What is it if not Genocide?

The two articles I read for this post are: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/10/world/officials-told-to-avoid-calling-rwanda-killings-genocide.html?scp=9&sq=rwandan%20genocide&st=cse which talks about the reluctance of calling the events in Rwanda a genocide. I also looked at: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/29/world/un-commission-recommends-rwanda-genocide-tribunal.html?scp=25&sq=rwandan%20genocide&st=cse which was about the UN Commission calling for a genocide tribunal. However, even in the second article, genocide is written in quotes.

I take issue with the reluctance of the US and global community calling Rwanda a genocide. To me, it was a genocide. Masses of people were killed based on ethnic classifications. Though the conflict also included political aspects, the basis for who was to be killed was ethnic. Though the killings may not have been carried out primarily for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, the way the murders were committed looks like genocide to me. Furthermore, I don't understand how people don't want to label it as a genocide when the UN Commission is urging it to be addressed as such.

People who had things to say on the matter point to the danger in using the word genocide. I see more danger in not using the word. If it is not looked at as genocide, no real insight can be gained as to the causes of the massacre. If you do not outright address the ethnic aspect of Rwanda, there is not way you can examine the effects of their ethnic system. You are left with an incomplete view, one that only suggests the killings were the result of ancient notions of tribalism. The deaths of all those people, often at the hands of friends or neighbors, just looks like random and senseless acts of violence if the word genocide is left out. In not succumbing to the fear of the word genocide, one can begin to look at the events that occurred critically. They do not just become another case of a savage and lawless Africa.

In my opinion, based on what I've read, I feel that people don't want to label it as genocide because then it can remain outside of their responsibility. Once it is labeled as genocide, the issue of whether or not to intervene arises. I believe that people do not want to get involved. They do not want to accept any fault for what occurs overseas. Though the US was not directly involved in the killings, this country is a major player in the world history of colonialism. I believe colonialism played a role in what occurred in Rwanda. Once the massacre is labeled as a genocide, it also calls in question other countries' rights violations. No one wants to call it genocide lest the finger be pointed at them. An example of this is China's reluctance to be a part of the tribunal. China did not want their own practices to be called under fire.

I think it is dangerous to not be honest about what goes on in the world. If thousands upon thousands are killed because of who they are ethnically, is it not genocide? An inability to correctly identify what Rwanda was in 94' will only allow it be swept under the rug and potentially happen again there, or elsewhere.