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The seeds of genocide

Broadcast Date: May 4, 1994

For generations the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi populations lived and worked amongst each other in the small African country of Rwanda. That changed in 1917 when the country fell under Belgian rule.
The new Belgian authorities favoured Tutsis for government jobs, helping breed resentment among the shut out Hutus. This CBC Television documentary looks back at the roots of Rwanda's past and how it paved the way for the genocide Dallaire would witness first-hand.

The seeds of genocide

• The Republic of Rwanda is a tiny landlocked country in central Africa, bordered by Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Congo (formerly Zaire). Known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills," it boasts a population of nearly 8.5 million (2005), making it the most densely populated state in Africa.
• Rwanda is made up of Hutus (largely farmers); Tutsis (cattle raisers); and a small percentage of Twa, an indigenous pygmy race. All three share a common language, the vernacular Kinyarwanda.

• The Hutus, who make up about 85 per cent of the population, and the Tutsis, who make up about 15 per cent, are believed to have settled in Rwanda more than 500 years ago.
• For much of their history Hutus and Tutsis lived more or less at peace with each other. The two cultures also played active roles in the country's monarchical style government.
• In 1894 Rwanda was colonized by the Germans, who ran it indirectly for decades.

• After the First World War, Rwanda was handed over to Belgium and merged into a single territory, "Ruanda-Urundi," with Burundi.
• The Belgians clearly favoured the Tutsis over the Hutu majority. Government-issued identity cards separated the two tribes, with Tutsis being granted high-ranking government jobs and special tax benefits.
• Although the two races had clashed occasionally in the past, the new policy significantly fanned the flames of ethnic discord over the next 40 years.

• In 1959 Hutu rebels overthrew the ruling Tutsi monarchy in a bloody coup that left hundreds dead. By the time Rwanda gained official independence from Belgium in July 1962, the Hutus controlled much of the power in the country.
• Over the next couple of years thousands of Tutsis were killed while tens of thousands fled to neighbouring countries such as Burundi.


• It was these Tutsi exiles who later formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which in 1990 launched a civil war from nearby Uganda.
• The Rwandan government led by Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana reacted by launching targeted killings of the Tutsi population, claiming that they were attempting to overtake and enslave Hutus.


• The war ended on Aug. 4, 1992, when the Rwandan government and the RPF signed a peace agreement in Arusha, Tanzania. The Arusha Accord stipulated that a new transitional government be set up, a general election be held by 1995, and an international peacekeeping force be deployed.

• Though Habyarimana publicly supported the Arusha Accord, he privately dismissed it and regularly ordered secret death squads to kill groups of Tutsis. The squads, which included members of the Presidential Guard, is also thought to have covertly propagated anger between the two cultures.
• After several months of peace negotiations, violence again flared up between the RPF and the Rwandan government in February 1993.


• Later that month the UN accepted an invitation by both sides to help negotiate the fragile peace accord.
• On July 27 an obscure French-Canadian General named Roméo Dallaire was picked to lead the newly formed United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Lt.-Gen. Dallaire had seen little action in his 35-year career, but had a reputation for being energetic and driven.


• Canada contributed the use of planes, equipment and about 60 soldiers to the initial mission. By August 1994 the Canadian participation had increased to nearly 400 soldiers.
• Dallaire believes he was picked for the mission because he was bilingual and from the politically neutral Canada. The other prime UN choices, from France and Belgium, were considered politically controversial.

Sources: Shake Hands With Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003), by Roméo Dallaire; CIA World Factbook: Rwanda; and the Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the United Nations in Rwanda.

The seeds of genocide

Medium: Television

Program: The National Magazine

Broadcast Date: May 4, 1994

Reporter: Bertrand Hall

Duration: 5:39

Last updated:
Nov. 12, 2010