1994 Rwandan Genocide and Reconciliation Process - Coursework Example

Genocide in Rwanda Genocide in Rwanda Introduction Rwanda is a small country in the sub-Sahara Africa. It is a landlocked country that is a quarter the size of Belgian, and was a francophone country before joining the commonwealth in so doing become one of the two commonwealth countries that were not colonized by Britain. Prior to the genocide, it was considered the Africa’s Switzerland considering its size and economic prosperity. The country is densely populated and inhabited by three ethnic groups including the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa. The Hutu and Tutsi communities are the largest ethnic compositions of Rwanda and makeup to 98 percent of the population. The Hutu are almost 85 percent of the population, and the Tutsi about 17 percent. The governance system of Rwanda is a presidential system, its current President is Paul Kagame, who in the earlier days led The Rwanda Patriotic Front a militia that fought the Hutu power. Rwanda’s language of instructions before and few years after the genocide was French, but it was later changed into English as a protest to what the government termed as the participation of the French government in the genocide (King, 2007). From April 7 of 1994, to mid-July that year the Hutu ethnic group started the massacre of the Tutsis and the moderate Hutu. At the end of the violence, a conservative figure of more than 900,000 people had been killed. Originating from Kigali the violence spread fast throughout the country visiting brutality on the natives of Rwanda. The genocide was mainly perpetrated by the Hutu power through their right wing the Intarahanwe. Through an offensive from the Ugandan borders, the Rwandan Patriotic Front in the early July managed to take over the state. The result of the RPF invasion was en mass migration of over 2 million Hutu refugees to the neighboring countries in fear of the genocide retaliation (Fisanick, 2004). History Background; 1994 Rwandan Genocide The genocide was not an occurrence that developed in a short period and materialized, on the contrary; it can be traced to over 4 decades before, and that is before the country’s independence. The Belgians who colonized the small African country built a tendency of tension among the ethnic communities living in the country during their rule. The Belgians favored the minority Tutsi ethnic group thus escalating tensions in the minority ruling the majority. Around Independence Day, the Belgian government incited the Hutu against the Tutsi in an attempt to rein on the Tutsi’s push for independence. In so doing the Hutus managed to oust the Tutsi monarchy through the 1959 Hutu revolution and by 1961, had been victorious and more than 300,000 Tutsis were exiled reducing their numbers to smaller minority. In 1962, the country was granted independence with the ethnic Hutu ascending to power (Freeman, 1999). After independence, the nature and rates of ethnic conflicts did not reduce. Characterized by the 1973, a military coup that brought General Juvenal to power, who was a moderate Hutu. Under a newly ratified constitution, he was elected the president in 1978, 1983, and 1988 subsequently as he was the sole candidate. In 1990, a force constituting mainly of Tutsi refugees invaded Rwanda from Uganda under the RPF. However, a cease-fire agreement was signed in Arusha Tanzania, and the hostilities subsided (Fisanick, 2004). Meanwhile after the invasion by the RPF there were misunderstanding between President Juvenal and his top Hutu government Brass. Some historians claim that immediately after the attack a resolution was passed by the Hutu extremists to rid the country of the Tutsi. While, others argue that the resolution was passed in 1992, in the face of a threat posed by the president’s willingness to sign a peace treaty. That would guarantee the Tutsi a place in the state management. While it is difficult to ascertain this claim, there are some issues that might shade some light to it. Guerilla warfare the extremist Hutu started assembling youth wings in the initial attacks by the RPF that were hit and run. Consequently, the resolution could have been passed around the time to warrant the arming of the Intaharanwe and training from the local and the French army. Within the period between 1990, the genocide activities centered in the Intaharanwe had been elevated, by arming them with crude weapons and later with guns (Freeman, 1999). On April 6, 1994 Juvenal the president’s airplane was bombed down as it was landing in Kigali from Tanzania peace meeting, where he had signed a peace agreement with the RPF. In the plane too was the Burundian president, and all on board perished in the accident. The death of the president up to date is a debatable issue. Extremist Hutus could have attacked the airplane to get an excuse to butcher the Tutsi while accusing the RPF. The death of the president’s all the same ignited violence never witnessed. The Crisis committee led by Bagosora took power immediately and became the principal authority. Being an extremist Hutu Bagosora began issuing orders to kill the Tutsi he is said to have personally addressed the Intaharanwe in Kigali. Elsewhere, in the remote countryside, neighbors turned to each other the violence was irreversible. The order to free the Tutsi of Rwanda was already in effect, Claims abound that even the country’s military had involvement. Radio stations increased the tensions by inciting the Hutus against what they termed as an invasion by the cockroaches (RPF).To recognize the Tutsi in the villages was not a problem as they had lived together and knew each other well, in the urban areas road barricades and patrols by the Hutu power right wing were conducted. The national identification card was the means of identification as it had in it the ethnicity of the holder. The issue of using the identification cards as a means of segregation along different ethnic groups raises the concern of whether the previous governments had anticipated such events. Moreover, if so was the butchering of the Tutsi, an agenda of the previous governments for a long time? Some other classifications of persons targeted featured in the infamous Hutu Ten Commandments. They included anybody married to a Tutsi or harboring the Tutsi and people who bore resemblance to the Tutsis. For hundred days the butchering Continued, and war rape was the feature of the day. Meanwhile, the RPF forces were advancing from the north and, with their advancement more casualties of war and even larger number of refugees who feared repercussions (Freeman, 1999). During the period when the genocide was most intense, no international community dared to intervene, the Belgian forces pulled out after evacuation of foreign nationals. UNAMIR is reported to have been on the ground trying to broker a peace deal but in vain. It is also reported to have lost most of its Rwandan personnel in the war and thus their capacity crippled. The French forces under the operation Turquoise is a controversial matter all the same while it managed to bring cease fire in the Zone turquoise it is alleged that by the time they arrived at the areas, there were hardly any more Tutsis to be killed as almost all had been killed or had fled (Fisanick, 2004). After capturing Kigali in early July RPF, managed to suppress the hostilities and ended the genocide. The damage however had already been done but had the RPF not invaded then today the history of Rwanda would have been entirely different (Freeman, 1999). Life in Rwanda after 1994 The genocide in Rwanda is undoubtedly one of the most brutal happenings in the world. Considered as the world fastest atrocities of such scale, it cannot get a better term. The hostilities left Rwanda in a situation like no other the loss of life and property had very devastating effects. Rwanda ranked the poorest country in the world; its political, social, and economic structures were in shambles after the war. During and after the war agricultural activities that are the backbone of the country’s economy stalled. Necessities of life became a challenge for Rwanda’s inhabitants, and the surge of diseases such as Malaria took a toll on the population (Fisanick, 2004). The horrors of the genocide left the Rwandans deeply polarized and traumatized. To date the survivors of the hostilities are still visibly traumatized. During the war, many people left the country that resulted in the loss of enough work forces to run the country’s economy. With the economy on its knees, and governance system in ruins, Rwandan’s wobbled in abject poverty after the war. Polarization along ethnic lines became a threat to the peace after the genocide and was characterized by sporadic revenge attacks (Freeman, 1999). Local efforts for reconciliation The effects of the genocide’s atrocities such as mutilation and rape had far-reaching consequences socially. Those who were rape developed problems in reproduction. War rape also perpetrated the spread HIV/AIDS. The resultant effects of war rape after the genocide period were isolation of traumatized victims, deaths caused by AIDS and many families led by widows and orphans. Efforts have been made to restore cohesion, economic stability, good governance and a prosperous nation in Rwanda. The reconciliation efforts have included government programs, Local and international reconciliation efforts. However, agreement can be very elusive for a country that witnessed atrocities en mass. For this reason, some of the reconciliation programs have received harsh criticism by scholars and other elites of their failures (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013). In the local community of Rwanda reconciliation took several approaches. The legal efforts of reconciliation, military programs, Hutu refugees, Civic education, reintegration of former militia, local and public education are some of the approaches. Economically Rwandans have been empowered to avoid differences because of economic disparities notably is the one cow for needy family program (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013). The legal reconciliation program had two epicenters the normal courts and the community courts known as the Gacaca. The Gacaca courts were mandated to prosecute the genocide perpetrators in the wake of the large number of suspects that were initially taunted to take 100 years if prosecuted in the usual courts. However, the community courts faced numerous challenges among the limited evidence and the shortage of lawyers (Clark, 2010). Steps have been made to rationalize the number of personnel ethnic wise in the military following the genocide. After the integration of the Rwanda patriotic Front soldiers into the units, the number of employees was skewed ethnic wise in favor of Tutsi’s. As a result, implementations have been made to integrate soldiers, from the Defunct Rwanda Armed forces into the service. The government has also made efforts to influence refugees of the civil wars and the genocide to come back to the country and contribute towards the rebuilding process (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013). Public education has also taken a center stage in bringing integration. The National Unity and Reconciliation Commission have taken several approaches in civic education: Ingando is a program of education about peace that ran from 1999 to 2009 90,000 Rwandans participated in the program. Itorero is a leadership academy that aims at promoting Rwandan values and cultivating leadership and qualities to strive for national development. The commission has also held seminars for women, youth, political party leaders and grassroots leaders. National summits have also been held in pursuit for long lasting cohesion and prosperity among the Rwanda people (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013). A number of initiatives have been executed to address polarization including the president’s decree in 2009 to pardon genocide perpetrators who had since confessed. Development activities started has seen people from both divides ethnically work together for economic prosperity. There have been also legislation that are aimed at suppressing any ethnic oriented polarizations so as to allow the healing process to come to maturity (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013) The United Nation’s role in reconciliation process International determinations to restore peace and prosperity to Rwanda have seen initiation of various programs with the UN. The reason could be to pay for the silence when the atrocities were taking place. Notable is the assistance that the international community has provided to Rwanda in terms of grants and aids. That would spur growth and thus peace achieved through economic stability. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) forms another major step towards in supporting reconciliation. It was established to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for the violence, and other violations that, were a serious breach of the international humanitarian laws in Rwanda from January 1 to December 31, 1994. The tribunal began its work in Arusha Tanzania on January 1997. Since then it has made several landmark judgments including the sentence of the prime minister during the genocide, a former mayor and its ruling on the Media case (MacLachlan & Speight, 2013). The United Nations has involved itself in peace building initiatives such as training and interaction activities for the Rwandans. The connection between reconciliation and justice The Justice system plays a crucial role in reconciliation. Without a justice system, agreement is hard to achieve some of the key roles justice plays in reconciliation are; Justice relieves victims of crimes the burden of hate. Whenever a crime perpetrator gets a sentence, it is easier for the victim to forgive because, the perpetrator has paid the price of own actions. The perpetrator if convicted is bound to regret his/her deeds, conviction as a way of punishment in a justice serves to soften even a hard lined criminal (Clark, 2010). In the absence of justice, the society tends to take up the systems responsibilities that may ignite acts such as revenge attacks. If a people take revenge in seeking justice then, peace and reconciliation is not achievable. Justice however reduces such tendency which creates space to grow understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation (Clark, 2010). Conclusion The events during the genocide in Rwanda should never be allowed to happen individually, nationally and internationally. The beastly acts visited on innocent people in Rwanda should always serve as an example of how humans should not behave. The world should also build mechanisms that would prevent the occurrence of such. Whereas, it is debatable whether, the reconciliation process taking place in Rwanda has achieved the desired the results. The fact that there is a progress is encouraging, because reconciliation after such experiences is never easy. The government of Rwanda has done its best to encourage settlement. Even though, but there is still much to do the efforts taken towards the goal, should not be entirely criticized but also commended. International community involvement should be cautious and constructive acknowledging that, Rwandans will not forget quickly the inaction of the world when its hut was on fire and for this reason any criticism on their state of affairs should always be in a positive manner. References Clark, P. (2010). The Gacaca courts, post-genocide justice and reconciliation in Rwanda (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fisanick, C. (2004). The Rwanda genocide (1st ed.). San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. Freeman, C. (1999). Crisis in Rwanda (1st ed.). Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn. King, D. (2007). Rwanda (1st ed.). New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. MacLachlan, A., & Speight, A. (2013). Justice, responsibility and reconciliation in the wake of conflict (1st ed.). Dordrecht: Springer. Read More