RWANDA:RNC: STRATEGIES FOR TRANSFORMING RWANDA

Theogene Rudasingwa

STRATEGY 12: Unity, Reconciliation and Collective Healing

Rwanda has a long history of violent upheaval and ethnic and region-based cleavages. These cleavages were radicalized by long periods of poor and ineffective governance that included identity-based discrimination. Cleavages between the country‟s two major communities reached their worst level as a result of the violence, including the genocide, which the nation experienced during the 1990s. Post-genocide Rwanda has undertaken various initiatives to promote reconciliation in the aftermath of violent conflict, including genocide.
While the current government of Rwanda claims credit for having reconciled Rwandan society, it remains deeply divided along lines of ethnic identity. Several factors have acted as a hindrance to the process of national reconciliation, including:

- Reluctance of the majority of Rwandans to admit to knowledge of the circumstances in which genocide was carried out in their respective communities
- Unwillingness of perpetrators to express remorse for their crimes
- Commission of human rights abuses against members of the Hutu community during and after the genocide (including atrocities human rights violations against refugees in the Congo)
- Arbitrary arrests and detentions, extending to many years in most cases, of tens of thousands of genocide suspects
- Failure or omission of the judicial processes that Rwanda has undertaken to address human rights violations against members of the Hutu community
Prospects for reconciliation have also been undermined by various policies and practices that discriminate against certain sections of the population (including the abolition of French as a national language) and the Rwandese Patriotic Front‟s maneuvers to monopolise political power through unfair, undemocratic and often criminal means.

In order to build unity and reconciliation, the RNC will seek to ensure that there is synergy between the strategies mentioned above, notably the establishment of a democratic government, the adoption of consociational democracy, the repatriation and re-integration of refugees and the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and other forms of accountability for past human rights abuses. To further promote national unity and reconciliation, the Rwandan National Congress will seek to promote the healing of victims of the various human rights violations that have taken place, affected families and communities and the nation as a whole.

Our belief is that every individual, family and community in Rwanda has to some extent suffered trauma as the result of the violence that Rwandan society has experienced. Rwandans are victims, perpetrators or both. All Rwandans need healing for unity and reconciliation to become a reality.

The Rwanda National Congress will also support the following additional policies and programs to promote reconciliation and unity among Rwandans:

- Reform of public sector institutions, including security sector bodies, to ensure fair representation of all communities, especially in management or command levels
-The re-integration into the armed forced or civilian life of members of armed groups that have been waging war against the Rwandan state
-Restoring the French language as an additional national language
- Public debates and education programs on citizenship, diversity and co-existence, directed especially towards the youth
- Affirmative action in favour of marginalized groups, such as Batwa