In what ways are identity, the collapse of democracy and human

rights violations interconnected during periods of intense internal

conflict?

Word count: 1351

The Rwandan genocide

From April to July of 1994, after 100 days, the Hutu army and the paramilitary organization

Interahamwe militia were driven across the border from Rwanda to Congo. They left almost a

million corpses behind. The systematic slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate

Hutus in Rwanda were not a spontaneous uprising, but the culmination of decades of

politically engineered division (George, 2004).

Prior to Belgian colonization, the people of Rwanda shared a language, customs and beliefs

with the groups Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa existing as flexible castes rather than rigid ethnic

groups, a fluidity that was dismantled by colonial administrators. By introducing the

“Hamitic Myth” that falsely attributed the Tutsi's success to more "European" appearances,

they were granted privilege and hegemonic position with greater access to resources,

education, and government roles which solidified in 1935 by the introduction of mandatory

racial identity cards (Wibben, 2025, p. 159).

When the Belgians reversed their allegiance in 1959, the same mythology was weaponized by

the Hutu majority who seized political control after independence in 1961. Anti-Tutsi

propaganda and the rumors of an attack from the Tutsi, branded them as foreign invaders,
“cockroaches” and enemies of the state. This static view of identity justified killings and later

a genocide (Wibben, 2025, p. 160). The global refusal to intervene and the UNs withdrawal

confirmed that Rwanda had been abandoned, allowing the state to break, democracy to

crumble and identity being weaponized. The resulting genocide was the final, devastating

expression of this engineered hatred (George, 2004).

Hotel Rwanda

In the world renowned film Hotel Rwanda (2004), based on a true story, house manager of

the Hôtel des Mille Collines, and hutu, Paul Rusesabagina saves over 1 200 tutsi and

moderate hutu refugees by sheltering them in the hotel. The sheer impotence of the

international community is demonstrated by the presence of not more than 300 UN

peacekeepers for the entire country, troops who were peace "keepers," not peace "makers,"

and were explicitly not allowed to shoot. This global passive observation is captured in one of

the film's most defining scenes, where a UN worker shows Paul footage of the massacres.

Paul, believing the world will finally intervene, asks if the footage can make the news. The

worker's cynical reply is a direct condemnation of international failure: "I think people will

see the footage, say 'Oh my God, that’s horrible,' and go on eating their dinners” (George,

2004).

This passivity reveals that the world respected state sovereignty even as the state was

committing genocide, the evacuation of only the "whites", diplomats and tourists while

leaving the Rwandan people behind, confirmed that the protective function of the state and

the international order had failed as the UN General tells Paul: "The whites are leaving, we

have been abandoned” (George, 2004).

Author Barabantseva (2025) means that a nation's identity is not a static and inherent quality

but rather a constructed and flexible phenomenon. The Rwandan case can be seen through the

primordialist view, which posits that ethnicity is based on inherent "blood allegiances,"

common descent and culture, and that these bonds are natural and enduring (Barabantseva,

2025, p. 295). However, if Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa initially existed as fluid castes sharing

language and customs, the argument for an innate, ancient conflict could be questioned.

Instead, Rwanda demonstrates the modernistic approach, showing how ethnicity is redefined

and created by political and social processes, in this case by the Belgian colonial

administration through the "Hamitic Myth" and the mandatory identity cards. The speed and

method of the genocide also speak to the modernist theories, where the administrative tools

and propaganda channels of a modern state, even a failing one, are crucial in executing

violence on such a scale (Barabantseva, 2025, p. 298). “For primordialists, ethnic conflict is

an endemic and unavoidable characteristic of multiethnic societies, which not only puts the

nation-building process under question, but also destabilises and challenges the state's

cohesion” (Barabantseva, 2025, p. 296).

Democracy

The destabilization of state cohesion, as described by Barabantseva (2025), is the direct

precursor to the collapse of democracy and the systematic violence that follows. Philosopher

Thomas Hobbes theory of a social contract shows how a democratic state relies on the

assumption of a social contract, a mutual agreement where citizens surrender some natural

rights for the state's guarantee of security and order. However the essential return for giving
up one's rights is the assurance that one is secure among "others like you, who speak the same

language and remember the same things" (Shapiro, 2025, p. 316).

In Rwanda, the weaponized identity shattered this foundational myth. By classifying the Tutsi

as foreign invaders, "cockroaches," and non-citizens, the state effectively revoked their place

in the social contract. This transition, portrayed in Hotel Rwanda (2004) shows how quickly

the country went from a state based on limited power and pluralism to one characterized by

absolute, unchecked authority and the exclusion of a specific group, signaling democracy's

ultimate failure (George, 2004).

Edkins (2025) explores the critical question of why we obey, which can be used to reflect on

how democracy is closely tied to identity (Edkins, 2025, p.191). She refers to philosopher

Emile Durkain who means that the collection of individuals is not just a collection of people

but a “sui generis”, a society with its own characteristics. Society has a moral authority which

individuals follow, not because of a physical force or because it is capable of overcoming our

resistance, but because it is built on genuine respect (Edkins, 2025, p. 205).

Similar to Hobbes theory of giving up natural rights for a sense of community, Durkheim

means that society relies on our cooperation and sacrifice in order for individuals to receive

social life and protection. The weight of the shared belief of a society and its force is

amplified when people gather, during revolutionary periods this intensification creates a form

of power and chaos (Edkins, 2025, p. 205).

Philosopher Hannah Arendt writes about how respect was lost: “The comity [...] went into

pieces when, and because, it allowed its weakest member to be excluded and persecuted”

(Arendt, 1943, p. 119).

when the UN peacekeepers abandon the hotel as the Tutsis sheltered in the hotel become the

"weakest member" and the international community's (represented by the UN forces) refusal

to actively intervene signifies the breakdown of any shared moral order. Their departure

leaves the Tutsis "excluded and persecuted," confirming that the comity among nations and

individuals dissolved the moment they were abandoned to their fate (George, 2004).

Human rights

Shani (2025) states that human rights is more about defining what it is to be human and

therefore worthy of protection, rather than something we can assume that we are entitled to as

humanity (Shani, 2025, p. 521). In Rwanda, the Tutsis were denied the status of being human

and by stripping them of their humanity, the Hutu regime shattered the shared moral bond, or

sui generis society (Edkins, 2025, p. 205), that entitled them to protection, showing the

connection between identity and human rights. The interconnection between identity,

democratic failure and human rights violations is powerfully illustrated by the process of

securitisation. Securitisation occurs when a state manages to frame a specific issue as an

existential threat to the nation, making it so prioritized that other issues are deemed less

important. By presenting the Tutsis as a dangerous enemy, they are justified to be victims of

measures that lie outside of the normal boundaries, without regard for the international

human rights violated during that time (Shani, 2025, p. 537).

The process, from conflict to genocide, shows a direct, devastating path where identity

weaponization leads to the collapse of democratic principles, culminating in mass human

rights violations, which profoundly illustrates the paradox raised by Shani: “Is the state the

best guarantor of human rights given its violent history?” (Shani, 2025, p. 520).
References

Wibben. A. T. R (2025). Who do we think we are? In Edkins. J., Zehfuss. M. (Ed.), Global

Politics: A New Introduction (pp. 145-168). Routledge.

Shapiro, M. J (2025). Does the nation-state work? In Edkins. J., Zehfuss. M. (Ed.), Global

Politics: A New Introduction (pp. 209-327). Routledge.

Barabantseva, E (2025). Where do we think we are from? In Edkins. J., Zehfuss. M. (Ed.),

Global Politics: A New Introduction (pp. 285-308). Routledge.

George, T. (Director). (2004). Hotel Rwanda [Film]. Lionsgate Films, United Artists.

Shani, G (2025). Who has rights? In Edkins. J., Zehfuss. M. (Ed.), Global Politics: A New

Introduction (pp. 519-542). Routledge.

Edkins, J (2025). Why do we obey? In Edkins. J., Zehfuss. M. (Ed.), Global Politics: A New

Introduction (pp. 191-212). Routledge.

Arendt, H. (1943). We refugees. I M. Robinson (Red.), Altogether elsewhere: Writers on exile

(pp. 110-120). Faber and Faber.

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I have not used AI during this assignment.