精英翻譯轉自https://paper.udn.com/papers.php?pname=POH0054
Genocide occurs when one group of people want to terminate another group of people because of differences of race, religion, culture, or political views. The slaughter of the Tutsi by the Hutu in the East African country of Rwanda in 1994 is just one recent horrific example of genocide where, over a three-month period, nearly one million men, women, and children were butchered like animals in their homes and on the streets.
當不同族群因種族、宗教、文化或政治立場相異而欲殲滅對方時，就會發生大屠殺事件。1994 年，東非國家盧安達胡圖族屠殺圖西族的悲劇，就是近年來慘絕人寰的大屠殺事件。僅僅三個月的時間，將近百萬名男女老少，如待宰羔羊般，於家中和街上遭到砍殺。
It is widely believed that the trigger for the genocide came when a plane carrying the Hutu president Habyarimana was shot down by the Tutsiled Rwandan Patriotic Front. But the actual root of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict was a tradition of racial hatred as old as the hills.
人們普遍認為，大屠殺的導火線在於胡圖族總統哈比亞瑞馬那搭乘的飛機，遭到圖西族帶領的盧安達愛國陣線所炸毀。但是胡圖族和圖西族之間的衝突，其實早已因為種族仇恨而根深蒂固許久。
The Tutsi had ruled over Rwanda since the fifteenth century, but the Hutu had always comprised a large majority (84–85%) of the population. The Hutu were generally considered peasants and were quite impoverished compared to the Tutsi ruling class (the word Tutsi actually means “rich in cattle”). As the Tutsi continued to strengthen their power and authority, they distributed land to individuals they favored—usually other Tutsi—instead of allowing it to be passed from generation to generation as had been done for centuries.
雖然圖西族自15 世紀開始統治盧安達，但是盧安達境內人口絕大比例卻是胡圖族（84–85%）。胡圖族一直被視為粗人，與圖西族統治階級相較下可謂相當貧窮（「圖西」一詞的原意為「擁有大量牛隻」）。隨著圖西族不斷增強權勢，他們分配土地的方式開始因人而異，通常直接分配給其他圖西族人，而不是延續數世紀以來土地代代相傳的傳統。
This caused immense resentment among the Hutu, as they were forced by the Tutsi to labor on their own land in exchange for the right to inhabit it. Inevitably, a social revolution took place in 1959, and a Hutu was secured as president, causing many Tutsi to flee the country. The tables had turned on the Tutsi.
此舉使得胡圖族心懷不滿，因為圖西族逼迫胡圖族必須以勞力換取居住於自有土地的權利。無可避免的情況終於發生，1959 年爆發社會大革命，胡圖族人掌權成為總統，造成許多圖西族人逃離祖國。對於圖西族而言，簡直是風水輪流轉。
Still, after decades of Hutu rule, the Hutu and the Tutsi could not see eye to eye. It was agreed among many of the Hutu that the only way Rwanda could ever become a stable country would be if the Hutu drove out or killed all of the Tutsi people. The attack on President Habyarimana’s plane was the spark that lit the gunpowder. The organization of the killings happened swiftly, as governmental forces sent radio broadcasts to Hutu citizens urging them to slay their Tutsi neighbors. The Hutu succeeded in wiping out 75% of the Tutsi race, and the Rwandan genocide became known as one of mankind’s darkest moments.
儘管胡圖族已統治盧安達數十年，兩族仍互看不順眼。許多胡圖族人均認為，要讓盧安達成為穩定國家的唯一辦法，就是驅逐或滅絕圖西族。而總統哈比亞瑞馬那的飛機炸毀事件，點燃了導火線。屠殺行動的安排迅速展開，政府單位向胡圖族人發佈廣播，呼籲族人砍殺圖西族鄰里。胡圖族成功滅絕75% 的圖西族人口，而盧安達大屠殺事件則成為人類史上最黑暗的慘劇之一。
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