Rwanda and Cambodia Genocide Compare and Contrast

Cambodia and Rwanda
Many genocides throughout history have consisted of two factors: ethnicity and political positions. In both conflicts, there was a power struggle between two different ethnic groups; the international responses had their differences, not much was done-but the United Nations did step in Rwanda.
    In most societies, democratic or not; the majority rule over the minority. In America, the Anglo-Saxon population was the majority of the population, and they had government positions over minorities in the past. But, at times there have been changes in the “tide” with politicians such as Thurgood Marshall, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama.   In Rwanda, an apartheid-like government was instilled by the Belgians.   This put the minority Tutsis in power over the majority Hutus. Later, after much rebellion; the Hutus took their power back. “The Hutu officials who took over the government organized the murders of Tutsis nationwide.” (Document 5) The minority Tutsis took advantage of their power and started to murder an ethnic group of people. The Tutsis also silenced radio stations that would “broadcast anti-Tutsi propaganda, it explicitly directed that they be exterminated, encouraged those who were doing the extermination and even read out known locations of Tutsis with orders to kill them.” (Document 18) It would make sense this Hutu radio station would entice listeners to go out and kill Tutsis because they were angered at them. Some of the workers at this radio station were murdered for treason against the Tutsi government. The conflict was constantly back and forth, Tutsis killing Hutus; Hutus killing Tutsis, there were many power changes from 1957 to 1993. When the Hutus gained power: “[they] were out to kill every Tutsi in the country, claiming that we, the Tutsis had killed the Hutu president.” (Document 12) Rwanda was having an extreme civil war, one more atrocious than the American civil war. “In a civil war, you have essentially two...