwandan Genocide directly led to both the 1st and 2nd Congo Wars of 1997 and 1998 to 2003 respectively. Which resulted in the deaths of close to 5 million civilians, making the Congo Wars the deadliest conflict since World War II.

This brings back memories. When I was in high school, we watched Hotel Rwanda (2004) a few times in class to learn about this tragic genocide.

Going to the Genocide Museum in Rwanda is still one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Please read the accounts from survivors. Kwibuka.

I think you did the right thing to turn down the real harshness of this genocide. I have read many books about Rwandan genocide and it's felt like a terrible nightmare to me.

Its amazing how much Rwanda has progressed since those horrible times.

I like how the animation style is so simple, but can also look bloody whenever scenes of massacre are shown.

Just returned from Rwanda. I couldn't, for the life of me fathom these human horrors. I sped out of the memorial centre halfway through the tour. Simply incomprehensible considering what happened to kids.

Thank you for covering a horrific topic that many outside Africa don't know about and the animation was so captivating the animators must be given more credit Also Africa as a whole has learn from Rwanda about leaving behind prejudice and hatred toward each other

Some of the Tutsis survived by hiding in a hotel, run by Paul Rusesabagina. The film, Hotel Rwanda, depicted this starring Don Cheadle

The first time I’ve known about the Rwandan Genocide was in an HBO movie called “Sometimes in April”. I was shocked and horrified that something like this happened and that nobody from the outside world ever tried to stop it. Even to this day, I still wish we could’ve done something. 😢

Humans are capable of acts of mass insanity, let that not be forgotten.

It is also important to connect the events in Rwanda to what was happening in Congo for years prior. And afterwards. The conflict continues in Congo.

It’s hard to hear this story when your nation is currently in the risk of being eliminated ( I’m Ukrainian). we will never learn

It is tragic when a society has become so violent, that the only way forward is some form of reconciliation, rather than conventional judicial justice. But as uncomfortable as it is, I think the story of Rwanda is such an important thought-provoking history lesson and has the potential to make us all a little bit wiser. Thank you for featuring this important chapter of history here! As a German, I consider it also an important part of the past of my own country. I am happy that we are at a point where we can discuss history openly and based on facts, rather than being trapped in a heroic view of our past. But I feel ashamed that we have done so little to mend the wounds we caused with our colonialism. Looking at our modern supply chains makes it even more clear: we have to come together as a global society and find a way to build trust and protect everyones rights. Otherwise we find ourselves in new and repeated conflicts. And for Germany, this means being more responsible, accountable, and humble. I think that would be a small price to pay for what we would win: each other.