By Azi, Ferdinand Chukwuma
The conflict that erupted in Rwanda in the 1990s was fratricidal and
threatened the foundation of that country. This provoked a lot of
investigations by many writers and scholars who wanted to know why such
genocidal massacre of the Tutsis and moderate Hutus should occur when
mankind is going beyond unnecessary bickerings to finding solutions to global
problems. Most of the writers took the part of describing in details the
scenario in Rwanda during the dark days. Others focused on imperialism as
the root cause of the problem. This study goes beyond these and seeks to show
the influence of ethnicity and class diffhences on the conflict. Also, the study
tries to find explanation for the tardiness of the 1JN Security Council in
intervening firmly to halt the genocide as well as the reason behind the
reduction of the UN forces and the delay in sending reinforcements when they
were needed most.