The civil war between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda resulted in the deaths of 800,000 Tutsis within 100 days (social media)
Coinciding with Rwanda's commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the genocide that it witnessed in 1994, in which more than 800,000 people were killed, the majority of whom were Tutsis, Al Jazeera Net met with researcher and historian Tom Ndahiro and political affairs researcher Gatete Nyiringabo, both Rwandans, to explain the contexts of that tragic massacre.
I went to meet Ndahiro. I prepared well for the interview, with difficult and intertwined topics about the history of a nation and then a state repeatedly marked by tragedy. I wanted to try to understand the roots of the tragedy, and how 800,000 people could be killed in 100 days. This is an infinite estimate, as the number may reach about one million victims.
As the 30th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsis approaches, slogans appear in the streets of the capital, Kigali, indicating the entrenchment of that massacre in the collective memory of Rwandans. The road I take to reach Mr. Tom Ndahiro is one of the places that witnessed mass killings.
Questions are crowded, and imagination has great weight in this case. How many people lost their lives on the sides of the road taken by the taxi? Where were they buried? What are their stories?
Deep sadness
Imaginary scenes and questions fade in front of Ndahiru's features. His face was filled with a hidden sadness. He smiled without affectation. He welcomed my arrival and told me that he appreciated the interest of those seeking to know history, and that remembering might be an attempt to prevent a similar tragedy, in another part of the world.
I will learn later during our conversation that the overwhelming sadness in his features begins from his childhood, as a refugee pursued with his family among neighboring countries. Later, in his younger years, he buried 12 members of his family who were killed in a massacre near the place of our meeting.
“Genocide is not something that happens suddenly. It is a hate crime that is prepared and conditions are created that allow it to occur. It is something that is not planned by individuals. It is an act committed by states and governments.” This is how Ndahiro began talking about the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, adding, “Planning for genocide.” It requires an ideology that fuels feelings of hatred, and in Rwanda, hatred of Tutsis began before 1994.”
Rwanda and Burundi were subjected to German colonialism in the late 19th century, which continued until the end of World War I, when German hegemony was replaced by Belgian colonialism.
During the German and Belgian eras, the colonial authorities maintained the royal rule that was in the hands of the Tutsi minority, and began to strengthen their privileges in the country. In 1933, Belgium organized a population census under which it issued identification cards determining the ethnic affiliation of Rwandans.
This was followed by the emergence of theories by European anthropologists, Belgians in particular, about the ethnic origins of the Hutus, Tutsis, and Twa tribes.
According to the historian of that era, “they made hypotheses about the origins of the migrations of the inhabitants of Rwanda. They claimed that the Tutsis had migrated from the north and that they were not indigenous.”
These identities reinforced societal division. Hutus, Tutsis, and a very small minority of the Twa people were part of the societal fabric, but issuing identities that defined affiliations was a stigma that predicted disaster. This is how Tom Ndahiro describes the impact of ethnic division.
Spreading hate
During my quest to recreate an image of what Rwanda witnessed three decades ago, I met Gatete Nyiringabo, a researcher in political affairs, a young man who was rich in culture without affectation. He chose to have the meeting in the “Kivu Noir” cafe, which presents an image of modern Rwanda, modern but far from glamor.
Gateti began his speech to Al Jazeera Net by providing the context of what the colonial authorities did, saying, "Belgium has enshrined the interests of an aristocratic minority of wealthy Tutsis, and left the rest to sink into abject poverty, regardless of their ethnicity."
He added, "These factors led, beginning in 1957, to the first acts of violence against the Tutsis under the pretext of their control over the country's capabilities and the exclusion of the Hutus."
During that period, the ideology paving the way for the genocide against the Tutsis was prepared - according to Ndahiro - where “what was called the Bahutu Manifesto (the political statement of the Hutus) was announced, calling on them to extract their right to survive and exist and to strip the Tutsis of the powers of government.”
The statement was drawn up, at the urging of the colonial authorities and with the encouragement of the Catholic clergy who turned into messengers spreading hatred among Rwandans, according to Ndahiro, and as a result, the “Barmihutu” or “Hutu Emancipation” movement was founded, which the historian describes as being closer to a militia than a political party.
Tensions continued to escalate with Rwanda's independence in 1961, and the first massacres occurred between 1963 and 1964. Thousands of Tutsis were killed and approximately 130,000 took refuge in Burundi, Uganda, and the Republic of the Congo (Zaire at the time).
Nyiringabo brings up the picture of that stage, and says, “Look at what is happening in Palestine, and you will understand the context. There is an absence of accountability for the killings. When a settler kills a Palestinian, does Israel hold him accountable? Of course not. They kill the Palestinians and take their homes as a reward for them. In Rwanda, something similar happened, and the Hutus continued.” By killing Tutsis and seizing their property without interference from the authorities to deter them or hold them accountable.”
Clogged political horizon
Over the following decades, refugees remain in their camps outside the country's borders, and restrictions begin to be imposed on them. In 1989, the “Rwanda Patriotic Front” was formed and suffered a loss in its first battle in 1990 against the forces of President Gavinal Habarimana. Attempts to reach a political agreement failed and the intensity of incitement against the Tutsis increased, leading to the killing of Habarimana.
Ndahiro tells us the circumstances that led to the formation of the front, and says, "I was a refugee at that time in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and that is what it was called when I arrived there with my father."
He added, "After decades, the countries in which we sought refuge began trying to expel us. No one wanted us on their land. We developed a feeling of the necessity of fighting for our homeland. We were without a homeland, without a state, and without our right to be recognized as Rwandans, so we took up arms."
For his part, Nyiringabo says that this period was characterized by a blockage of the political horizon. “Hutu leaders rejected any agreement, and the media began broadcasting hate speech systematically.” He added, "They were afraid of taking away the privileges enjoyed by the ruling class. The poor paid the price, whether Hutus or Tutsis. They were forced to fight each other instead of fighting against poverty."
He continues, "The international community stood by, once again, and abandoned us in the worst possible ways. The French lied in the Security Council and claimed that the massacres were not real, and the Western media also lied. The same thing is being repeated now about what is happening in Palestine. Does the Security Council or the international media care?" ".
On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President Habarimana crashed, and was considered the spark for what was to come. Tutsis were accused of shooting down the plane, and violence began that quickly turned into a massacre. The next day, the direct killing of political opponents began inside the country, and the then Prime Minister did not survive.
Over the course of 100 days, nearly a million people, most of them Tutsis, were killed inside churches and sports complexes, in the capital and in the villages, and those who could fled to neighboring countries. By mid-July 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front took control of the country.
“It was terrible. They killed women, children and men. They killed anyone who had an identity card that said Tutsi on it. I lost 12 members of my family. When I returned to Kigali after the massacres ended, I had to try to find out where they were killed and where their bodies were hidden so that we could bury them properly.” “Ndahiro says, his voice filled with pain.
Colonialism and poverty
I saw video testimony in which Jean de Dieu Twahira, one of those who participated in the killings, describes an attack on a church in Kigali. He says, "The army at the time allowed a group of young men, including him, to enter the church, where hundreds took refuge."
Tawahira added, "We would select a number of them, take them to a hole in the outer courtyard, and kill them with knives. We were accompanied by people who organized the entire operation."
According to the testimony of the man who was on trial, “the bodies piled up, and the commanders were urging us to hurry, saying that RPF fighters were approaching the place.” In his testimony, he does not attempt to justify what he did, and he says that the youth at that time “were under the influence of ethnic hate speech that was not spur of the moment.”
Gatete Nyiringabo gives us what he sees as the reasons that led to the tragedy: “The region was witnessing a real conflict between the former and new colonial powers. Each country supported a team, France supported the Hutus, while the United States tried to support the Rwandan Patriotic Front.”
He added, "There are other factors related to the lack of development and extreme poverty, which turned Rwandans into tools in the hands of a ruling few." The most dangerous thing - according to Nyiringabo - is “the absence of accountability and accountability over the decades since before independence, when the state failed to stop the targeting of Tutsis, and even encouraged it.”
As for Ndahiro, he believes that the colonial authorities can be blamed for the ethnic divisions that Rwanda witnessed before independence, “but the moment of independence means that we bear responsibility for what happened to us.”
While I was thanking Ndahiro for the meeting, and preparing to leave, he said to me, “I am counting on you to convey my story, and I hope that whoever reads my testimony will realize how difficult it is to look back on that tragic era. We remember it so that we do not repeat those mistakes.”
Source: Al Jazeera