History

Topic area:  History of Rwanda

Sub-topic area: History of genocide

Key unit competence

Compare different genocides in the 20th Century.

Activity 2.1

Work in groups of five, using the Internet search for United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and read the whole Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9th, December, 1948.This will help you understand the international legal framework that deals with genocides. Evaluate how this convention has been applied in Rwanda.

Genocide

The word ‘genocide’ was derived from two words. It originated from a Greek word ‘genos’ meaning origin or species, and a Latin verb ‘caedere’, meaning to kill. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born American lawyer who taught law at the University of Yale in the 1940s. He used the term for the first time in his book, Axis Rule in Europe, published in 1944. He used this term ‘genocide’ uniquely to make it different from other crimes of mass killings.

A universal definition of genocide is found in Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It is contained in Resolution 260 A III of December, 1948. It defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part a national, ethnic or religious group, by:

• killing members of the group;

• causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

• deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

• imposing measures intended to prevent births on the group;

• forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Different genocides that occurred in the 20th Century

It is worth noting that the occurrence of genocide is not limited to Rwanda. There have been other cases of genocide in different parts of the world that occurred in different times. Some of the cases of genocide that happened in the 20th Century are as follows:

Genocide against the Herero in Namibia by the German colonialists (1907)

The Nama Herero Genocide was not recognised for unknown reasons by the United Nations Organisation. However, many authors and specialists in the study of genocides qualify it as a pure act of genocide committed against the Nama and the Herero in 1907.

When the Germans arrived in South-West Africa (Namibia) in 1880, they found the area populated by certain groups of people such as the Nama (Namaqua) who were about 20,000 in number by then. Another group of people was the Herero who were about 75,000 in number. Their occupation was cattle herding. These people violently resisted occupation of their land and establishment of the German rule. The German commander who led the conquest, vowed to meet any resistance from the natives with ‘uncompromising brutality’. He vowed to wipe out the natives completely in 15 years time.

The Herero waged war against the Germans in 1904

– 1908. The Germans took their native land forcefully and planned to build a railway across their territory. The Herero were led by their leader Samuel Maharero. In January 1904, the Herero attacked white-owned farms and murdered 123 German settlers and traders sparing only women, children and missionaries. Later, the commander of German Forces, General Lothar von Trotha organised his ground army and they surrounded the living areas and the livestock pastures of the Herero.

They only left a small opening through which the Herero could escape to the Omaheke desert. The Germans attacked and killed 5,000 people and wounded 20,000 others.They captured water sources and forced the survivors to flee to the desert. They followed the survivors to the desert and massacred them. They also poisoned water sources in the desert.

On 2nd, October of the same year, General Trotha released an extermination order forcing the Herero people to leave the land. The Herero escaped to the desert where the Germans had already poisoned the water wells.

When the Nama saw what had happened to the Herero, they also fled. Those who remained behind were collected into camps where they were tortured and forced to provide labour. Most of them died of diseases such as small pox and typhoid in the camps. About 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nama people were wiped out.

The Holocaust (1939 – 1945)

The Holocaust is a genocide that occurred in Germany and its occupied territories. It targeted Jews of whom approximately 6,000,000 were killed by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime.

Apart from the Jews, non-Jews were also killed including millions of Polish Gentiles, Russians, Ukrainians and prisoners of other nationalities. This has been one of the largest genocides in history. About two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe were killed in the Holocaust.

Laws were passed in Germany that excluded Jews from the civil society, more specifically the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Concentration camps were established where Jews were murdered in large numbers. Jews were collected from various parts of Germany occupied territories in 1939 and were transported in cargo trains to the famous concentration or extermination camps. Most of them, however, died along the way. Those who survived the journey by train were killed in gas chambers.

The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

Events leading to the planning and execution of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda date back to 1959. The cause of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi was the history of a long process of violence, hatred, injustice and ethnic divisions in the first and second Republics of Rwanda. Massacre against the Tutsi had happened in 1959 as a result of similar reasons to those ones that caused the 1994 Genocide – manipulated ethnic rivalries between the Hutu and the Tutsi.

There was an ethnic and political violence which was characterised by a period of violence from 1959 – 1961 targeting the Tutsi and Hutu members of UNAR. This violence saw the country transition from a Belgian colony with a Tutsi monopoly to an independent Hutu dominated republic.

A Hutu elite group was formed to counter the Tutsi policy and transfer power from the Tutsi to the Hutu. From November 1959, a series of riots by the Hutu took place. The riots entailed arson attacks on Tutsi homes. The violence forced about 336,000 Tutsi to exile in the neighbouring countries where they lived as refugees. The Tutsi exiles organised themselves into an armed group to fight their way back into their country.

Afterwards, there were no active threats posed by the Tutsi refugees to the Hutu-controlled government in Rwanda. It was until the early 1990s when the Tutsi refugees regrouped again into a strong force and formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a movement which they used to force the Rwanda Government into a political negotiation. However the negotiations failed as Hutu extremists were not willing to share the power. Using the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana in an airplane crash on April 6th, 1994 as a pretext, they executed their long term plan of killing the Tutsi in the 1994 Genocide at the end of which more than one million Tutsi were massacred.

The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi did not take a long time to be recognised by UNO. The Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by the Resolution 955 of November 8th, 1994. Based in Arusha, the ICTR was established to deal with the prosecution of the Rwandans responsible for the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Different phases of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

When the airplane that carried President Juvenal Habyarimana and the President of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira crashed on the night of April 6th, 1994, the long planned Genocide against the Tutsi started in Kigali City. It was started on thepolitical officials in the opposition namely; Minister Frederick Nzamurambaho, Faustin Rucogoza, Agathe Uwiringiyimana, Landouald Ndasingwa as well as Joseph Kavaruganda (Supreme Court). Killing the persons who could first oppose it was a strategic method used to freely commit the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidaires went on to kill the Tutsi all over the country within a very short time. Some state officials in the newly formed ‘Government’ (Guverinoma y’Abatabazi) led by Theodore Sindikubwabo, (then a.i President of the Republic), Jean Kambanda (a.i Prime Minister), the Prefects of the Prefectures, Commune Burgomasters up to the cells leaders sensitised people to kill the Tutsi.

The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was possible through the involvement of different actors. They included the following:

• The Government of Rwanda that did not use its coercive power to stop killings, prohibit or punish the killers. It even provided funds to make the killings possible;

• Armed forces starting with the Republican guards (Garde Presidentielle), Gendarmes (Police), Militias Interahamwe (MRND), Impuzamugambi (CDR militias) and military commanders at the local level and the Communal police;

• Local government officials such as prefects of prefecture (as province today), burgomasters (as mayors today), communal coordinators, Conseillers de Secteur (as executive secretaries of sectors) and cell leaders ; Responsible de cellule (as executive secretaries of cells);

• Individuals such as traders, local leaders of political parties, opinion leaders (intellectuals), faith-based missionaries, observers or bystanders and accomplices to killers etc.All these actors played a major role in killing the Tutsi within a period of three months.The genocide that lasted three months from April up to July 1994 was then stopped by the RPF when they defeated the genocidal forces.

Activity 2.2

Do this in pairs.Watch a documentary on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

(a)Analyse its causes, its course and its end.

(b)Write an essay suggesting steps that could have been taken to prevent its occurrence.

Activity 2.3

Brainstorm: Having evaluated other genocides that happened in the 20th Century, find out more on how the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was different from the rest.

Similarities between the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and other genocides

The above genocides have the following as common features or similarities:

• Thorough preparation and execution by the concerned governments. They are always a result of bad leadership.

• Intention of destroying or completely wiping out the targeted group.

• Involvement of the government that put in place all necessary measures to destroy the targeted group.

• Large scale killing of the targeted group.

• Innocent people are killed because they belong to the targeted group.

• Cruel methods are used to torture the victims before killing them.

• Negative effects like trauma and poverty are common among the survivors.

• There are mechanisms of denying the genocide committed.

• Most of them are generated by internal divisions.

• They mostly occur during war times.

Differences between the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and other genocides

• It was executed within a short period of time. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi claimed the life of more than one million people in a period of one hundred days.

• Many people were involved, killing their fellow citizens, their relatives and their neighbours. Killers and victims shared citizenship and culture.

• The government agents, church members and security organs were all actively involved in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

• The international community did not intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was stopped by Rwandans themselves. It came to an end when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) defeated the genocidal forces in July 1994.

• Cruel and extreme forms of violence were used in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi e.g. torturing victims before killing them, throwing victims in septic tanks alive, burying them alive in common graves, gathering them in churches and other places and burning them alive using gasoline, raping women before killing them, crushing babies in mortars or smashing them against walls.

Measures that have been taken to reconstruct the Rwandan society after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

Activity 2.4 Group work

Split yourselves into two groups:

Discuss the measures that have been taken to reconstruct Rwanda and to instill a sense of love and respect among all people. After your various discussions, have a presentation in class followed by a question and answer session among yourselves.

The 1994 Genocide against Tutsi came to an end only after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) defeated the genocidal forces in July 1994. On July 17th, 1994 the RPF established a Broad Based Government of National Unity (BBGNU) which carried out a number of national reconciliation activities aimed at helping Rwandans to live together in harmony.

• The Rwandan Government guaranteed security to returning refugees and to all citizens. Security organs were supported in carrying out their activities.

• It abolished the use of ethnicity (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa) as political identities. The aim was to promote national unity by encouraging people and political groups to forget their past and live together in harmony.

• It reconstructed government institutions since they had collapsed during the first and second republics.

• It ensured justice to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. Gacaca Courts provided both justice and reconciliation.

• It established different commissions to promote national unity and reconciliation e.g the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

• It established the office of the ombudsman to receive complaints against injustices.

• It promoted activities of civil societies like non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help in rebuilding the communities as well as the economy.

• The National Constitution was reviewed in 2003. It promotes human rights observance and gives the Judiciary independence i.e. the decisions made are respected.

• The teaching curricula were updated e.g. Curriculum for Political Education.

• The Government of Rwanda also promoted participative leadership at all levels through equity, meritocracy and accountability.

• It set up the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide to organise a permanent framework for the exchange of ideas on genocide, its consequences and strategies for its prevention and eradication.

• It put in place the policy of solidarity trainings camps in places such as Nkumba and Mutobo where Rwandans of different age groups had to shape their mindset through different physical and psychological teachings on Rwandan issues. Also, through the Girinka, Ubudehe, Umuganda and Kuremera programs, the Government of Rwanda revived the spirit of cohesion. Every Rwandan realised the necessity of living together and of patriotism to all Rwandans.

Unit summary

This unit explains the genocide concept in depth and identifies the genocides that happened in the 20th Century as well as the circumstances under which they happened. Apart from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that occurred in Rwanda, there are other genocides that happened in different places such as the genocide against the Herero in Namibia and the Holocaust that happened in Germany.The Herero were opposed to the invasion of their land by the Germans and their intention of building a railway line across the land that belonged to the Herero.The Holocaust was genocide against the Jews that occurred in Germany and its occupied territories.

The cause of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was the history of a long process of violence, hatred, injustice and ethnic divisions among the people of Rwanda. This genocide lasted for three months from April to July 1994. It came to an end when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) defeated the genocidal forces.The post genocide Government of Rwanda put measures in place that ensured reconstruction of the Rwandan society. It ensured justice was served to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. This was done through the establishment of the Gacaca Courts which facilitated conflict resolution and reconciliation.

Unit assessment

At the end of this unit, a learner is able to compare different genocides in the 20th Century by paying more attention on the specificity of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.He/She will be able to understand well the root-causes of the genocide and suggest ways to prevent the occurrence of the genocide in his/her country again.

Revision questions

1. Define the term genocide.

2. Identify the genocides that occurred in the 20th Century.3. Describe the common features of genocides.

4. Describe the differences between the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and other genocides.

5. Describe the measures that have been taken by the Government of Rwanda to reconstruct the Rwandan society after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.