INTERGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON CHILDREN

A READING OF SOME POST-RWANDAN GENOCIDE WITNESS NOVELS

Abstract

Abstract
The ideology of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was chiefly driven by power-drunk Hutu politicians who were bent on establishing an only Hutu Rwandan society. To achieve this, every Tutsi in Rwanda was targeted to be killed, this included adults, children and the unborn. Tutsi children were seen as vital to the survival of the Tutsi ethnic group. They were, therefore, targeted for immediate extermination. The early days of violence against Tutsis created countless homeless children and orphans as Tutsi men were summarily executed. Displaced Tutsi children fled into cities and towns as rampaging Hutu extremists pursued them. This paper
investigates the portrayals of children in crisis situations as found in selected post-Rwandan genocide testimonial novels. Children and infants have often been the first victims of war, this is connected with their dependence on their parents. In Rwanda, children not only suffered from physical abuse, but they were also targeted for sex-related abuse. While countless researches has been carried out on the causes and consequences of the genocide, the direct effects of the violence on children during the carnage and the period immediately after the crisis have received minimalist interest from scholars. Drawing from some witness novels on the genocide,
this paper arrives at the conclusion that Tutsi children were the first victims of violence perpetrated by Hutus against defenseless Tutsi populace during the carnage. Some traumatising acts inflicted on children in the texts include: family separation, physical and psychological pains, diseases, hunger, and sexual violence among others.