Chapter I. RWANDAN HISTORY AND POPULATION
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.