History of Rwanda
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2018) |
History of Rwanda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Human occupation of
A convergence of anti-colonial, and anti-Tutsi sentiment resulted in Belgium granting national independence in 1962. Direct elections resulted in a representative government dominated by the majority
The
Neolithic to the Middle Ages
The territory of present-day Rwanda has been green and fertile for many thousands of years, even during the
Hundreds of years ago[
Middle ages
By the 15th century, many of the Bantu-speakers, including both Hutu and Tutsi, had organized themselves into small states. According to Bethwell Allan Ogot,[7] these included at least three. The oldest state, which has no name, was probably established by the Renge lineages of the Singa clan and covered most of modern Rwanda, besides the northern region. The Mubari state of the Zigaba (Abazigaba) clan also covered an extensive area. The Gisaka state in southeast Rwanda was powerful, maintaining its independence until the mid-19th century. However, the latter two states are largely unmentioned in contemporary discussion of Rwandan civilization.[8]
Reign of Rwabugiri (19th century)
In the 19th century, the state became far more centralized, and the history far more precise. Expansion continued, reaching the shores of
Under the monarchy the economic imbalance between the Hutus and the Tutsis crystallized, and a complex political imbalance emerged as the Tutsis formed into a hierarchy dominated by a Mwami or 'king'. The King was treated as a semi-divine being, responsible for making the country prosper. The symbol of the King was the Kalinga, the sacred drum.
The Mwami's main power base was in control of over a hundred large estates spread through the kingdom. Including fields of banana plants and many head of cattle, the estates were the basis of the rulers' wealth. The most ornate of the estates would each be home to one of the king's wives, monarchs having up to twenty. It was between these estates that the Mwami and his retinue would travel.
All the people of Rwanda were expected to pay tribute to the Mwami; it was collected by a Tutsi administrative hierarchy. Beneath the
Also important were military chiefs, who had control over the frontier regions. They played both defensive and offensive roles, protecting the frontier and making cattle raids against neighboring tribes. Often, the Rwandan great chief was also the army chief. Lastly, the biru or "council of guardians" was also an important part of the administration. The Biru advised the Mwami on his duties where supernatural king-powers were involved. These honored people advised also on matters of court ritual. Taken together, all these posts from great chiefs, military chiefs and Biru members existed to serve the powers of the Mwami, and to reinforce the king's leadership in Rwanda.
It was after the formation of the kingdom of Rwanda that the differences between Hutu and Tutsi became more rigid and tensions began to arise. King Rwabugiri´s rule was harsh and taxes were heavy. The Tutsi aristocracy ruled by force and only Tutsi men were allowed as warriors. Hutu and Twa were allowed to fight or function as auxiliaries but did not receive the Tutsi warrior training. These young men were indoctrinated during their training with the idea of Tutsi supremacy.[9]
Due to their position of power and system of exploitation of the Hutu peasantry a sort of feudal relationship developed where Tutsi aristocracy started to see themselves as superior beings, turning the Hutu into second class citizens. Rebellions by Hutu peasantry were struck down without mercy, with villages being massacred and property being confiscated.[10]
A traditional local justice system called Gacaca predominated in much of the region as an institution for resolving conflict, rendering justice and reconciliation. The Tutsi king was the ultimate judge and arbiter for those cases that reached him. Despite the traditional nature of the system, harmony and cohesion had been established among Rwandans and within the kingdom since the beginning of Rwanda.[11] This justice system became however more and more biased against the Hutu over time. For instance, Tutsi who stole cattle from Hutu would generally remain unpunished while Hutu stealing cattle from Tutsi would generally receive the death penalty for their crime. If a Tutsi murdered a Hutu the Mwami could order the killing of one of the Tutsi's kinsmen as a form of retribution. When a Hutu killed a Tutsi the punishment differed, with the Mwami ordering the execution of not one but two of the Hutu's kinsmen as punishment.
The distinction between the three ethnic groups was somewhat fluid, in that Tutsis who lost their cattle due to a disease epidemic, such as rinderpest, sometimes would be considered Hutu. Likewise Hutu who obtained cattle would come to be considered Tutsi, thus climbing the ladder of the social strata. This process was called Kwihutura and was performed with permission from the Mwami. By the 19th century the rate of social mobility had severely dwindled and cases of "class promotion" had become exceedingly rare, which slowly changed the kingdom into a caste system. What little social mobility was left ended abruptly with the onset of colonial administration.[12][13]
Colonial Rwanda
Unlike much of Africa, Rwanda and the
In 1894 Rutarindwa inherited the kingdom from his father Rwabugiri IV, but many on the king's council were unhappy. There was a rebellion and the family was killed.
German East Africa (1885–1919)
The first European to visit or explore Rwanda was a German, Count
War and division opened the door for colonialism, and in 1897 German colonialists and missionaries came to the location of Rwanda. Some of them were said to have thought that the Osi tribe and the Hutus might have been here. The Rwandans were divided; a portion of the royal court was wary and the other thought the Germans might be a good alternative to dominance by Buganda or the Belgians.[citation needed] Backing their faction in the country a pliant government was soon in place. Rwanda put up less resistance than Burundi did to German rule.
German rule in this most inaccessible of colonies was indirect, achieved mainly by placing agents at the courts of the various local rulers.[14] The Germans did not encourage modernization and centralization of the regime; however, they did introduce the collection of cash taxes. The Germans hoped cash taxes, rather than taxes in kind, would force farmers to switch to tradable crops, like coffee, in order to acquire the required cash to pay taxes. This policy led to changes in the Rwandan, Burundi, Congolese, and Nigerian economies.
During this period, decreasing numbers accepted
Prior to the colonial period the Tutsis comprised about 15 to 16% of the population. While many Hutus were poor peasants,[citation needed] they comprised the majority of the ruling elite and monarchy. A significant minority of the remaining non-Tutsi political elite were Hutu.
The German presence had somewhat differing effects on the authority the Rwandan governing powers. The Germans helped the
By 1899 the Germans had placed advisors at the courts of local chiefs. The Germans were preoccupied with fighting uprisings in
Belgian League of Nations mandate (1916–1945)
At the end of WWI, Belgium accepted the
The Belgian government continued to rely on the Tutsi power structure for administering the country, although they became more directly involved in extended its interests into education and agricultural supervision. The Belgians introduced
The Belgians intended the colony to be profitable. They introduced
Belgian rule reinforced an ethnic divide between the Tutsi and Hutu, and they supported Tutsis political power. Due to the
A history of Rwanda that justified the existence of these racial distinctions was written. No historical, archaeological, or above all linguistic traces have been found to date that confirm this official history. The observed differences between the Tutsis and the Hutus are about the same as those evident between the different British social classes in the 1950s. The way people nourished themselves explains a large part of the differences: the Tutsis, since they raised cattle, traditionally drank more milk than the Hutu, who were farmers.
The fragmenting of Hutu lands angered
From 1935 on, "Tutsi", "Hutu" and "Twa" were indicated on identity cards. However, because of the existence of many wealthy Hutu who shared the financial (if not physical) stature of the Tutsi, the Belgians used an expedient method of classification based on the number of cattle a person owned. Anyone with ten or more cattle was considered a member of the Tutsi class. The Roman Catholic Church, the primary educators in the country, subscribed to and reinforced the differences between Hutu and Tutsi. They developed separate educational systems for each,[citation needed] although throughout the 1940s and 1950s the vast majority of students were Tutsi.[citation needed]
Belgian UN trust territory (1945–1961)
Following World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations trust territory with Belgium as the administrative authority. Reforms instituted by the Belgians in the 1950s encouraged the growth of democratic political institutions but were resisted by the Tutsi traditionalists, who saw them as a threat to Tutsi rule.
From the late 1940s, King Rudahigwa, a Tutsi with democratic vision, abolished the "ubuhake" system and redistributed cattle and land. Although the majority of pasture lands remained under Tutsi control, the Hutu began to feel more liberation from Tutsi rule. Through the reforms, the Tutsis were no longer perceived to be in total control of cattle, the long-standing measure of a person's wealth and social position. The reforms contributed to ethnic tensions.
The Belgian institution of ethnic identity cards contributed to the growth of group identities. Belgium introduced electoral representation for Rwandans, by means of secret ballot. The majority Hutus made enormous gains within the country. The Catholic Church, too, began to oppose Tutsi mistreatment of Hutus, and began promoting equality.[citation needed]
Mwami Mutara took steps to end the destabilization and chaos he saw in the land.[citation needed] Mutara made many changes; in 1954 he shared out the land between the Hutu and the Tutsi, and agreed to abolish the system of indentured servitude (ubuhake and uburetwa) the Tutsis had practised over the Hutu until then.[24]
Strife and lead up to independence
In the 1950s and early 1960s, a wave of Pan-Africanism swept through Central Africa, expressed by leaders such as Julius Nyerere in Tanzania and Patrice Lumumba in the Congo. Anti-colonial sentiment rose throughout central Africa, and a socialist platform of African unity and equality for all Africans was promoted. Nyerere wrote about the elitism of educational systems.[25]
Encouraged by the
In November 1959, Tutsis[
The revolution of 1959 marked a major change in political life in Rwanda. Some 150,000 Tutsis were exiled to neighboring countries. Tutsis who remained in Rwanda were excluded from political power in a state becoming more centralized under Hutu power. Tutsi refugees also fled to the South Kivu province of the Congo, where they were known as Banyamalenge.
In 1960, the Belgian government agreed to hold democratic municipal elections in Ruanda-Urundi. The Hutu majority elected Hutu representatives. Such changes ended the Tutsi monarchy, which had existed for centuries. A Belgian effort to create an independent Ruanda-Urundi with Tutsi-Hutu power sharing failed, largely due to escalating violence. At the urging of the UN, the Belgian government divided Ruanda-Urundi into two separate countries, Rwanda and Burundi.
Independence (1962)
On 25 September 1961, a
Between 1961 and 1962, Tutsi guerrilla groups staged attacks into Rwanda from neighboring countries. Rwandan Hutu-based troops responded, and thousands more were killed in the clashes. On 1 July 1962, Belgium, with UN oversight, granted full independence to the two countries. Rwanda was created as a republic governed by the majority MDR-Parmehutu, which had gained full control of national politics. In 1963, a Tutsi guerrilla invasion into Rwanda from Burundi unleashed another anti-Tutsi backlash by the Hutu government; their forces killed an estimated 14,000 people. The economic union between Rwanda and Burundi was dissolved and tensions between the two countries worsened. Rwanda became a Hutu-dominated one-party state. In excess of 70,000 people had been killed.[citation needed]
Kayibanda became Rwanda's first elected president, leading a government chosen from the membership of the directly elected unicameral National Assembly of Rwanda. Peaceful negotiation of international problems, social and economic elevation of the masses, and integrated development of Rwanda were the ideals of the Kayibanda regime. He established formal relations with 43 countries, including the United States, in the first ten years. Despite the progress made, inefficiency and corruption developed in government ministries in the mid-1960s.
The Kayibanda administration established quotas to try to increase the number of Hutu in schools and the civil service. This effort ended up penalizing the Tutsi. They were allowed only nine percent of secondary school and university seats, which was their proportion of the population. The quotas also extended to the civil service. With unemployment high, competition for such opportunities increased ethnic tensions. The Kayibanda government also continued the Belgian colonial government's policy of requiring ethnic identity cards, and it discouraged "mixed" marriages.
Following more violence in 1964, the government suppressed political opposition. It banned the political parties
The Catholic Church was closely involved with Parmehutu, and they shared local resources and networks. Through the church, the government maintained links with supporters in Belgium and Germany. The country's two newspapers supported the government and were Catholic publications.[26][27]
On July 5, 1973, Defence Minister Maj. Gen. Juvénal Habyarimana overthrew Kayibanda. He suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly of Rwanda and imposed a strict ban on all political activity.
Initially, Habyarimana abolished the quota system, winning him favour among Tutsi.[28] However, this didn't last. In 1974, a public outcry developed over Tutsi over-representation in professional fields such as medicine and education. Thousands of Tutsi were forced to resign from such positions, and many were forced into exile. In associated violence, several hundred Tutsi were killed. Gradually, Habyarimana reimposed many of his predecessor's policies favouring Hutu over Tutsi.[citation needed]
In 1975, President Habyarimana formed the
Under MRND aegis, a new constitution making the country a
Inter-relationship with events in Burundi
The situation in Rwanda had been influenced in great detail by the situation in Burundi. Both countries had a Hutu majority, yet an army-controlled Tutsi government in Burundi persisted for decades. After the assassination of
Another seven years of sporadic violence in Burundi (from 1965–1972) existed between the Hutus and Tutsis. In 1969 another purge of Hutus by the Tutsi military occurred. Then, a localized Hutu uprising in 1972 was fiercely answered by the Tutsi-dominated Burundi army in the largest Burundi genocide of Hutus, with a death toll nearing 200,000.
This wave of violence led to another wave of cross border refugees into Rwanda of Hutus from Burundi. Now there were large numbers of both Tutsi and Hutu refugees throughout the region, and tensions continued to mount.
In 1988, Hutu violence against Tutsis throughout northern Burundi again resurfaced, and in response the Tutsi army massacred approximately 20,000 more Hutu. Again, thousands of Hutus were forced into exile into Tanzania and Congo to flee another genocide of Hutu.
Civil war and genocide
Many exiled refugee Rwandan Tutsis in Uganda had joined the rebel forces of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the Ugandan Bush War and had then become part of the Ugandan military upon the rebel victory in 1986. Among these were Fred Rwigyema and Paul Kagame, who rose to prominence in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Rwandan rebel group largely consisting of Tutsi veterans of the Ugandan war. On October 1, 1990, the RPF invaded Rwanda from their base in neighboring Uganda. The rebel force, composed primarily of ethnic Tutsis, blamed the government for failing to democratize and resolve the problems of some 500,000 Tutsi refugees living in diaspora around the world.
The Tutsi diaspora miscalculated the reaction of its invasion of Rwanda. Though the Tutsi objective seemed to be to pressure the Rwandan government into making concessions, the invasion was seen as an attempt to bring the Tutsi ethnic group back into power. The effect was to increase ethnic tensions to a level higher than they had ever been. Nevertheless, after 3 years of fighting and multiple prior "cease-fires," the government and the RPF signed a "final" cease-fire agreement in August 1993, known as the Arusha Accords, in order to form a power sharing government, a plan which immediately ran into problems.
The situation worsened when the first elected Burundian president, Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, was assassinated by the Burundian Tutsi-dominated army in October 1993.[32] In Burundi, a fierce civil war then erupted between Tutsi and Hutu following the army's massacre. This conflict spilled over the border into Rwanda and destabilized the fragile Rwandan accords. Tutsi-Hutu tensions rapidly intensified. Although the UN sent a peacekeeping force named the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), it was underfunded, under-staffed, and largely ineffective in the face of a two country civil-war. The UN denied Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire's request for additional troops and changes to the rules of engagement to prevent the coming genocide.[33]
1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Part of a series on the |
Rwandan genocide |
---|
On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu President of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land at Kigali.[34] Both presidents were killed when the plane crashed.
Military and militia groups began rounding up and killing Tutsis en masse, as well as political moderates irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds. The killing swiftly spread from Kigali to all corners of the country; between April 6 and the beginning of July, a genocide of unprecedented swiftness left between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis (800,000 is a commonly noted number) and moderate Hutus dead at the hands of organized bands of militia (Interahamwe). Even ordinary citizens were called on by local officials to kill their neighboring Tutsis who were called Inyenzi (cockroaches) by the local radio stations inciting fear and hatred. The president's MRND Party was implicated in organizing many aspects of the genocide. The Hutu genocidaires were abetted by the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines broadcasting hate speech advocating violence against Tutsis. It broadcast at the same time as Radio Muhabura broadcast from Uganda, sponsored by the RPF and their Ugandan allies.
The RPF renewed its civil war against the Rwanda Hutu government when it received word that the genocidal massacres had begun. Its leader Paul Kagame directed RPF forces in neighboring countries such as Uganda and Tanzania to invade the country, but here, Paul Kagame did not direct RPF Forces from neighboring countries because RPF was already in Rwanda for three years and half battling the Hutu forces and Interahamwe militias who were committing the massacres. The resulting civil war raged concurrently with the genocide for two months. The Tutsi-led RPF continued to advance on the capital, and soon occupied the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the country by June. Thousands of additional civilians were killed in the conflict. UN member states refused to answer UNAMIR's requests for increased troops and money. The remaining part of the country not under RPF control was occupied by France in Operation Turquoise. While the French operation did prevent mass killings it has been alleged that the deployment of French troops was intended to allow the Hutu militias to escape, and that the slaughter of Tutsis continued in the French controlled area.[35]
Post-civil war Rwanda
Between July and August 1994, Kagame's Tutsi-led RPF troops first entered Kigali and soon thereafter captured the rest of the country.[36] The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the genocide, but approximately two million Hutu refugees—some who participated in the genocide and fearing Tutsi retribution—fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. This exodus became known as the Great Lakes refugee crisis.[37]
After the Tutsi RPF took control of the government, in 1994, Kagame formed a government of national unity headed by a Hutu president,
Following an uprising by the ethnic Tutsi, sometimes referred to as a whole as Banyamulenge (although this term only represents people from one area in eastern Zaire—other ethnic Tutsi Kinyarwanda-speaking people include the Banyamasisi and the Banyarutshuru, as an example) people in eastern Zaire in October 1997, a huge movement of refugees began which brought more than 600,000 back to Rwanda in the last two weeks of November. This massive repatriation was followed at the end of December 1996 by the return of another 500,000 from Tanzania, again in a huge, spontaneous wave. Less than 100,000 Rwandans are estimated to remain outside of Rwanda, and they are thought to be the remnants of the defeated army of the former genocidal government, its allies in the civilian militias known as Interahamwe, and soldiers recruited in the refugee camps before 1996.[citation needed] There are also many innocent Hutu who remain in the forests of eastern Congo, particularly Rutshuru, Masisi and Bukavu, who have been misinformed by rebel forces that they will be killed upon return to Rwanda.[citation needed] Rebels also use force to prevent these people from returning, as they serve as a human shield.[citation needed]
In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members killed three Spanish aid workers, three soldiers and seriously wounded one other on January 18, 1997. Since then, most of the refugees have returned and the country is secure for tourists.
Rwandan coffee began to gain importance after international taste tests pronounced it among the best in the world,[39] and the U.S. responded with a contribution of 8 million dollars. Rwanda now earns some revenue from coffee and tea export, although it has been difficult to compete with larger coffee-producing countries. The main source of revenue, however, is tourism, mainly mountain gorilla visitation. Their other parks, Nyungwe Forest (one of the last high-altitude tropical forests in the world) and Akagera National Park (a safari game park) have also become popular on the tourism circuit. The lakeside resorts of Gisenyi and Kibuye are also gaining ground.
When Bizimungu became critical of the Kagame government in 2000, he was removed as president and Kagame took over the presidency himself. Bizimungu immediately founded an opposition party (the PDR), but it was banned by the Kagame government. Bizimungu was arrested in 2002 for treason, sentenced to 15 years in prison, but released by a presidential pardon in 2007.[38]
The postwar government has placed high priority on development, opening water taps in the most remote areas, providing free and compulsory education, and promulgating progressive environmental policies. Their Vision 2020 development policy has the aim of achieving a service-based society by 2020, with a significant middle class. There is relatively little corruption in the country: after Botswana and Cape Verde, it is the third least corrupt country in Africa according to the Corruption Perceptions Index as of 2022.
Hutu Rwandan genocidal leaders were put on trial at the
Ethnicity has been formally outlawed in Rwanda, in the effort to promote a culture of healing and unity. One can stand trial for discussion of the different ethnic groups.[43]
Rwanda has become a
First and Second Congo Wars
In order to protect the country against the Hutu Interahamwe forces, which had fled to Eastern Zaire, RPF forces invaded Zaire in 1996, following talks by Kagame with US officials earlier the same year. In this invasion Rwanda allied with
In this war, militarized Tutsi elements in the South Kivu area of Zaire, known as Banyamulenge to disguise their original Rwandan Tutsi heritage, allied with the Tutsi RDF forces against the Hutu refugees in the North Kivu area, which included the Interahamwe militias.[44]
In the midst of this conflict, Kabila, whose primary intent had been to depose Mobutu, moved his forces to Kinshasa, and in 1997, the same year Mobutu Sese Seko died of prostate cancer, Kabila captured Kinshasa and then became president of Zaire, which he then renamed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With Kabila's success in the Congo, he no longer desired an alliance with the Tutsi-RPF Rwandan army and the Ugandan forces, and in August 1998 ordered both the Ugandans and Tutsi-Rwandan army out of the DRC. However, neither Kagame's Rwandan Tutsi forces nor Museveni's Ugandan forces had any intention of leaving the Congo, and the framework of the Second Congo War was laid.[citation needed]
During the Second Congo War, Tutsi militias among the Banyamulenge in the Congo province of Kivu desired to annex themselves to Rwanda (now dominated by Tutsi forces under the Kagame government). Kagame also desired this, both to increase the resources of Rwanda by adding those of the Kivu region, and also to add the Tutsi population, which the Banyamulenge represented, back into Rwanda, thereby reinforcing his political base and protecting the indigenous Tutsis living there, who had also suffered massacres from the Interhamwe.[citation needed]
In the Second Congo War, Uganda and Rwanda attempted to wrest much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from Kabila's forces, and nearly succeeded. However, the DRC being a member of the SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) organisation, President Laurent Kabila called this regional organisation to the rescue. Armies were sent to aid Kabila, most notably those of Angola and Zimbabwe. These armies were able to beat back Kagame's Rwandan-Tutsi advances and the Ugandan forces.[citation needed]
In the great conflict between 1998 and 2002, during which Congo was divided into three parts, multiple opportunistic militias, called
Laurent Kabila was assassinated in the DRC (Congo) in 2001, and was succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila. The latter was chosen unanimously by the political class because of the role he played in the army, being the "de facto' officer in charge of the well trained batailions that defeated the Mobutu army and were fighting alongside SADC coalition forces. Joseph speaks fluent French, English and Swahili, one of the four national languages of the DRC. He studied in Tanzania and Uganda in his earlier years. He completed his military training in China. After serving 5 years as the transitional government president, he was freely-elected in the Congo to be president, in 2006, largely on the basis of his support in the Eastern Congo.[citation needed]
Ugandan and Rwandan forces within Congo began to battle each other for territory, and Congolese Mai Mai militias, most active in the South and North Kivu provinces (in which most refugees were located) took advantage of the conflict to settle local scores and widen the conflict, battling each other, Ugandan and Rwandan forces, and even Congolese forces.[citation needed]
The war was ended when, under Joseph Kabila's leadership, a ceasefire was signed and the all-inclusive Sun City (South Africa) talks were convened to decide on a two years transition period and the organisation of free and fair elections.[citation needed]
Rwandan RPF troops finally left Congo in 2002, leaving a wake of disease and malnutrition that continued to kill thousands every month. However, Rwandan rebels continue to operate (as of May 2007) in the northeast Congo and Kivu regions. These are claimed to be remnants of Hutu forces that cannot return to Rwanda[45] without facing genocide charges, yet are not welcomed in Congo and are pursued by DRC troops.[46] In the first 6 months of 2007, over 260,000 civilians were displaced.[47] Congolese Mai Mai rebels also continue to threaten people and wildlife.[48] Although a large scale effort at disarming militias has succeeded, with the aid of the UN troops, the last militias are only being disarmed in 2007. However, fierce confrontations in the northeast regions of the Congo between local tribes in the Ituri region, initially uninvolved with the Hutu-Tutsi conflict but drawn into the Second Congo War, still continue.[citation needed]
Rwanda today
This article needs to be updated.(November 2023) |
Rwanda today struggles to heal and rebuild, showing signs of rapid economic development,[49] but with growing international concern about the decline of human rights within the country.
Economically, the major markets for Rwandan exports are Belgium, Germany, and People's Republic of China.[needs update] In April 2007, an investment and trade agreement, four years in the making, was worked out between Belgium and Rwanda. Belgium contributes €25–35 million per year to Rwanda.[50] Belgian co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry continues to develop and rebuild agricultural practices in the country. It has distributed agricultural tools and seed to help rebuild the country. Belgium also helped in re-launching fisheries in Lake Kivu, at a value of US$470,000, in 2001.[51]
In Eastern Rwanda, The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative, along with Partners in Health, are helping to improve agricultural productivity, improve water and sanitation and health services, and help cultivate international markets for agricultural products.[52][53][needs update] Since 2000, the Rwandan government has expressed interest in transforming the country from agricultural subsistence to a knowledge-based economy, and plans to provide high-speed broadband across the entire country.[54]
Rwanda applied to join the Commonwealth of Nations in 2007 and 2009, a sign that is trying to distance itself from French foreign policy. In 2007, it applied unsuccessfully to join at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Kampala in Uganda, but was accepted into membership in 2009 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith publicly stated this would help "entrench the rule of law and support the Rwandan Government's efforts towards democracy and economic growth." Rwanda also joined the East African Community in 2009 at the same time as its neighbor Burundi.[citation needed]
However, since then Freedom House rates Rwanda as "not free", with political rights and civil liberties trending downwards. In 2010 Amnesty International "strongly condemned a worrying attack on a Rwandan opposition group"[55] in the lead-up to presidential elections, citing the case of Victoire Ingabire, president of the FDU-Inkingi (United Democratic Forces) and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, attacked in February 2010 while collecting party registration documents from a government building in Kigali. In April, Rwandan Immigration proceeded to reject a work visa re-application by the Rwanda-based researcher for Human Rights Watch.[56] The sole new opposition party to secure registration, PS-Imberakuri, had its presidential candidate Bernard Ntaganda arrested on June 24,[when?] charged with "genocide ideology" and "divisionism".
Rwandan Green Party President, Frank Habineza also reported threats. In October 2009 a Rwandan Green Party meeting was violently broken up by police, with authorities placing preventing the registration of the party or allowing it to run a candidate in the presidential election.[57] Only weeks before the election, on 14 July 2009, André Kagwa Rwisereka, the vice president of the opposition Democratic Green Party was found dead, with his head severed almost entirely, in Butare, southern Rwanda.[58]
Public scrutiny of the government's policies and practices has been limited by press freedom. In June 2009 journalist for Umuvugizi newspaper Jean-Leonard Rugambage was shot dead outside his home in Kigali. Umuvugizi at the time was supporting a critical investigation into the attempted murder of former Rwandan general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in exile in South Africa. In July 2009 Agnes Nkusi Uwimana, editor of the "Umurabyo" newspaper, charged with "genocide ideology." As the presidential election got closer, two other newspaper editors left Rwanda.[needs update]
The United Nations, European Union, the United States, France and Spain publicly expressed concerns.
See also
- History of Africa
- History of Burundi
- List of kings of Rwanda
- List of presidents of Rwanda
- Politics of Rwanda
- Prime Minister of Rwanda
- Ruanda-Urundi
- Rwanda
- Kigali history and timeline
Explanatory notes
- ^ Much Rwanda scholarship revolves around arguments as to the origin of Tutsi, Hutu and Twa as distinct racial groups. For example, David Newbury rejects the migration thesis outright, but allows for "mobility" in which people of different physical stock arrived in the region, but without "an interpretation that relies on racial determinism or ethnic reification." In contrast, Gérard Prunier accepts the theory that the Tutsi came from outside the Great Lakes region and were at the time of their arrival a distinct racial group. (Mamdani, fn #38, p. 292)
References
- ^ Global Security Organisation Documentation of Rwanda https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rwanda/history-kingdom.htm
- ^ "After the Genocide". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84162-180-7.
- ^ Chrétien p44
- ^ ISBN 0-15-600583-2
- ^ Chrétien p45
- ISBN 1-59221-004-X
- ^ Mamdani 61-62
- ^ Comprehending genocide: the case of Rwanda, P.J. Magnarella, available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/11287462.2000.10800754
- ^ Fergal Keane, Season of Blood: a Rwandan journey, Penguin Books 1997
- ^ "Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs Written Evidence". Parliament of the U.K. 2004-12-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
- ISBN 9789785244601.
- ^ Comprehending genocide: the case of Rwanda, P.J. Magnarella, available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/11287462.2000.10800754
- ^ a b "HISTORY OF BURUNDI". www.historyworld.net. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
- ^ "International Boundary Study: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) -- Rwanda Boundary" (PDF). Department of State, Washington, D.C., US. 1965-06-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-16. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
- ISBN 9781608058341.
- ISBN 978-0-299-12894-4. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ^ "Re-imagining Rwanda: Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Twentieth Century" (PDF). School of Oriental and African Studies, University of England (Cambridge University Press). 2002-03-01. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
- ^ Adam Curtis documentary All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. BBC, episode 3.
- ^ Human Rights Watch, history of Rwanda: https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno1-3-09.htm
- ^ P.J. Magnarella, Comprehending genocide: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/11287462.2000.10800754?needAccess=true
- ^ "The Teaching of the History of Rwanda: A Participatory Approach (A Reference Book for Secondary Schools in Rwanda)" (PDF). Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Research, Kigali, Rwanda, and UC Berkeley Human Rights Center, Berkeley, US. 2007-03-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- OCLC 1121045767.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 9781442255906.
- ^ "Julius Nyerere: Lifelong Learning and Informal Education". infed (Informal Education website), London, UK. 2007-05-27. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
- ^ "Kagamé, Alexis (B)". dacb.org. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- OCLC 213486443.
- ^ The Prosecutor versus Jean-Paul Akayesu, ICTR-96-4-T (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 1998).
- ^ https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/92171/GS19.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "the Lucky Mwami". Time. 1965-10-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ "Sense at the Summit". Time. 1966-04-08. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
- ^ "Timeline: Burundi". BBC News. October 30, 2008. Archived from the original on 2007-09-06. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
1993 October - Tutsi soldiers assassinate Ndadaye
- ^ Shiffman, Ken (December 10, 2008). "As genocide raged, general's pleas for help ignored". CNN. Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 10 December 2009.[]
- ^ "Rwanda Civil War". GlobalSecurity.org, Alexandria, US. 2005-04-27. Archived from the original on 2006-12-01. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
- ^ "Rwanda, Un génocide made in France - Vidéo Dailymotion". 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ "Rwanda: A Brief History of the Country - Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations". Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- S2CID 134975585.
- ^ a b Asiimwe, Arthur (April 6, 2007). "Rwanda's ex-president freed from prison". Reuters. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
An ethnic Hutu, he was appointed president when the ruling Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power after the 1994 genocide, in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. President Paul Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Army ended the hundred days of slaughter, was then vice-president, but in reality had more power than his superior.
- ISBN 978-0-7614-2333-1.
- ^ Harrell, Peter E., Rwanda's Gamble: Gacaca and a New Model of Transitional Justice. New York: Writer's Advantage Press, 2003.
- ^ McVeigh, Karen (2006-03-12). "Spate of killings obstructsRwanda's quest for justice". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2006-03-12.
- ^ "Rwanda 'gacaca' genocide courts finish work". BBC News. 2012-07-18. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
- ^ Lacey, Marc (9 April 2004). "A Decade After Massacres, Rwanda Outlaws Ethnicity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-05-21. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ISBN 9781107034754. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ "Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR)(Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda)". Global Security.org, Alexandria, US. 2004-01-23. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Ban Ki-moon condemns massacre of civilians in DR Congo". UN News Service. 2007-05-23. Archived from the original on 2007-06-17. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- ^ "Dangers increase for displaced in eastern DR Congo, UN says". UN News Service. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2007-06-17. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- ^ "The Endangered Gorillas "held hostage" by rebels in African Park". National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., Kigali. 2007-05-23. Archived from the original on 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- ^ "Benebikira Sisters Foundation". New England Association of Catholic Development Officers, Worcester, MA. Archived from the original on 2009-11-29. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Rwanda, Belgium to Sign Pacts". The New Times. Kigali. 2007-04-17. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
- ^ "Belgium on Mission to Rebuild Rwanda". Daily Monitor, Kampala, Uganda. 2007-06-03. Archived from the original on December 21, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- ^ "CHDI Overview". William J. Clinton Foundation, Little Rock, US. 2007-06-14. Archived from the original on 2007-05-21. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Rwanda / Inshuti Mu Buzima". Partners in Health, Boston, US. January 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Rwanda Vision 2020" (PDF). Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
- ^ "Intimidation of Rwandan opposition parties must end | Amnesty International". Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Rwanda: End human rights clampdown before presidential elections". 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- ^ "Rwanda: Allow Independent Autopsy of Opposition Politician". 21 July 2010. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Pre-election attacks on Rwandan politicians and journalists condemned | Amnesty International". Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1890951344
- ISBN 0-09-947893-5
- "History" chapter of ISBN 978-1-56432-171-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4120-4.
- ISBN 0-691-10280-5.
When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda.
- Pottier, Johan (2002). Re-imagining Rwanda: Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Late Twentieth Century. Cambridge: ISBN 978-0-521-52873-3.
- ISBN 1-85065-243-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-537420-9.
- S2CID 149860596.
- ISBN 0-299-20120-1.