Akazu
Encyclopedia
The Akazu was an informal organization of Hutu
extremists, a circle of relatives and close friends of then Rwanda
n president Juvénal Habyarimana
and his influential wife Agathe Habyarimana
. Its members contributed strongly to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
.
) or moderate Hutu. They contributed to the development of Hutu Power
ideology and fanned resentment against the Tutsi during the 1990s. Some scholars believe their genocidal ideology and massacres were an effort to hold on to the political power they had gathered since Habyarimana came to power in a military coup against the elected government.
Prevent Genocide International provides a list of resources on the nexus between the Akazu (or Hutu Power) extremist ideology and the Rwandan Genocide.
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
extremists, a circle of relatives and close friends of then Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n president Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
and his influential wife Agathe Habyarimana
Agathe Habyarimana
Agathe Habyarimana is the widow of former President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana. Kanziga is part of a Hutu lineage that long ruled an independent principality until the late nineteenth century...
. Its members contributed strongly to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
.
Background
The Akazu were relatives of Habyarimana's and others he knew from his district; they held important appointed positions of authority in the Hutu regime. The Akazu did not wish to share government with the Tutsis (particularly the expatriate rebels resident in UgandaUganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
) or moderate Hutu. They contributed to the development of Hutu Power
Hutu Power
Hutu Power was an ideology propounded by the Akazu and other Hutu extremists in Rwanda. It contributed to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu.-Background:...
ideology and fanned resentment against the Tutsi during the 1990s. Some scholars believe their genocidal ideology and massacres were an effort to hold on to the political power they had gathered since Habyarimana came to power in a military coup against the elected government.
Prevent Genocide International provides a list of resources on the nexus between the Akazu (or Hutu Power) extremist ideology and the Rwandan Genocide.