Genocide and Crisis in Central Africa: Conflict Roots, Mass Violence, and Regional War

by Christian P. Scherrer

Overview

Scherrer examines the ethnicized conflicts, periodic war, and genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda may have resulted in the murder of a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu, while the mass killings in Burundi, especially in 1993 when some 200,000 Hutu and Tutsi were killed, and the current ongoing war in the Congo appear to have the potential to escalate into another round of genocide in the region. Scherrer explores the background to the conflicts in the Great Lakes Region as well as what the international community might do to break this tragic cycle of violence and despair.

Following a chapter on the history of the region before independence in 1960/61, he examines the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the subsequent attempts to promote justice, reconstruction, human rights work, and genocide prevention. Scherrer pays particular attention to the role of the Western powers, the UN, and the aid system—and he is critical of all of these institutions. He also analyzes what is happening in neighboring Burundi and the Congo. An important research for scholars and policymakers involved with Central African affairs and ethnicized conflict.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275972240
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.12(d)
Lexile:	1480L (what's this?)

About the Author

CHRISTIAN P. SCHERRER is the head of the Ethnic Conflict Research Project, an independent research project founded in 1987. Dr. Scherrer conducted field research in four areas of violent intra-state conflict and worked for a number of international organizations, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this capacity he conducted genocide investigations in Rwanda's southern Butare province and elaborated a study on Justice-in-Transition and Conflict Prevention in Post-Genocide Rwanda.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Rwanda and Burundi in Figures
Introduction: From Auschwitz to Central Africa
Central Africa: History of a Troubled Region
On the Historical Background to Pre-announced Genocide in Central Africa
Destructive Interaction between Rwanda and Burundi
The Genocide in Rwanda and Its Consequences
Preparations for the Genocide—The Complicity of the Churches and the Donor Countries—The Failure of the United Nations
Rwanda: Chronology and Analytical Summary
The State-Organized Genocide in Rwanda
Mass Murder, Mass Flight, and the Role of the UN
The Impact of Aid
Donor Complicity and Failures in Rwanda
New Aid Priorities since the Genocide
Crisis in the Great Lakes Region
Burundi—Rwanda's False Twin
Regional War in the Congo
Background to the Congo Crisis
Conclusions and Prospects
Appendixes
Bibliography
Index