Chapter I. RWANDAN HISTORY AND POPULATION
1.3. Hamitic theory
1.3.2. Introduction of ethnic identity card
“Most writers on the 1994 Rwandan genocide note the introduction of group classification on ID cards by the Belgian colonial government in 1933, an action most significant because it introduced a rigid racial concept of group identity where it had not previously existed.”98
The Belgians introduced identity cards labeling each individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa.
While it had previously been possible for particularly wealthy Hutus to become honorary Tutsis, the identity cards prevented any further movement between the classes.99 The Identity cards became an instrument of discrimination in accessing to education and employment. Later in 1994
“The prior existence of ethnic Identity cards was one of the most important factors facilitating the speed and magnitude of the 100 days of mass killings.”100 Below the example Rwandan Identity card before genocide 1994:
97 "Ethnicity" ("Ubwoko" in Kinyarwanda and "Ethnie" in French) appeared immediately beneath the cardbearer's photograph as the uppermost item on page two of the Rwandan ID card. Four possible "ethnic" categories appeared with the issuing official striking a line through all but the applicable category, for example "Ubwoko (Hutu , Tutsi, Twa, Naturalisé)" . The term "Naturalisé" applied to naturalized citizens. ID cards facilitated the identification of victims during the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda. (See Prevent genocide
international,<http://www.preventgenocide.org/edu/pastgenocides/rwanda/indangamuntu.htm>, 07th May 2014.
98 Carl Watner, National Identification Systems, McFarlan & Campany, Inc. Publishers,North Carolina, 2004, p.64.
99 Rwanda Genocide, Open access articles, <http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Rwandan_Genocide>, 24th April 2013.
100 Jerry Fowler, Indangamuntu 1994,
<http://www.preventgenocide.org/edu/pastgenocides/rwanda/indangamuntu.htm>, 05th March 2014.
These same Identity cards told modern-day killers whom to kill and whom to spare. A prominent Hutu ideologist, Dr Léon Mugesera, arrested in Canada, was transferred to Rwandan justice court in 2012 for being charged with crimes against humanity, “he repeatedly incited Hutu peasants to send the Tutsi "back" to Ethiopia. Showing contempt for geography equal to his disregard for history, Dr Léon Mugesera enjoined his followers to throw the Tutsi in the Nyabarongo river.” 101 The order was not taken metaphorically because in April and May 1994,
“perhaps 40,000 corpses made the watery journey from Rwanda to Lake Victoria.”102 1.3.3. Divide for rule
Divide and rule is a strategy well known and used in many countries by different leaders and authorities who defend their own interests. It is seen as “a mechanism used throughout history to maintain imperial rule.”103 Slowly if it is maintained as a policy in ruling system “it creates division and polarization in society and strengthens the position of small elite and allows it to exploit political and economic power.” 104
German and Belgian colonizers exploited the historic division of labor between the Hutus and Tutsis and incorporated the Tutsis into ruling elite.105 In addition to that they “used the Tutsi administration in order to control the country and even helped it in expanding its region of influence.”106 And behind this policy of divide and rule “most of the missionaries were part of the colonial project whose motto was divide and rule”107
101 Rukiya Omar and Alex de waal, Genocide in Rwanda,< http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2000/2000- October/018826.html >, 18th July 2016.
102 The ungodly missionary legacy, <http://www.mosquitonet.com/~prewett/whitefathers.html> , 03rd May 2014.
103 Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, Reality of Divide and rule in Bristish India,
<http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/latest_english_journal/reality_of_divide_rule.pdf>, 07th June 2016.
104 Zanni Begg, How the Rwandan tragedy was created, https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/8156, 08th July 2014.
105 Ibid.
106 Simon Alder & Yikai Wang, Divide and Rule: An origin of polarization and Ethnic Conflict, working paper No 423, University of Zurich, http://www.econ.uzh.ch/ipcdp/Papers/ipcdp_wp423.pdf, 07th June 2016.
107 Tharcisse Gatwa, Ibid, p.69.
In Rwanda this strategy of divide and rule “led to a strong association of the sharpened ethnic distinction with social status and a notion of inferiority of the Hutus.” 108 This polarization of Rwanda through dividing people along ethnic lines had a persistent effect on the relationship between Hutu and Tutsi. It repeatedly led to large scale conflict over several decades in Rwanda and in its neighboring countries.109 At the end the strategy of divide and rule created the ideology of division and hatred which continued after independence and it was one of the major causes of the genocide against Tutsi in 1994.
1.4. Rwandan social revolution of 1959
King Mutara III Rudahigwa suspected of being a communist and supported by the Russians, died in under mysterious circumstances in Burundi on 25th July 1959. He was replaced by Kigeli V Ndahindurwa until 28th January 1961. “King Rudahigwa had already begun to seek full independence and the end of the Belgian colonial occupation. He followed other African leaders as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Louis Rwagasore of Burundi. In the eyes of colonizers and Roman Catholic Church who had inducted him, he appeared ungrateful in seeking independence of Rwanda.110
On 3rd November 1959, because of a physical aggression of Dominique Mbonyumutwa a sub chief Hutu of Ndiza, by Tutsis young men, “hundreds of Tutsi were killed and thousands displaced and forced to flee to neighboring countries. This marked the start of the so called „Hutu Peasant Revolution‟ or „social revolution‟ lasting from 1959 to 1961, which signified the end of Tutsi domination and the sharpening of ethnic tensions.”111 Finally, at the insistence of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, Belgium granted Rwanda independence on July 1, 1962, with President Gregoire Kayibanda, as the leader of PARMEHUTU or Parti de l’Émancipation du Peuple Hutu was exclusively ethnic-based. It was renamed later, the Democratic Republican Movement (MDR). “When Rwanda gained independence, 120,000 people, primarily Tutsis, had
108 Simon Alder & Yikai Wang, Ibid.
109 Ibid.
110 Bernardin Muzungu, Le Rwanda, ce pays qui traverse le feu et en est sorti plus tranchant, les Editions Cahiers Lumières et societes, 2014, p.8.
111 Rwanda genocide, < http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/education/rwandagenocide.shtml>, 27th April 2016.
taken refuge in neighboring states to escape the violence which had accompanied the gradual coming into power of the Hutu community.”112 Ten such attacks occurred between 1962 and 1967, each leading to retaliatory killings of large numbers of Tutsi civilians in Rwanda and creating new waves of refugees. By the end of the 1980s some 480,000 Rwandans had become first refugees in Africa, primarily in Burundi, Uganda, Zaire and Tanzania.113
Colonizers of Rwanda will continue to be accused as direct cause of violence from 1959. For example, in January 2014,
Speaking at the 5th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region on Peace and Security in Luanda, Angola, President Museveni made the following remarks about Rwanda: The Belgian sponsored genocide of 1959 in Rwanda created a Tutsi Diaspora that dispersed in the region.114
Habyarimana Coup d’état
It is known as a coup d‟état of 5th July 1973 prepared by Juvenal Habyarimana, Alexis Kanyarengwe, Aloys Nsekalije, and Theoneste Lizinde. “The stimulus for Habyalimana‟s coup d‟état was a failed effort on Kayibanda‟s part to reactive the Hutu-Tutsi rivalry beginning the previous months in 1973.”115
In 1973, on the night of 15th February, a list with 24 names of Tutsi students was released asking them to vacate the university. Later, more names were added to the list of students supposed to leave the university. At midnight, Tutsi students who hadn‟t left the campus were attacked by Hutu students with clubs, metallic objects and knives. One hundred and ninety (190) Tutsi students and those who were thought to be part of that ethnicity left the university leaving 329 Hutu students at the varsity.116
112 Ibid 113 Ibid.
114 Revolution in Rwanda, < http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/1959-revolution-in-Rwanda-was-not- genocide-at-all/-/689364/2158912/-/88hihs/-/index.html>, 29th April 2016.
115 Lowell Barrington, After independence, University of Michigan Press, 2006, p.90.
116 Dean Karemera, How acaedemia played a critical role in the promotion of genocide ideology,
The movement spread in many secondary schools, in the public and in the private sector. The Habyarimana‟s regime exercised a quasi-totalitarian control over the movement and political activities of its citizen and even required peasant to provide two days of free labor per month.
The regime also enjoyed the support of the Roman Catholic Church.117This is justified by the fact that Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva became the chairman of the unique ruling political party from 1976 to 1990 until the Vatican requested him to renounce the membership. On Protestant side, “when Michel Twagirayesu became president of the Presbyterian Church in 1977, he assumed a seat in Kibuye prefecture committee of the MRND.”118 Leaders such as Vincent Nsengiyumva, Adonie Sebununguri Archbishop of the Anglican Church, and Michel Twagirayesu President of the Presbyterian Church “maintained close personal relationships with the president Habyarimana and often dined at the president‟s home.”119 Most importantly of all, President Juvenal Habyarimana retained the policy of issuing identity cards that listed each citizen‟s ethnicity and quota policy that restricted Tutsi to no more than 9 percent of the positions in any school, government agency, or business.120
In 1979, Rwandan refugees mainly from Uganda and Kenya created the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU). In 1987, RANU became the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). On 01st October 1990, “the RPF launched an armed liberation struggle that ultimately ousted the dictatorship in 1994 and ended the genocide which cost more than one million lives of Tutsi and moderate Hutu who opposed the genocidal regime.”121
<http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2016-05-01/199460/>, 02th May2016.
117 Lowell Barrington, Ibid..
118 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda,< https://books.google.rw/books?isbn=0521191394>, p.89.
119 Ibid, quoted Guy Theunis, Le rôle de l‟Eglise Catholique dans les évènements récents, pp.289-298., p.89.
120 Lowell Barrington, Ibid., p.91.
121 Rwanda History, <http://www.gov.rw/home/history/> 04th May 2016.
Conclusion
The complexity of the history of Rwanda led many times to killings and finally to genocide caused by the Hamitic ideology supported by colonialists, missionaries, and state authorities in formulating inequality between the different Rwandan social groups.
The practice of elevating one tribe or one ethnic group to assist in the governance of the colony was common to all colonial governments in Africa; for example, in South Africa, the Zulus were elevated to semi-European status; in Nigeria, the Ibos were elevated to quasi-European rank, and in Liberia the re-settled American slaves received the status of "African-Aryans" - and all with the same result as in Rwanda: jealousy and hatred on the part of the tribes which had been left out.122
In order to deconstruct the Hamitic theory, the government led by President Paul Kagame, launched in 2013 a program called ndi umunyarwanda, meaning “I‟m Rwandan.” This initiative is inspired by the desire to build a strong, united society in valorizing the spirit of
“Rwandanness”, rather that of Hutu, Tutsi or Twa. In the long run, this process may bring a national cohesion and unity with the purpose of avoiding suspicion and distrust among citizens.
It anticipates the prevention of other ethnic, group, and religious conflicts. According to Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, former Prime Minister of Rwanda (2011-2015), “the program is inspired by the desire to build a strong, united society after it was torn apart during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. No Rwandan will get loans, fertilizers, scholarship or medical insurance based on being Hutu, Tutsi or Twa”.123
In ndi umunyarwanda program, Rwandan identity prevails above any other identity. Seeking the truth, expressing the remorse for what happened during the Genocide, encouraging apologies and forgiveness and taking measures to ensure that what happened never happens again are the foundation of the initiative. It also creates the space for Rwandans to reflect on their past in an open and genuine way.124 It is possible to rebuild a peaceful country because, contrary to the Hamitic theories, Rwandans themselves had their own myths explaining their origin. The three
122 S.H. Shearer, The hamitic hypothesis, <http://www.antipasministries.com/html/file0000094.htm>, 05th April 2014.
123 Eugene Kwibuka, What does Ndi umunyarwanda means to you?,
<http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15560&a=72610> , 10th May 2014.
124 Ibid.
social groups, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, believed they had a common ancestor called Gihanga who founded the Kingdom of Rwanda. This myth was shared by all of them.125
125 Josias Semujanga, Ibid, p.123.
Chapter II. Historical Perspectives on the Encounter between Traditional Religion, Christianity, and Islam in Rwanda Introduction
The history of Rwanda has complex social roots in the interrelationship, marked by with controversies and all sorts of violent conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis. From a religious point of view, there has been an impassive encounter between Christian missionaries and other religions. This second part looks especially on Christian-Muslim relations which are characterized by mistrust and misunderstandings throughout history. Their social interaction has been made difficult even if they were both influenced by Rwandan Traditional Religion.
The history of Christians and Muslims in Rwanda cannot be understood without reference to the Arab trade of slaves in East Africa and to the history of the White Fathers in Uganda at the end of 19th century. According to Jean Pierre Chrétien, a French historian “it is difficult to speak about European penetration in Eastern Africa at the end of the nineteenth century without taking into account the question of slave trade practiced between the Indian Ocean coast and the interior of the continent.”126
When the phenomenon of slavery is described in the Eastern region of Africa, what is noticed is the absence of reliable sources because for most of the authors, slavery constitutes an embarrassing theme.127 The majority of Muslims are uncomfortable in discussing about it. For some of them, the Arab trade of slaves is a very shameful issue when it is related to Islamic religion because the Arab traders of slaves were the ones who brought the Islamic faith to East and Central Africa. Others simply deny the involvement of Arabs in the trade of human beings.
But, the fact is that, everywhere Arab traders of slaves passed, they built houses, and small cities were established. Today in East and Central Africa it is where you find the majority of Muslim communities and towns. “History must be taken seriously if people want to look to the future.”128The call to take history seriously is therefore crucial if we are to understand,
126 Henri Médard &Shane Doyle, Slavery in the Great lakes region of East Africa, Longhouse Publishing Services, Cumbria, UK, 2007, p.210.
127 Ibid, p.2.
128 John A. Azumah, The legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa, One world publications, Oxford, 2001, quoted Joseph
appreciate and better deal with contemporary interreligious difficulties, tensions and conflicts in today‟s world and particularly in Rwanda.129
The history of Islam and Christianity influences today‟s encounter between Christians and Muslims in Rwanda. One of the main objectives of the Roman Catholic White Fathers in evangelizing the Eastern African region was to stop slavery practiced by Arab Muslims, which was widespread throughout the region at the end of 19th century. It is important to remember that Western Christian countries were also involved in the slave trade in West Africa. In this regard, there is any justification for “the traffic of Africans across the Atlantic into Christian Europe and the Americas, and across Sahara, Red Sea and India Ocean into Muslim North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and India.”130 Elikia M‟Bokolo, a historian from the Democratic Republic of Congo, asked himself how slavery was possible. How could it have gone on so far so long, and on such a scale? A tragedy of such dimension has no parallel in any other part of the world.131
For the trans-Atlantic slave trade there is great documentation but for the history of the Arab slave trade, sources are far more limited. Fewer books and other publications were dedicated to the topic. The memory of this traumatic and sad trade is still transmitted from generation to generation because there was no healing of memories. More than 50 million African slaves were taken from their families, their countries into extreme sufferings, and for many deaths. This caused emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds. And the African memory is not yet recovered. That is why Professor L. Magesa from Hekima College, a Jesuit School of Theology in Kenya insists in saying that “Africa must not forget the slave trade which was a genocide, to remember it, is a fundamental obligation.”132 It is a way of combatting it, and also resisting to other many forms of slavery. “If you want to combat effectively a so common practice in history,
Hajjar, Christian-Muslim consultation in Chambésy, p.97.
129 Ibid.
130 Ibid, p.110.
131 Elikia M‟Bokolo, The impact of the slave trade on Africa, <http://mondediplo.com/1998/04/02africa>, 23rd August 2013.
132 Laurenti Magesa, Fighting Genocide and a Crime against Humanity: Cardinal Lavigerie and the African trade slave, February 2013.
you must strive to understand what has favored it, and why it has itself imposed, and how it was accepted.”133
2.1. Arab-Muslim trade of slaves
2.1.1. Definition of slavery
“Being a slave is a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, fortune and forced into work.”134 In other words, “slavery is a condition in which one human being is owned by another.”135 The essence of slavery is the destruction of the human personality, meaning the human natural sovereignty of a person, which makes her or him a moral being accountable, and capable of virtue.136
According to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica “a slave is considered in law as property, or chattel. He is deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by a free person. Slavery has existed in various forms throughout almost the whole of recorded history.”137
Photo Usslave blogspot.com
133 Olivier Grenouilleau, Qu’est-ce que l’esclavage? Ed. Gallimard, Paris 2014, p.13.
134 Collins Dictionary, <http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/slavery>, 24th June 2013.
135 The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Vol.10, USA, 1993, p.874.
136 Olivier Grenouilleau,Ibid, p.242.
137 The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Ibid.
“In slavery, violence is used to maintain control over the slave, he is exploited, normally in some sort of economic activity, but possibly for sex or even as an object of conspicuous consumption.”138 Olivier Pétré Grenouilleau a French historian specifies that “a slave was sometimes a carrier, sometimes merchandise, sometimes a producer.”139 The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 -322BC) defines a slave as a human who by law of nature doesn‟t belong to himself but belongs to another.140 “Slavery is one of the foundations of ancient societies before Christianity. Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, and some other philosophers regarded slavery as a natural and necessary institution.”141
Slavery existed at the beginning of human history and has taken many forms over the past five thousand years.142 It is old as the war and the old war as human nature. For a long time, the war
Slavery existed at the beginning of human history and has taken many forms over the past five thousand years.142 It is old as the war and the old war as human nature. For a long time, the war