I haven’t seen a post that really depicts the history of Rwanda yet. So here’s my little contribution. By the way, thanks for the posts you reblogged.
Before the colonization, Rwanda was made of three social classes : Tutsi (10-15%), Hutu (over 80%) and Twa (less than 1%). Tutsi (upper social class) were cattle breeders, Hutu were farmers and Twa (lower social class) were hunters. One could become Tutsi or Hutu by marriage for example. They all had the same language, same religion and same culture.
German settlers arrived in Rwanda in the end of 19th century. They thought that Tutsi were more intelligent and more beautiful (according to European beauty standards of course : tall, skinny, light-skinned, thin nose, thin lips etc.). They thought that Hutu were boor, stupid and ugly (again, according to European beauty standards : shorter, huge lips, large nose etc). Twa were very short and seen as a species between humans and monkeys.
After losing WWI, Germany gave Rwanda (and Burundi, which is like the twin of Rwanda with same language, same social classes etc) to Belgium. Belgians thought the same as Germans and started to gather all Rwandans and measure their height, their nose, etc to see if they were from the superior race (aka Tutsi) or inferior race (aka Hutu (or Twa but Twa were a very small minority)). Because of that, some Hutu became Tutsi just because they “looked” Tutsi and vice versa. Belgians privileged Tutsi over Hutu. They said only Tutsi could rule the country because they were the only intelligent ones. Tutsi were privileged in administration, education etc. Eventually in the 50s, Tutsi Rwandans asked for independence and Belgians didn’t want to lose their colony so they started to talk to Hutu who’d been discriminated against for a few decades. They said : “Look how Tutsi despise you! They think only they can rule the country but this country is yours! They don’t even come from here, they stole your land (there’s a myth saying that Twa were the first inhabitants in Rwanda, Hutu came from West Africa and Tutsi were the last ones to arrive in Rwanda and forced Hutu to subject to them). You have to rebel against Tutsi supremacy!” So that’s what Hutu did in 1959. The Tutsi King fled. Hutu killed thousands of Tutsi with the support of Belgian settlers and Catholic church, and hundreds thousands of Tutsi had to flee to Uganda and Tanzania. Rwanda became a Republic in 1961 and Rwandans elected a Hutu president named Kayibanda. Finally Rwanda became independent in 1962.The president Kayibanda was an extremist and under his leadership, thousands of Tutsi were killed in 1963 and in 1972, just for being Tutsi. Their homes were burnt, they were stolen and beaten up. They were fired from their jobs, fired from schools. And hundreds thousands of them fled outside the country. In 1973, a Hutu man staged a coup d’état and became president. His name’s Habyiarimana He seemed a little bit more accepting of Tutsi but he still didn’t want the Tutsi exiles to come back. Because of that, the Tutsi exiles with the help of Hutu political opponents who had also fled created an army called PRF (Patriotic Rwandan Front) to come back to Rwanda by force, in 1987. The PRF declared war against the Rwandan government in 1990 and the war went on until 1994. During those 4 years, innocent Tutsi were killed or imprisonned by the government every time PRF tried to attack the government army. There was a huge propaganda against Tutsi (through the Radio for example) and that propaganda made Hutu think that Tutsi wanted to take back the power like under the Belgian colonization. Therefore, every Tutsi was an enemy.
On April 6, 1994, the president’s plane was shot down. Hutu extremists might be responisble for that. The day after, moderate Hutu were killed by extremist Hutu and the genocide of Tutsi started, which made about 1 million victims in 3 months. Rwanda’s population was about 7 millions at that time. The genocide was planned and organised by the Hutu extremist government (as I said, the moderate members were killed) and executed by militia who recruited Hutu civilians and gave them machetes, grenades, and guns.
France had been an ally of Rwanda since its independence. France helped Rwanda fight back against the PRF during the war until end of 1993. France also trained Rwandan soliders (the army was made of 5,000 men in 1990 and 35,000 men in 1994 because of France). France gave arms and ammunition to Rwanda even after the genocide started. France never asked President Habyirimana to stop discrimination and killings of Tutsi. Actually the French President and Habyirimana were good friends. In June 1994, France decided to take action in Rwanda, officially to save Tutsi but its intention is very contested today and we think their main goal was to not let the PRF win the war, because if they did, Rwanda would become English-speaking (PRF was made of people who grew up in Uganda and Tanzania so they spoke English) instead of French-speaking and France still wanted Rwanda to be French-speaking so that they could have an influence on it. The thing is the PRF was actually liberating Tutsi by chasing the Hutu extremist killers so fighting against them meant letting more Tutsi being killed. France or French politicians have never been sentenced for that.
Belgium also was an ally of Rwanda until 1991 when they stopped supporting Rwanda because of the murders of Tutsi.
While the genocide was happening, even though everyone knew it was a genocide, the UN didn’t want to admit it was, because otherwise they would have had to take action and almost no country wanted to send their soldiers to Rwanda.
I really, really, wanted to emphasize some things:
1. Colonization played a big role in Rwanda self-destruction
2. Tutsi were discriminated against and killed for years before the genocide of 1994 happened
3. The genocide didn’t happen because the president’s plane was shot down. Extermination plans were already known by France and UN for months/years. It is important to remember that, because in the West, people like to think that Hutu turned crazy just because their president was killed and it doesn’t really surprise anyone because “Africans are savage and violent and uncivilised anyways”.
4. The genocide could have been avoided or at least there could have been way less victims if the UN and the rest of the world had cared about the 1 million innocent people who were being slaughtered (mostly Tutsi but also Hutu who tried to protect Tutsi)If anyone wants to ask questions I’ll be glad to answer.
Btw, I am Belgian and Rwandan.
Today is the 23rd
anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi. On this occasion, I read again
the post I wrote last year. I need to make a few clarifications:–
The word “race” is taboo in
“post-racial” French. So the word race is often replaced by the word ethnicity
even though they don’t actually mean the same thing. Hutu and Tutsi Rwandans formed
one ethnicity since they shared a common national and cultural tradition. The
catholic missionaries and the German and Belgian settlers technically categorized
Rwandans in three different races, not ethnicities. So the word ethnicity in
the Rwandan context must be understood as race (based on physical traits). It’s
important because using the word ethnicity implies that the Hutu and the Tutsi
had little or nothing in common culturally which is not true.–
The Belgian colonial
administration introduced ethnic ID cards in 1933. They were later used to
prepare and execute the genocide against the Tutsi.–
During colonization, the easiest
way Hutu could achieve social ascension was through religious seminary. In the
50s, Hutu elites were radicalized in church and seminary as settlers and
influent clergy members were changing sides and supporting Hutu liberation.
They wrote the “Bahutu Manifesto” in 1957, which was a 10-page document
denouncing the supposedly Tutsi colonization and supremacy. Tutsi were
described as Ethiopian descendants who subjected the Hutu. Belgians were
described as a smaller threat to Hutu’s emancipation. This document provided a
basis for the future Hutu nationalist movement.–
The Rwandan King was in
exile because his legitimacy was contested after he succeeded his brother who
had just died without the settlers’ and the population’s approval. While he was
away, Belgians organized a referendum to ask Rwandans if they wanted Rwanda to
be a monarchy or a republic. This is how Rwanda became a republic.–
The first Rwandan President
in 1961 was Dominique Mbonymutwa, not Grégoire Kayibanda. I apologize for
that mistake. His mandate only lasted for 9 months. He was replaced by
Kayibanda after he resigned in the same year.–
It’s actually the Rwandan
Patriotic Front (RPF) and not the Patriotic Rwandan Front.–
When I mention “moderate
Hutu” killed on April 7 and on the following days, I’m talking about Hutu
politicians and human rights activists who opposed the genocide. Their
assassination paved the way for the genocide against the Tutsi.Two common reactions to hearing about
the genocide against the Tutsi are: “It’s all White people’s fault!” and “No
matter how much White people messed up Rwanda, they weren’t the ones holding
the machetes.” In my opinion, both are problematic.The first one is problematic because
it removes the perpetrators’ responsibility. It might even imply that when
African people commit such horrendous crimes, they can’t be responsible because
they couldn’t possibly know that what they were doing was wrong. Sounds pretty
racist to me. One to two million Hutu people actively and consciously
participated in the genocide against the Tutsi (murders, torture, rapes (about
200,000 women were raped during those 3 months), denunciation of Tutsi’s hiding
places, etc). The crimes they committed cannot be justified or downplayed
because of Rwanda’s past.The second one is problematic because
foreign support or influence is undeniable in this genocide. I made it clear
when talking about colonial times. But what about post-colonial support?–
The United Nations
established the UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda) in
October 1993. Its mission was to preserve peace in Rwanda. At that time, the
RPF and the Rwandan army had agreed on a ceasefire. Killings of Tutsi civilians
and political opponents were still being committed by the Rwandan government despite the UN’s presence. The
day after the President’s assassination (April 7, 1994) the Rwandan Prime
Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, was killed for her opposition to the genocide
by Hutu extremists. 10 Belgian UN soldiers who were supposed to protect her
were tortured and murdered as well. As a consequence, on April 12, the Belgian
government withdrew all their UN soldiers and the number of UN soldiers dropped
from about 2,500 to 1,200. Before the genocide, the UN were warned by an
informant that the Hutu extremists would precisely target Belgian UN soldiers
(who made up the majority of the UNAMIR) in order for the UN to withdraw their
forces. Belgium also urged for a complete withdrawal of UN forces because they
didn’t want to be the only country to leave Rwanda. Canadian General Dallaire –
who was in charge of the UNAMIR – asked his superiors for more troops in vain.
The USA insisted that no genocide was happening in Rwanda and greatly
contributed to the UNAMIR’s inaction. The UN is obligated to stop genocides so
that explains why countries all over the world refrained from calling the
genocide against the Tutsi a genocide while it was happening. They did not want
to help. It is now known that the President Clinton’s administration knew of a
“final solution to eliminate all Tutsi” in late April at the latest but
preferred to bury this information because they had no interest in intervening
in Rwanda. The USA had lost 19 UN soldiers in Somalia a few months earlier and
were not willing to take action in Africa anymore. On April 21, there were only
270 UN soldiers left in Rwanda. Eventually, on May 17, the UN Security Council
decided to send troops and equipment to Rwanda as it recognized that “acts of
genocide might have been committed” (so still no actual genocide was recognized
by the UN at that time). Unfortunately the troops arrived in August, when the
genocide was already over. Keep in mind that the United Nations had evidence of
extermination plans before the genocide started. Egyptian UN Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali was known for his closeness to Habyarimana’s government.
His special correspondent in Rwanda during the genocide, Cameroonian
Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh was also close to Habyarimana. He reported
“inter-ethnic massacres”. The UNAMIR soldiers were ordered to “stay neutral”
and not take action even during the genocide unless they were personally
threatened, which means they had to watch the militiamen and military slaughter
Tutsi people and do nothing. But many did commit acts of bravery to save Tutsi
people, like Senegalese Capt. Mbaye Diagne who saved hundreds of Tutsi before
being killed by shrapnel. Experts state that a UN intervention could have
stopped the genocide. However the message that the UN decided to send to Hutu
extremists was that they wouldn’t be held accountable for exterminating the
Tutsi nor would they be stopped.–
The UN Security Council
set up an arms embargo on Rwanda on May 17, 1994. However, arms and ammunition
continued to arrive to Rwanda through the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their
provenance remains unclear. Before the genocide, Rwanda mainly bought arms from
France, South Africa and Egypt.–
La Radio-Télévision des Mille Collines was a Rwandan radio station created by close friends
and relatives of President Habyarimana. It played a crucial role in the
genocide against the Tutsi. It incited the Hutu to murder all the “cockroaches”
which is the way Hutu extremists called the Tutsi and anyone who opposed the
genocide. It identified specific Tutsi targets or areas where they could be found
and congratulated the Hutu who were taking part in the genocide for their
devotion to the “Hutu cause”. The US military considered
shutting down the radio station but its plan was rejected by the Clinton’s
administration because it violated Rwanda’s sovereignty as well as freedom of
speech and freedom of the press. The radio did not only broadcast during the
genocide but also months before and its hateful message helped prepare the
genocide against the Tutsi.–
French soldiers
participated in identity checks between 1990 and 1993 in Rwanda. Some people with
the “Tutsi” ethnic mark were then handed to the Hutu militia and possibly
killed. In fact, the French government shared the same ideology regarding the
different Rwandan ethnic groups as the Rwandan government. They spread the myth
that the Tutsi’s goal was to take back the power and establish a Tutsi
supremacy not only in Rwanda but in the whole region (that includes Burundi,
Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo). To justify their hostility towards the
Tutsi minority, the French government used democracy to prove that anything
that the Hutu majority wanted – including discrimination against the Tutsi –
was “democratic” because in a democracy, the majority rules.–
Following the President’s
death, a new government needed to be formed. Negotiations to form this new
government were partly held in the French embassy in Rwanda on April 8, which
again shows the closeness between the French government and the Hutu
extremists. This temporary government was made of Hutu extremists who had
planned and were orchestrating the genocide. France is the only Western country
that maintained diplomatic relations with this government. Some of their
members were even invited in Paris during the genocide. After the genocide,
France claimed that they didn’t recognize this government’s legitimacy.–
The deceased President’s
wife and thirty other influent Hutu extremist people were airlifted out of
Rwanda to France (by French troops) after the attack. She then lived freely in
France up until 2010 despite her known implication in the genocide. Many
genocide organizers or perpetrators still live freely in Belgium, France,
Canada, USA, Netherlands, many African countries (and probably other places).–
France’s military
operation in Rwanda (June to August 1994) was officially humanitarian. On June
27, 1994, some French soldiers came across a couple of thousands Tutsi refugees
in Bisesero, in the West of Rwanda, who needed rescuing. They transmitted the
information to their superiors who refused to act fast and eventually rescued
800 Tutsi refugees three days later on June 30. 1,000 others had been killed
during those three days. It is now thought that France’s goal was to maintain
the Hutu extremist government in power. French soldiers admitted to be ordered
to primarily fight against the RPF, not to stop the genocide. As the Hutu
extremists realized they were losing the war, they fled with thousands of Hutu
civilians towards the Democratic Republic of Congo. These Hutu crossed a region
called the “humanitarian safe zone” of which the French were in control without
being disarmed or stopped by French soldiers. In fact, when they arrived in
refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the French provided them
with more arms. The French did however save a few thousands Tutsi and moderate
Hutu lives. Keep in mind that the French soldiers that took part in this
military operation were unaware of what they were engaging in. The decisions
were made in Paris, by the French government. The closest thing to an apology
that Tutsi survivors got from the French government was Former President
Sarkozy’s quote in 2009: “France made mistakes”.–
François Mitterand, who
was the French President in 1994, said after the genocide: “In those countries,
a genocide doesn’t matter too much”. That’s how the genocide against the Tutsi
is still viewed worldwide. Because “Africans are that way”, they’re violent,
they’re unthoughtful, they’re naïve, they’re greedy. That’s why I first
published a post on @reverseracism. Because Rwandan racial classifications are
rooted in anti-Blackness (European settlers literally thought that Tutsi people
were of Caucasian descent because they couldn’t imagine a society as “evolved”
as pre-colonial Rwanda being ruled by people of African descent) and because
the world’s indifference to the genocide against the Tutsi is rooted in
anti-Blackness too.–
Pope Francis asked for
forgiveness for the Catholic Church’s role in the 1994 genocide, in March 2017.
Some Rwandan clergy members took part in this genocide and were then protected
by the Church. The Church remained passive during the genocide despite its
great influence on Rwanda (about 90% of Rwandans identified as catholic at that
time). The Church did not apologize for its major role during colonization.–
Former Belgian Prime
Minister Guy Verhofstadt apologized for Belgium’s responsibility in the 1994
genocide, in 2000.The
fight against genocide denial is endless for survivors. Unfortunately
conspiracy theories and flat-out denial are common on the internet and in real
life. At least 800,000 people – mostly Tutsi Rwandans – were killed in Rwanda
between April and July 1994 according to the UN, over 1,000,000 people
according to the Rwandan government. At least 75% of Tutsi Rwandans were
exterminated in 1994. Any smaller number
can thus be considered revisionism. The most widely spread form of revisionism
is the “double genocide theory”. It’s a theory that claims that after the
genocide against the Tutsi by Hutu extremists (1994), there was a genocide
against the Hutu by Tutsi (1996). No genocide against the Hutu was ever officially
recognized because it never happened. During and after the 1994 genocide, 2
million Hutu (including genocide perpetrators) fled to the Democratic Republic
of Congo. They fled because they feared retaliation from the RPF that was
winning the war. The Hutu extremist propaganda portrayed RPF soldiers as anti-Hutu
murderers, which they were not (actually some RPF soldiers were Hutu political
opponents themselves and the first Rwandan President following the genocide was
a RPF Hutu man). Remember that the RPF was a small army of refugees trying to
enter back their country after decades of living in poor condition in
neighboring countries. They had been forced to flee Rwanda due to massacres and
persecutions. They were against racial classifications of Rwandans and favored
their Rwandan identity over anything else. When the RPF got in power after defeating
Hutu extremists, they chased them down in Congo (1996). It led to a war where
many different armed groups of several African countries were involved (needless to say the soil contains valuable ore) and
since then the region (Kivu, DRC) has not known a lasting peace. During that
war, the RPF committed war crimes against Hutu refugees (most of them being genocide
perpetrators themselves or accomplices who didn’t want to surrender and be
brought back to Rwanda to face trial). These crimes are what double genocide
theorists call genocide. They usually also mention Hutu killers and accomplices killed by RPF
soldiers in 1994. They were killed for participating in the slaughtering of innocent
Tutsi civilians and moderate Hutu – not because they were Hutu. But think about
it for a second. If Hutu killed Tutsi and Tutsi killed Hutu, how is that a
genocide? Isn’t that an ethnic / civil war? That’s exactly what they want you to
believe. It’s also a way to
wash out the hands of the perpetrators of the genocide since “they were only
protecting themselves from Tutsi who wanted to kill them anyways”. This rhetoric
actually started before the genocide against the Tutsi as the Hutu extremist
propaganda encouraged and justified violence against the Tutsi because Tutsi
were supposedly trying to enslave or even wipe out all the Hutu. The whole
genocide ideology was based on self-defense from the Tutsi threat since 1959.
The double genocide theory is particularly sneaky because on the one hand, its
advocates do not deny the genocide against the Tutsi but on the other hand, by
calling crimes that aren’t genocide genocide they contribute to trivialization
of the genocide against the Tutsi and the decades-long oppression that they
faced before. That is why I refuse to use the expression “Rwandan genocide”. I
know it is the most common way of referring to this genocide but the confusion
is just too important. What does Rwandan genocide even mean? Genocide against
the Hutu by the Tutsi or against the Tutsi by the Hutu or maybe both? That’s
why I encourage you to use the right terminology: the genocide perpetrated
against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994.I URGE YOU TO BOYCOTT
–
Rwanda’s
Untold Story : an awful revisionist BBC documentary–
Hotel Rwanda : its author
is a very controversial man (read about him here)I RECOMMEND YOU
–
To listen to Tutsi survivors
–
To visit memorials in Rwanda, for
instance the Kigali Genocide Memorial where over 250,000 people were buried. There’s
plenty of information available for free on its website, including testimonies
from both survivors and perpetrators.
–
To support the IBUKA non-profit
organization of Tutsi survivors in your country if you live in Belgium, France,
Italy, the Netherlands or Switzerland. Ibuka is a Kinyarwanda (official Rwandan language) word that
means “Remember”.
–
To support Survie if you live in
France. It is a French non-governmental organization that fights against French
neocolonialism in Africa.
–
To support any other survivors’
organization
–
To call out revisionists and genocide
deniers
–
To spread awareness on the genocide against
the Tutsi (e.g. by reblogging this) and
on ALL genocidesI RECOMMEND THESE MOVIES/DOCUMENTARIES/BOOKS
–
Shooting Dogs (UK) / Beyond The Gates (US) (movie based on a true story)
–
Sometimes in
April (fictional movie)
–
The Day God
Walked Away (fictional movie)
–
Kinyarwanda (movie based on true stories)
–
My Neighbor,
My Killer (documentary)
–
Ghost story (documentary)
–
Shake hands
with the devil (book + film
based on a true story) by General Romeo
Dallaire
–
Life laid
bare by Jean Hatzfeld (book made of testimonies)
Machete Season by Jean Hatzfeld (book made of
testimonies)
The Strategy Of Antelopes by Jean Hatzfeld (book made of
testimonies)
Jean Hatzfeld is a Jewish French journalist.For French speakers // Pour les
francophones:
–
Les films et documentaires en anglais ci-dessus sont
disponibles en VF aussi
–
Reportage sur les réfugiés Tutsi de 1964
–
Interview de Patrick de Saint-Exupéry sur la responsabilité
de la France
–
Conférence de Jacques Morel sur le rôle de la France dans le
génocide des Tutsi
–
Conférence de Raphaël Doridant sur le rôle de la France dans
le génocide des Tutsi
–
La femme aux pieds nus de Scholastique Mukasonga (rescapée
Tutsi)
–
Notre Dame du Nil de Scholastique Mukasonga (rescapée
Tutsi)
–
Tu leur diras que tu es hutue de Pauline Kayitare (rescapée Tutsi)
–
N’aie pas peur de savoir de Yolande Mukagasana (rescapée
Tutsi)
–
Petit Pays de Gaël Faye (rescapé Tutsi
franco-rwandais)
–
Dans le nu de la vie de Jean Hatzfeld
–
Une saison de machettes de Jean Hatzfeld
–
La stratégie des antilopes de Jean Hatzfeld
–
L’inavouable de Patrick de Saint-Exupéry
–
J’ai serré la main du diable du Lieutenant-Général Romeo Dallaire
–
La France au coeur du génocide des Tutsi de Jacques Morel
–
Comment devient-on génocidaire de Damien Vandermeersch (juge
d’instruction pour le Rwanda)
–
Vents sombres sur le lac Kivu de Guillaume Ancel (militaire
français qui a participé à l’opération militaire au Rwanda en 1994)Feel free to add information and
recommendations (especially in English – since I mostly speak French I don’t
know many books/films in English) or ask questions! All the historical facts I
provided can be easily checked on the internet.
This is a backup of Queeranarchism.Tumblr.com. —- Due to the back-up process this site currently includes almost everything I have ever reblogged, so click the text 'posts by queeranarchism tumblr' in the menu option if you want to go directly to posts I have written myself.
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