Rwanda Civil War

No other recent conflict in Africa has taken as high a toll in such a short period of time as the Rwanda genocide, in which between half a million and a million people were massacred. From April to July 1994, extremist political groups organized the massacre, directed primarily at the minority Tutsi ethnic group, but also against those from the Hutu majority who opposed the killings or had been active in the pro-democracy movement. The slaughter ended when rebel forces of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) overthrew the genocidal government. However, ongoing political tensions, guerrilla warfare and massive refugee movements have continued to sow political instability and humanitarian crises throughout the Great Lakes region, including in neighbouring Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire).

Rwanda's population consists of three ethnic groups: Hutus (88%), Tutsis (11%), and Twa pygmies (1%). The Republic of Rwanda has been torn apart by ethnic division and a civil war between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi. An estimated 1 million people were killed within a three month period in 1994. The Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front was victorious and has formed a new government. Subsequently, many refugees (mostly Hutus) have fled Rwanda to neighboring Zaire (~2 million), Tanzania (~480,000), Burundi (~200,000) and Uganda (~10,000). In addition, another 1 million refugees were believed to be within Rwanda. These refugees have concentrated in huge numbers at barren places with no sanitation, polluted water and little food. These conditions have caused great suffering and mass death.

Rwanda is a very poor country with a market economy; over 90 percent of the population earns its living through subsistence agriculture. The principal export crops are coffee and tea. Per capita Gross National Product is estimated at $210 per year. The massive genocide and war in 1994 resulted in the destruction of much of the country's economic infrastructure, including utilities, roads, and hospitals. The main religions are Roman Catholic (65%), Protestant (9%), and Muslim (1%). The official languages are French and Kinyardwanda with Kiswahili spoken in commercial centers.

The largely Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which took power following the civil war and genocide of 1994, is the principal political force and controls the Government of National Unity. President Pasteur Bizimungu and Vice President and Minister of Defense General Paul Kagame both belong to the RPF. The mainly Hutu Republican Democratic Movement retains the office of Prime Minister. Prime Minister Pierre Rwigema runs the Government on a daily basis and is responsible for relations with the National Assembly.

The genocidal militias that massacred Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 continue their campaign of ethnic extermination and have sought to expand their operations beyond the northwest. The insurgents have committed numerous serious human rights abuses, including killings of those perceived as Tutsi survivors of the genocide, and of Hutu officials who opposed their agenda, as well as of religious and humanitarian aid workers. The militias, composed of members of the defeated army, the former Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR) and Interahamwe genocide gangs, regularly attack government offices and public service institutions, such as prisons, clinics, and schools. These actions have increased friction between the security forces and the Hutu population and created insecurity on the roads.

Insurgent militias, which include members of the ex-FAR and Interahamwe gangs and some former refugees, have committed hundreds of killings both for political reasons and in pursuit of their genocidal ideology. They also seek to create panic and undermine confidence in the Government's ability to protect the population. In 1998 insurgents stepped up propaganda efforts, distributing hate literature and newspapers designed to persuade readers of the justness of their cause, their strength against the Government, and the evil intentions of the government's Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). The tracts identified anyone who opposed the insurgents' cause as an enemy. Genocide survivors, Tutsi refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hutu government officials, local Hutu politicians, and those who refused to cooperate with the insurgency all were targeted. By late summer 1998, the RPA appeared to have gained the upper hand against the insurgents. Intense operations by the RPA combined with disillusionment with the insurgency drove thousands of persons who had abandoned their homes to return to the relatively safer areas controlled by the RPA.

Background

According to folklore, Tutsi cattle breeders began arriving in the area from the Horn of Africa in the 15th century and gradually subjugated the Hutu inhabitants. The Tutsis established a monarchy headed by a mwami (king) and a feudal hierarchy of Tutsi nobles and gentry. Through a contract known as ubuhake, the Hutu farmers pledged their services and those of their descendants to a Tutsi lord in return for the loan of cattle and use of pastures and arable land. Thus, the Tutsi reduced the Hutu to virtual serfdom. However, boundaries of race and class became less distinct over the years as some Tutsi declined until they enjoyed few advantages over the Hutu. The first European known to have visited Rwanda was German Count Von Goetzen in 1894. He was followed by missionaries, notably the "White Fathers." In 1899, the mwami submitted to a German protectorate without resistance. Belgian troops from Zaire chased the small number of Germans out of Rwanda in 1915 and took control of the country.

After World War I, the League of Nations mandated Rwanda and its southern neighbor, Burundi, to Belgium as the territory of Ruanda-Urundi. Following World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a UN 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 in them a threat to Tutsi rule. An increasingly restive Hutu population, encouraged by the Belgian military, sparked a revolt in November 1959, resulting in the overthrow of the Tutsi monarchy. Two years later, the Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement (PARMEHUTU) won an overwhelming victory in a UN-supervised referendum.

During the 1959 revolt and its aftermath, more than 160,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries. The PARMEHUTU government, formed as a result of the September 1961 election, was granted internal autonomy by Belgium on January 1, 1962. A June 1962 UN General Assembly resolution terminated the Belgian trusteeship and granted full independence to Rwanda (and Burundi) effective July 1, 1962.

Gregoire Kayibanda, leader of the PARMEHUTU Party, became Rwanda's first elected president, leading a government chosen from the membership of the directly elected unicameral National Assembly. Peaceful negotiation of international problems, social and economic elevation of the masses, and integrated development of Rwanda were the ideals of the Kayibanda regime. Relations with 43 countries, including the United States, were established in the first 10 years. Despite the progress made, inefficiency and corruption began festering in government ministries in the mid-1960s. On July 5, 1973, the military took power under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Juvenal Habyarimana, who dissolved the National Assembly and the PARMEHUTU Party and abolished all political activity.