| Date | November 2021 | Marks available | 6 | Reference code | 21N.1.BP.TZ0.19 |
| Level | Both SL and HL | Paper | Paper 1 - first exams 2017 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Compare and contrast | Question number | 19 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Source S Linda Melvern, a British journalist, writing in the book Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide (2004).
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) Commander Dallaire met the Rwandan government, hoping to obtain permission to evacuate refugees in Kigali, [but] the government did not seem to be concerned by the horrendous ethnic killing.
On 23 April, Dallaire travelled to see the RPF leader Kagame … The RPF was disappointed that the “international community” had not stated its disgust with the violent destruction of the opposition political parties and the total survival of the government and its leaders.
Dallaire and Colonel Bagosora [Hutu extremist leader] then met on 28 April … Bagosora told Dallaire that the RPF was intending to conquer the whole country. His side had never refused to share power with the RPF. It was all the fault of the RPF for refusing to negotiate with the government …
The swift military success of the RPF in the country created an atmosphere of fear among the [government’s] army … Some officers were planning to massacre all the people in Kigali who were sheltering in hotels and churches, the vast majority of them Tutsi … On 28 April, Oxfam [an international charity] issued a press release stating that the pattern of systematic killing of the Tutsi amounted to genocide … But another story now dominated the headlines: with thousands of people from eastern Rwanda fleeing the RPF advance, this was the fastest exodus [mass movement] of people the world had seen.
[Source: Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide. Linda Melvern. First published by Verso 2004
© Linda Melvern 2004 all rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear.]
Source T André Guichaoua, a professor of sociology, writing in the academic book From War to Genocide. Criminal Politics in Rwanda, 1990–1994 (2017).
[Even the] Rwandan government’s … most eager defenders doubted that the war against the RPF could be won … If defeat at the hands of the RPF could not be avoided, none of [the] Tutsi … should be left to profit from their victory … Their primary objective was to exterminate the potential political base for the RPF and its allies … From 12 April onward, government politicians linked their political futures to a conclusion of the war through genocide and the elimination of Tutsi … For its part, the RPF’s repeated refusals to negotiate fell in line with the government’s murderous strategy.
When the RPF finally agreed to engage in discussions between 22 April and 14 May 1994, it refused to negotiate with the government’s representative. But there was no longer anything for the two sides to negotiate, the RPF did not want to hear anything more about a ceasefire. This is exactly what Dallaire confirmed in his message to the UN on 24 April, which summarized his conversation with Paul Kagame: “He did not appear interested in a ceasefire. His forces were winning the war and were going to continue fighting as long as they were winning.”
[Source: From From War to Genocide by André Guichaoua, Translated by Don E. Webster, Foreword by Scott Straus.
Reprinted by permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. © 2017 by the Board of Regents of the University
of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved.]
Compare and contrast what Sources S and T reveal about the actions of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and the Rwandan government during the conflict in 1994.
Markscheme
Apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and award credit wherever it is possible to do so. The following material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. It is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive and no set answer is required.
Comparison:
- Both sources state that the RPF leader had talked with Commander Dallaire.
- Both sources indicate that the RPF refused to negotiate with the government.
- Both sources claim that a policy of genocide against the Tutsi was pursued.
- Both sources refer to RPF military success escalating the violence.
Contrast:
- Source T focuses on the killing of Tutsi whereas Source S considers the impact on all civilians.
- Source T states that government politicians determined on a policy of genocide whereas Source S focuses on the role of the military in perpetrating the massacres.
Examiners report
If was again pleasing to note that responses have continued to improve for the third question this session. Most candidates clearly identified comparisons and/or contrasts and had attempted to write a running commentary of similarities and differences. Indeed, there were some excellent responses to this question, usually characterised by precise references to the sources in support of the comparisons and/or contrasts that the candidate had identified. Nevertheless, some responses lacked clarity or offered only one or two links between the sources. As with the second question, some responses were presented in note-form and lacked development. Candidates should be made aware that, in order to access the top markband, more than two developed links between the sources should be established, for example two comparisons and two contrasts with development.
