DEAR Blog
Disaster Experiential Activity and Reflection
Project by Noah Hass-Cohen, Psy.D., Alliant International University School of Professional Psychology
Contributors: Jeremy Arzt, M.A.; Joanna Clyde Findley, M.A.; Anya Kavanaugh, B.F.A;
Alliant International University, Couples and Family Therapy, Crisis and Trauma course students
1994: RWANDAN GENOCIDE
Background
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On April 6th 1994, an airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habayarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down killing all on board. Genocide killings began the following day: soldiers, police andmilitia quickly executed key Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders, then erected checkpoints and barricades and used Rwandans’ national identity cards to systematically verify their ethnicity and kill Tutsi.
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The Rwandan Genocide was genocidal mass slaughter ofTutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority.
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During the approximate 100-day period from April 7th, 1994, to mid July, an estimated 500,000-1,000,000Rwandans were killed constituting as much as 20% of the country’s total population and 70% of the Tutsi then living in Rwanda.
Psychological Impact
The psychological impact of this genocide is wide-spread and continues to have an effect both on an individual and national/worldwide scale. Due to the impact of this catastrophic event and all those impacted by it, a summary cannot be provided here. The impact has affected current generations and long term impact for future generations is also projected
