Genocide in Rwanda

 

In their greatest hour of need, the world failed the people of Rwanda.

Kofi Annan

 

Rwanda is one of the smallest countries located in Central Africa, with a population of around 7,000,000 people. In 1994, the Hutu government and its extremist allies almost succeeded in wiping out the entire Tutsi minority.

Rwanda is divided into two main ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, and for years there has been tension, which gradually reached a peak while the country was under Belgian colonial rule. The Hutus account for around 90 per cent of the population, but in the past the Tutsi minority were considered the aristocracy who dominated the Hutu peasants for decades. Originally, there was little difference between the two groups – they spoke the same language, inhabited the same areas and followed the same traditions. However, when the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, they saw the two groups as entirely different entities, even resorting to producing identity cards according to their ethnic origin. The Belgians treated the Tutsis as the superior group and because of this they enjoyed superior education and employment than their neighbours, the Hutus.

Bit by bit resentment grew among the Hutu people, which culminated in a series of riots in 1959. They killed more than 20,000 Tutsis, and many more fled to the surrounding countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.

When Rwanda became independent from Belgium in 1962, the Hutus seized power and started to take control, oppressing the minority Tutsis with outbreaks of extreme violence.

 

Preparing to Attack

 

Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana, who was coming to the end of two decades in power, was starting to lose popularity among the Rwandans as the economic situation deteriorated. Tutsi refugees who had fled to Uganda, with the aid of some moderate Hutus, formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), with the aim of overthrowing the president and regaining their homeland.

At first Habyarimana did not see the newly formed rebel group as a threat, but saw it as a way of bringing dissident Hutus back to his side. He started to accuse Tutsis who were still living in Rwanda as RPF collaborators and in a campaign to create hatred between the two ethnic groups, Habyarimana played on the memories of early Tutsi domination. Tutsis were easily recognized by their appearance, and most Rwandan residents knew who they were even without looking at their identification cards.

By 1992, Habyarimana had started to provide military training to members of his party, and they formed into a militia that became known as the Interahamwe (Those Who Stand Together or Those Who Attack Together). Attacks against Tutsis became commonplace and any violence committed by the Interahamwe became accepted as it was considered to be for political gain.

Gradually, through the use of violence, harmful propaganda and persistent political tactics, Habyarimana and his band of militia widened the gap between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Aware that it would be too expensive to arm all of the president’s supporters with firearms, it was decided to import a large numbers of machetes. This provided approximately every third adult Hutu male with some sort of weapon.

Aware of the political activity, the RPF prepared themselves for further conflict. They started to recruit more supporters and, despite the peace agreement signed between Habyarimana and the RPF in 1993, they increased their soldiers and firepower. The horrific turn of events that took place in 1994 was sparked off by the death of Habyarimana on April 6, when his plane was shot down just above Kigali airport. Travelling with Habyarimana was the president of Burundi and various other chief members of staff, and the perpetrator of this crime has never been established. Whoever was behind the crime, the effect was both catastrophic and immediate.

 

Genocide Begins

 

The Presidential Guard in the capital of Kigali, backed by the militia, and led by Colonel Bagosora, instantaneously started to take their revenge. They murdered leaders of the political opposition and Hutu government officials, leaving space for Bagosora and his men to take control.

Within 24 hours of Habyarimana’s jet being shot down, roadblocks sprang up all around Kigali. Recruits were despatched all over the little country to carry out a horrendous wave of killings, separating Tutsis from Hutus and hacking them to death with machetes at the roadside. Those who could afford to pay, chose to die from a bullet. The Interahamwe encouraged locals to join in, often forcing them to kill their Tutsi neighbours. Participants were offered bribes to encourage them to take part, using money and food as incentives, even telling them that they could keep the land of any Tutsis they killed.

UN troops were powerless to stop the killings and after the slaughter of ten of their own soldiers, they decided to withdraw their troops. Rwanda’s first female prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, was murdered despite her guard of Belgian soldiers. These soldiers were arrested, disarmed, tortured and murdered in the hope that it would force the Belgians to withdraw their troops. Just as the rebels intended, the Belgians decided to remove the remainder of its UN troops from Rwanda.

The genocide spread with incredible speed, expanding from Kigali out into the more remote parts of the countryside. Government radio broadcasts encouraged the Tutsis to take refuge in churches, schools and sports stadiums, but this only made it easier for the rebels as their targets were congregated in larger groups. The Tutsis tried their hardest to fight off the Hutu rebels, but only armed with sticks and stones, they made little, if any, impact against the grenades and machine guns of the Rwandan army and presidential guard.

Within 13 weeks of April 6, 1994, the slaughter of at least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had taken place. The stench of decomposing bodies hung heavily in the air, and everywhere there was the gruesome evidence of what had taken place. Twisted bodies lay by the roadside, some were heaped on top of one another and others, which had been brutally mutilated, were thrown down a steep hillside. A decapitated torso of a child lying on the steps of a church surrounded fragments of clothing – all these things a grim reminder of the devastation wrought by the tribal violence.

Karubamba, 48 km (30 miles) northeast of Kigali, was described as a vision from hell. It was a nauseating scene of human wreckage, with signs of agony on the faces of the dead. Every window, every door, told its own incomprehensible story – a schoolboy lying dead across his desk, a couple covered in blood underneath a picture of Jesus. Every few hundred kilometres along the red-clay road, bodies lay in heaped, decaying piles. The church, which the locals thought would be a safe refuge, was a scene of complete carnage. What was once a fertile valley of terraced hills, was now a carpet of bloodshed in every direction.

 

The Aftermath

 

By July the RPF had managed to take control of Kigali, crushing the Rwandan government and eventually bringing a halt to the genocide by July 18. When it became obvious that the RPF was victorious, it is estimated that as many as 2,000,000 Hutus fled to Zaire (the present Democratic Republic of Congo). There were large-scale reprisal killings against Hutus who were alleged to have taken part in the massacre, and the UN returned to Rwanda to help restore order and basic services.

A new multi-ethnic government was formed on July 19, which promised a safe return to all refugees. Pasteur Bizimungu, who was a Hutu, was appointed president with many prominent cabinet posts being taken by members of the RPF.

Although the massacres were over, there was still a concentrated search to find all of those people who were involved. By 2001, 100,000 people were being held in prison and another 500 were sentenced to death for their part in the genocide.

Rwanda, which was already one of the poorest nations in the world, is still suffering today, with little hope of a quick recovery. They are still in desperate need of decent roads, bridges and telephone lines, and education is suffering due to a shortage of schools, teachers and educational material. To make matters worse, food production has been ravaged not only by war, but also by drought, leaving many Rwandans desperate for nourishment and relying on aid from the UN.

It would be nice to think that the atrocities of 1994 are just a distant memory for Rwanda, but today the scars remain and the Tutsis are still convinced that the only way to ensure their survival is to repress the Hutus. The Hutus, themselves, feel they are being treated unfairly under the Tutsi-led government and extremists on both sides still believe that the only solution is the annihilation of the other. As the warring ethnic groups remain prepared for future struggles, we can only hope that this does not lead to another wave of mass killings.

The genocide was a direct result of a small section of the Rwandan government, who believed that an extermination campaign would restore the solidarity of the Hutu under their leadership. Using their power they incited the impoverished population of Rwanda to take up arms and fight for their benefit. One aspect of the genocide, which perhaps has been overlooked, is the fact that it was not only men who were recruited to fight. A substantial number of women, and even young girls, were involved in a number of ways. Not only did they assist in the slaughter, but they also inflicted extraordinary cruelty on fellow women and children. This was another move by the perpetrators to involve the whole of the population – people who were already swayed by past fear and hatred.

A human rights report, which was released in March 1999, stated that the USA, Belgium, France and the United Nations were all given previous warnings of the 1994 genocide, and that it could have been prevented. Over a decade later world leaders have denounced what happened in Rwanda and are shamed by their failure to intervene to halt the slaughter. If another Rwanda happened, has the world learned by its mistakes and would it respond any differently? One thing is for certain: the alarm signals were ignored, and people are still angry at the world’s callous characterization of the Rwanda genocide.

 

Hotel Rwanda

 

The atrocities of 1994 are documented in a 2004 film entitled Hotel Rwanda, directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George. It is based on the true events that took place during the genocidal violence, and the central character is Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), a Hutu, who managed the four-star Sabena-owned Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali. Through his bravery and management skills he was able to save the lives of 1,200 people, making his hotel a place of refuge against all odds.