The demographic and socio-economic distribution of excess mortality during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda

This paper studies the long-term demographic consequences of the Rwandan genocide (1994) and, in particular, it analyzes how excess mortality was distributed in the population. It also gives a short historical background which details that between April and July 1994 about 75% of the Tutsi population together with many Hutus were killed by the Rwandan military, local police, National Guard and militia called Interahamwe. However, the paper also sights very poor health conditions and a cholera epidemic in refugee camps also being responsible for the excess mortality.

The paper’s objective is to increase our understanding of the micro-level dynamics of violent conflict. Firstly, by analyzing the socio-economic characteristics of the victims, we better understand the direction of the violence, which brings us closer to the intentions or motivations of the perpetrator. Secondly, the analysis also adds insights into the long-term consequences of the 1994 genocide, in particular the loss of human
capital.

The authors present a number of key findings, including:

• adult males were most likely to die, indicating that violent deaths represented a very large share of the excess mortality
  
• individuals with an urban or educated background were more likely to die
  
• the genocide represented, over and above the human tragedies, a huge negative shock for the human capital in Rwanda, since the more educated and urban groups of the population were more likely to be victims.