A brief history of post colonial Rwanda
Somewhere in the middle ages Rwanda developed a sort of class system, whereby the Tutsi cattle herders became more wealthy than the Hutu farmers. The division widened with time, the kings of Rwanda were all from Tutsi clans but intermarriage was common and in some areas Tutsi peasants were not better off than their Hutu counterparts. The people had a common language, common traditions and were not visibly different from each other.
Somewhere in the middle of the 20's the Belgians took over from the Germans, who had hardly made a visible impact in their time as colonisers. Full of wrongheaded notions of racial superiority which were doing the rounds in Europe at the time, the Belgians pronounced that the ruling Tutsis were naturally a superior "race", with (naturally) more Europeans traits. They proceeded to issue ethnic identity cards which divided the Rwandans in Hutu (85%), Tutsi(12%) and Twa(1%), the aboriginal people of the country. The Belgians favoured the Tutsis, which caused much resentment and metered out all sorts of injustices on Hutus (like forced labour), which caused even more resentment.
Rwanda gained independence in the mid 1950's and after 3 decades of Belgian supported Tutsi domination, divisionist politics had taken root in the country. Kaiyabinda was one of the first post-independence leaders and a Hutu advocate, to put it mildly. Its worth noting that on the eve of independence the Belgians "switched sides" and started to support Hutu domination in political circles. After Independence there was widespread violence against Tutsis, culminating a massacre in 1959, after which many Tutsis fled to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania.
Kaiyabinda was deposed and killed in a Military coup in 1976 and was replaced by the Habayirama regime. During the 80s Habayirama was very skilled at attracting foreign aid to Rwanda(1) which left the country with a pretty good infrastructure amongst other things.Also during this regime particularly in the early 90's there was a rise to power of Hutu extremists, who were calling for the expulsion of Tutsis and anyone who opposed their views as Tutsi sympathisers. A propaganda machine, including newspapers and radio, was set up to spread their message. Also in the early 90's the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), a group of mostly Ugandan military men, all sons of Tutsi refugees from the massacres in the late 50's, begin to launch a campaign for control in the north of the country and were gaining considerable ground - until the French sent military assistance to Habayirama and his FAR (Forces Armee Rwandaise). Rumours of Hutu extremists militia groups in training for a war were abound and purchases of arms and machetes were increasing at a rate not justified by agriculture or defense. An explosive situation in need of a spark...
Then on 7th April 1994 an airplane carrying Rwanda's president Habayirama, the then president of Burundi and some other officials, along with a few french military was shot down by anti aircraftweapons (2). All on board were killed and in Rwanda the genocide started. It continued for months while the world watched on, until the RPF launched an offensive and took control of most of the country in the summer of 94. By then there was an estimated 1 million dead, and a further 1 million in refugee camps in Congo and Tanzania. Many of these were the planners and perpetrators of the genocide fleeing the RPF. These armed militias administered a general reign of terror within the camps and continued attacks on Tutsi populations on border areas, particularly in the Congo north of Lake Kivu until as late as 1996-7. It was at this time the RPF cleared the remaining refugee camps in Congo by force.
DISCLAIMER: This is compiled from my own interpretation of articles I've read, things I've heard and one visit to the Rwandan national museum. There is no absolute truth and you may hear alternative accounts.
Notes
1. The Swiss in particular sent bucketloads of aid to Rwanda in the 80's and early 90's, more than to another country anywhere. Its also documented that foreign aid from most donor countries to Rwanda increased dramatically in the period 1990-1994 even as the human rights violations mounted. Much of this aid went directly to or was controlled by those in power, those spreading genocidal messages. Return to brief history
2. Recently a French judge investigating the crash on behalf of the families of the French soldiers killed, issued a warrant for the current Rwandan President Kagame in relation to this incident. We can expect that the already strained relations between Paris and Kigali will worsen. Return to brief history
Somewhere in the middle of the 20's the Belgians took over from the Germans, who had hardly made a visible impact in their time as colonisers. Full of wrongheaded notions of racial superiority which were doing the rounds in Europe at the time, the Belgians pronounced that the ruling Tutsis were naturally a superior "race", with (naturally) more Europeans traits. They proceeded to issue ethnic identity cards which divided the Rwandans in Hutu (85%), Tutsi(12%) and Twa(1%), the aboriginal people of the country. The Belgians favoured the Tutsis, which caused much resentment and metered out all sorts of injustices on Hutus (like forced labour), which caused even more resentment.
Rwanda gained independence in the mid 1950's and after 3 decades of Belgian supported Tutsi domination, divisionist politics had taken root in the country. Kaiyabinda was one of the first post-independence leaders and a Hutu advocate, to put it mildly. Its worth noting that on the eve of independence the Belgians "switched sides" and started to support Hutu domination in political circles. After Independence there was widespread violence against Tutsis, culminating a massacre in 1959, after which many Tutsis fled to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania.
Kaiyabinda was deposed and killed in a Military coup in 1976 and was replaced by the Habayirama regime. During the 80s Habayirama was very skilled at attracting foreign aid to Rwanda(1) which left the country with a pretty good infrastructure amongst other things.Also during this regime particularly in the early 90's there was a rise to power of Hutu extremists, who were calling for the expulsion of Tutsis and anyone who opposed their views as Tutsi sympathisers. A propaganda machine, including newspapers and radio, was set up to spread their message. Also in the early 90's the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), a group of mostly Ugandan military men, all sons of Tutsi refugees from the massacres in the late 50's, begin to launch a campaign for control in the north of the country and were gaining considerable ground - until the French sent military assistance to Habayirama and his FAR (Forces Armee Rwandaise). Rumours of Hutu extremists militia groups in training for a war were abound and purchases of arms and machetes were increasing at a rate not justified by agriculture or defense. An explosive situation in need of a spark...
Then on 7th April 1994 an airplane carrying Rwanda's president Habayirama, the then president of Burundi and some other officials, along with a few french military was shot down by anti aircraftweapons (2). All on board were killed and in Rwanda the genocide started. It continued for months while the world watched on, until the RPF launched an offensive and took control of most of the country in the summer of 94. By then there was an estimated 1 million dead, and a further 1 million in refugee camps in Congo and Tanzania. Many of these were the planners and perpetrators of the genocide fleeing the RPF. These armed militias administered a general reign of terror within the camps and continued attacks on Tutsi populations on border areas, particularly in the Congo north of Lake Kivu until as late as 1996-7. It was at this time the RPF cleared the remaining refugee camps in Congo by force.
DISCLAIMER: This is compiled from my own interpretation of articles I've read, things I've heard and one visit to the Rwandan national museum. There is no absolute truth and you may hear alternative accounts.
Notes
1. The Swiss in particular sent bucketloads of aid to Rwanda in the 80's and early 90's, more than to another country anywhere. Its also documented that foreign aid from most donor countries to Rwanda increased dramatically in the period 1990-1994 even as the human rights violations mounted. Much of this aid went directly to or was controlled by those in power, those spreading genocidal messages. Return to brief history
2. Recently a French judge investigating the crash on behalf of the families of the French soldiers killed, issued a warrant for the current Rwandan President Kagame in relation to this incident. We can expect that the already strained relations between Paris and Kigali will worsen. Return to brief history
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