Rwanda: Colonization, Genocide and Aftermath

Geographical & Environmental Overview

• Nickname: "Land of a Thousand Hills"

  • Rugged topography of rolling hills and volcanic mountains

  • High average altitude (most of the country sits above 1\,000\text{ m})

• Land-locked: No direct access to the sea

• Neighbouring states

  • North – Uganda

  • East – Tanzania

  • South – Burundi

  • West – Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

• Climate & natural attractions

  • Equatorial yet moderated by altitude → mild temperatures

  • National parks (Volcanoes, Akagera, Nyungwe) drive eco-tourism

• Strategic constraints

  • Reliance on neighbouring ports (Dar es Salaam, Mombasa) for imports/exports

  • Vulnerable to external political shifts

Demography

• Population

  • 1994 (year of genocide): \approx 7.2\text{ million}

  • 2022 estimate: \approx 13.8\text{ million} (almost double)

• Drivers of change

  • High fertility rate post-1994

  • Gradual return of refugees (Tutsi diaspora & Hutu civilians)

  • Improved child-survival rates through public-health campaigns

Pre-Colonial Rwanda

• Highly centralised monarchy ruled by Tutsi Mwami (king)

• Social categories existed but were fluid; identity based more on cattle-ownership & patron-client ties than biology

• Indigenous groups

  • Tutsi (cattle-herders)

  • Hutu (farmers)

  • Twa (hunter-gatherers, <1 %)

• Relative coexistence; warfare focused on tribute, not extermination

Colonisation (1884-1962)

• Germany (1884-1916)

  • Indirect rule: kept Tutsi monarchy in place

  • Began racialised ethnography (Hamitic myth)

• Belgium (1916-1962)

  • League-of-Nations mandate → UN trusteeship

  • Intensified ethnic classification

  • 1933 identity cards marked “Hutu”, “Tutsi”, “Twa”

  • Tutsis promoted as natural aristocracy → administrative posts & education

  • Forced labour & cash-crop economy (coffee)

  • “Divide-and-rule” ensured minority loyalty while alienating majority Hutu

• Long-term colonial legacies

  • Racial essentialism replaces fluid social categories

  • Quota systems (13 % Tutsi cap in schools / civil service) sow resentment

  • Cash-crop dependence → vulnerability to price shocks

Economic Foundations

• Colonial

  • Coffee & tea plantations; subsistence agriculture remained dominant

  • Limited industrialisation; infrastructure built to extract, not develop

• Post-independence

  • 1970s: coffee boom finances public spending under President Habyarimana

  • 1980s: global price collapse → fiscal crisis, IMF structural adjustment

• GDP (current ) & ranking

  • 1994: \approx\,\$1.35\text{ billion}; per-capita \approx\,\$190 (bottom quintile globally)

  • 2022: \approx\,\$11.1\text{ billion}; per-capita \approx\,\$799; World Bank ranking ~146/190 by size, but among top 10 fastest-growing (( >\,7\%) pre-COVID)

Politics After Independence (1962-present)

• 1962 – 1973: President Grégoire Kayibanda (Hutu)

  • One-party state (PARMEHUTU)

  • Maintained ethnic quotas; anti-Tutsi violence (1963, 1973)

• 1973 Coup: Maj. Juvénal Habyarimana (Hutu)

  • Dictatorship under MRND party

  • “Second Republic”; promises unity yet retains quotas

  • 1980s economic downturn undermines legitimacy

• 1990–1993 Civil War

  • Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF: mainly exiled Tutsis) invades from Uganda

  • Arusha Accords (1993): power-sharing plan; extremists feel threatened

• 1994 Genocide & RPF military victory

• 2000-present: Paul Kagame (RPF)

  • Elected 2003, 2010, 2017 after constitutional changes

  • Hard-line stance on "divisionism"; rapid socio-economic reforms

Social Categories: Hutu, Tutsi, Twa

• Belgian racial science: Tutsi "more European" → privileged

• Identity card made ethnicity fixed & inheritable

• Post-1994 constitution bans ethnic labelling; today citizens officially "Rwandan" only

Prelude to Genocide (1959-1994)

• 1959 "Social Revolution": Tutsi king overthrown, \sim 200\,000 Tutsi flee

• Periodic pogroms (1963, 1973) keep refugees in exile

• Exiles organise militarily → RPF

• 1990 invasion sparks civil war, displacement, radical Hutu propaganda

• Extremist network "akazu" (inner circle around First Lady Agathe Habyarimana) plans "zero Tutsi"

Key Extremist Actors

• Interahamwe (“those who fight together”): MRND youth militia

  • Provided jobs, land, sense of purpose; mass-recruited 1992-94

• Hutu Power media

  • Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) → labelled Tutsi “inyenzi” (cockroaches)

  • Kangura newspaper

• Hutu businessmen import 500\,000 machetes (1993–94)

Immediate Spark

• 6 April 1994: Presidential plane (Habyarimana & Burundi pres. Ntaryamira) shot down near Kigali

  • Responsibility disputed (hard-line Hutu or RPF)

  • Trigger used to launch coordinated extermination plan

Genocide Timeline (key milestones)

• 6 Apr 1994 – official start; roadblocks erected

• 7 Apr – PM Agathe Uwilingiyimana & UN peacekeepers killed; 10 Belgian soldiers murdered → foreign withdrawal

• 19 Apr – Human Rights Watch: >100\,000 dead

• 21 Apr – UN Security Council cuts UNAMIR from 2,548 to 270 troops

• 28 Apr – Oxfam counts 500\,000 victims

• 22 Jun – UNSC authorises French Opération Turquoise (safe zones)

• 15 Jul – RPF captures Kigali; \sim 2\,000\,000 Hutus flee to Zaire/Tanzania

• Early Aug – fighting ends after 100 days

Statistical Overview of Atrocities

• Duration: 100\text{ days}

• Dead: 800,000 (est.) – 1,074,017 (Rwandan govt figure)

  • Rate: \approx 6 murders/minute, 24/7 for >3 months

• Sexual violence

  • 250\,000 – 500\,000 women raped

  • 20\,000 children born of rape

  • 70\% of assaulted women later HIV+

• Children

  • 75,000 orphans

• Accountability

  • 120,000 suspects detained post-1994

International Response & UN

• UN formed 1945; mandate: peace, security, human rights

• Veto powers (P5): USA, UK, France, Russia, China

• Membership: states apply & are voted in (not automatic, but nearly universal)

• R2P (Responsibility to Protect, 2005): duty to stop mass-atrocity crimes

• UNGA vs UNSC

  • GA = all members, non-binding resolutions

  • SC = 15 members, binding; P5 veto

• Rwanda-specific failures

  • Gen. Roméo Dallaire (UNAMIR) warnings ignored; requests for 5,000 troops denied

  • Reluctance to label events "genocide" (would trigger Genocide Convention obligations)

  • U.S. internal memo: “genocide‐like acts” euphemism

  • No state offered large-scale refuge

• 2014 UN statement: “We failed the Rwandan people”

Justice & Accountability

• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

  • 1994–2005 (trials ran to 2015)

  • 93 indicted, 61 convicted

  • Precedent: recognised rape as act of genocide; first conviction of media executives

  • Cost \$2\text{ billion}, 6 fugitives remain

• Gacaca community courts (2007-2012)

  • >12,000 local courts; 1.2\text{ million}$$ cases

  • Aimed at restorative justice & truth-telling; reduced prison overcrowding

  • Criticisms: due-process gaps, intimidation, RPF crimes largely excluded

France & the Akazu

• France

  • Armed & trained FAR (Forces Armées Rwandaises) pre-94

  • Opération Turquoise created safe zone but allowed génocidaires to flee

  • Macron 2021: “Overwhelming responsibilities” acknowledged

• Agathe Habyarimana

  • Head of akazu; major Hutu Power ideologue

  • Lived in France; never prosecuted despite 13-year investigation

  • Symbol of impunity & judicial inertia

Paul Kagame & Post-Genocide Rwanda

• RPF leader; President (2000–present)

• Policies

  • Zero-tolerance for ethnic politics; “unity & reconciliation”

  • Rapid economic growth (Vision 2020/2050)

  • Critiques: shrinking political space, media restrictions

Propaganda Techniques Highlighted

• Bandwagon: “All Hutus must participate”

• Repetition: constant RTLM broadcasts

• Personal pronouns: “We Hutu”, “You patriots”

• Identifying common enemy: Tutsi = cockroach

• Guilt / emotive language to spur violence

• Use of respected figures (priests, local leaders) & youth militias

Lessons & Contemporary Relevance

• Genocide can unfold rapidly when ideology, organisation & impunity align

• Early warnings ignored → need robust R2P mechanisms

• Justice must balance retribution & reconciliation

• Darfur cartoon (source not shown) parallels: world watching another atrocity; symbolism of vultures/UN helmets often used to critique inertia

Ethical & Philosophical Reflections

• Questions of bystander responsibility: "How many acts of genocide does it take…"

• Structural vs individual guilt: planners vs ordinary participants

• Memory politics: official narrative emphasises Tutsi victimhood; space for Hutu suffering?

Key Dates Summary

• 1884 Berlin Conference → German East Africa

• 1916 Belgian occupation

• 1933 ethnic ID cards

• 1959 Social Revolution

• 1962 Independence

• 1973 Habyarimana coup

• 1990 RPF invasion

• 6 Apr 1994 plane crash → genocide

• 15 Jul 1994 Kigali falls to RPF

• 1994 – 2015 ICTR

• 2007 – 2012 gacaca courts