Rwanda (Dictionary)

Rwanda is a small African nation which was colonized by both Germany and Belgium after power was handed to these countries during the colonization of Africa. Rwanda comprises of three main ethnic groups: Tutsi, Hutu and Twa. The Germans and the Belgians advocated Tutsi supremacy and made identity cards for each citizen, in order to distinguish them by ethnic group. This perpetuated the already deep divide between Tutsi and Hutus, eventually culminating in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Over a period of approximately 100 days, between 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis were tortured and slaughtered by Hutus. The response of the international community to the atrocities has been widely criticized for being slow and ineffective.