RWANDA:Rethinking Rwanda, 1994

Professor of Peace Studies, Political Science, and Sociology
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies Click Here for the video

Click here to view the video of this lecture. 

Christian Davenport

Sixteen years ago, the world watched as Rwanda descended into large-scale violence that left up to a million people dead. This was followed by massive out-migration (nearly half the country), untold amounts of internal displacement, and a deluge of articles, TV news features, movies, and commentary from human rights activists, political leaders, and ordinary people from around the world. 
Exactly what happened during Rwanda’s hundred days of horror?  Christian Davenport has spent more than a decade researching this question. His answer takes all the elements of what has become the conventional story — civil war, genocide, ethnic conflict, refugees, French UN missions, Tutsi rebels, the Hutu army — and combines them in unexpected ways.  His research turns on its head the way we understand Rwanda, political violence, intervention, and the study of conflict itself.
Christian Davenport is a scholar of political conflict, from genocide to domestic spying. He directs two research and action projects: the Radical Information Project and Stop Our States. He is the author or editor of four books: State Repression and the Domestic Democratic Peace, Media Bias, Perspective and State Repression, Repression and Mobilization, and Paths to State Repression.
Free and open to the public.
A light lunch will be available before the lecture.

Related links: 

Christian Davenport bio

News: Research Sheds New Light on Rwanda Killings

Interview: Truth and Justice in Rwanda

Arrested in Washington a Rwandan military prosecuted in Spain for genocide

by Rwandan Youth for Change 

Arrested in Washington a Rwandan military prosecuted in Spain for genocide
Judge Fernando Andreu ordered five years ago the military forty international arrest Rwandan accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism
Police arrested U.S. maintains in Washington Justus Majyanbere Rwandan military for "illegal immigration" but the alarms went off when the computer verified that Interpol was wanted by a court of the Audiencia Nacional.
JAVIER ALVAREZ 24/05/2011
Judge Fernando Andreu ordered five years ago the military forty international arrest Rwandan accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism, because they are considered responsible for killing more than four million Rwandans and nine Spanish (six missionaries and three civilians) committed in the nineties.
One of these soldiers, The Spanish judge ordered the search and arrest them all, including the president.Justus Majyambere , Army major, is involved in the assault on various populations and in the attack on the World Medical Center where they worked the Spanish volunteers who had witnessed several killings and were gunned down on 18 January 1997.
Fernando Andreu Washington has sent a confirmation of the identity of the defendant to maintain his status as a detainee and can be extradited to Spain .
Spanish victims
The indictment stated that the defendants had taken power by force and had established a system of "terror", "doing heinous crimes" against civilians, mostly Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese population.
Among those crimes, Andreu were responsible for the According to Andreu, completed the extermination strategy "under the pretext of security reasons, with the invasion and conquest" of the Congo.murder of six Spanish priests and three aid of Medecins du Monde, a few deaths that occurred between 1994 and 2000 in the refugee camps where they worked.
This was the case of Father Joaquin VallmajóThe three aid of Medecins du Monde, who worked in the field of Mugunga and had witnessed several killings, were gunned down on January 18, 1997.Were also killed four Marist missionaries in November 1996, ten days after one of them, Father Servando, ask for help for refugees through COPE. , arrested by the Rwandan Patriotic Army (APR) and whose body has not yet appeared, who had denounced the killings and persecutions against the Hutus.
The Rwandan genocide in which more than four million people were dead or missingOnce finished off by the soldiers, their bodies were buried in the Akagera National Park. , has examples such macabre, as recorded in the car, as happened on April 23, 1994, the day that 2,500 people were concentrated in football stadium Byumba, where they threw grenades from the outside.

google translation EN. Original document Spanish find here: http://www.cadenaser.com/internacional/articulo/detenido-washington-militar-ruandes-perseguido-espana-genocidio/csrcsrpor/20110524csrcsrint_4/Tes/?print=1

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On The Legacy of Numerous Genocide Memorials in Rwanda

By Mamadou Kouyat

Upon touring Rwanda, the following question might surely pup up in one’s mind: why are there so many genocide memorials scattered throughout Rwanda? Without any doubt, most people might proudly respond: for remembrance.

In reality, don’t they constitute a powerful weapon for domestic and foreign policies for Kagame and his authoritarian regime? Don’t they also constitute permanent sanctuaries that continue to fuel ethnic hatred between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda?

Rwanda is the only country where there are more memorials in the world, in numbers and per head of population per square kilometer. Indeed, in each village, each city, apparently for the so called “do not forget” slogan, there is a genocide memorial in memory of Tutsi victims of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

For instance, the Gisozi genocide memorial in Kigali City, which comprises more than 250,000 of body remains, is the most visited, and of course, the most expensive one. Unfortunately, it is true that the establishment of the exact identity of each victim would not be an easy task. Such an operation would rather be so costly and difficult given the circumstances in which various massacres occurred. During the one hundred days of the Rwandan genocide, the unspeakable animosity of some people against others made it possible for Interahamwe militia and RPF soldiers, to behave as a butcher at work in his butchery. Unspeakable abomination but true!

Beyond the sensitivity of this issue and the duties of remembrance that are of course important without any doubt, wouldn’t be appropriate for all Rwandan citizens and all friends of Rwanda to ask themselves the following question: are these numerous genocide memorials whose maintenance costs millions Rwandan francs -funds that could be spent on many development projects crucially needed– really fostering reconciliation in Rwanda? Isn’t it true that these memorials have really become sanctuaries of ethnic hatred and antagonism between Hutus and Tutsis rather than an instrument of national unity?

Upon coming to power in 1994, the RPF regime claimed that the genocide against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus took place in Rwanda from April to July 1994. This genocide was stopped when RPF soldiers captured Kigali City on July 4, 1994.

In 2003 a new Rwandan constitution has been adopted. In its article 14 it is written that “The State shall, within the limits of its capacity, take special measures for the welfare of the survivors of genocide who were rendered destitute by the genocide committed in Rwanda from October 1st, 1990 to December 31st, 1994, the disabled, the indigent and the elderly as well as other vulnerable groups.

In 2008, the above article has been amended to include a statement that from now on the constitution will refer to the 1994 genocide as a “genocide committed on Tutsis” not “against Tutsis and moderate Hutus” as previously stated.

Such manipulations of the Rwandan constitution may at least in part explain why human rights advocates reject Kagame's view that Rwandans must view themselves only as Rwandans and stop using the words "Hutu" and "Tutsi." This may also explain why many Rwandans albeit in Rwanda or scattered worldwide do not necessarily recognize themselves in annual ceremonies organized by the RPF regime for the commemoration of the Rwandan genocide.

Upon visiting one of these genocide memorials, how does a Rwandan feel about his or her fellow Rwandan citizens from a different ethnic background?

In case of a Tutsi, a Tutsi who survived the genocide, he or she might be attempted to blame all Hutus, who could therefore all be readily seen as reckless murderers, or simply an incarnation of evil.

In case of a Hutu, a Hutu who knows the truth about what really happened before, during, and after those one hundred days of genocide, he or she will feel afflicted by such an unprecedented history of injustice.

Make no mistakes. African fellows recognize each other in their way of thinking. There is no doubt that only an African can thoroughly understand the reasoning of another African mostly owing to the fact that the cartesianism theory is still to a very large extent limited to Westerners.

What about a foreign visitor, knowing that it is only on Hutus - following numerous lie propagandas perpetrated by Kagame and his acolytes – that the international community in its little impartiality if any, has chosen to put the collective responsibility for this tragedy in Rwanda?

Any world citizen with good will should have the courage to admit and say loud and crystal clear, that Rwanda’s genocide memorials, which look more likely as fortress of the inter-ethnic hatred, are not conducive to the indulgence, forgiving while remembering, reconciliation and sincere and harmonious coexistence between Rwandans of all ethnic backgrounds, aimed at promoting the emergence of a genuine republican and democratic society, free of all the demons of hatred and inter-ethnic civil wars.

It is therefore wise to recognize that there is a real risk for both Rwandans and foreigners, that some people will eventually get persuaded by numerous RPF lie propagandas about the root cause of the Rwandan tragedy, that all Hutus- who are wrongly labeled as the only bad guys, hence guilty- should be tracked down or be locked up, in a sense of global and permanent conviction, and that it is a right thing to strike them indefinitely for their heinous crimes.

For these past 15 years, such an attitude gave Kagame the green light to monopolize all powers to the expenses of the Rwandan people except for a few families close to Kagame, under the umbrella of countering attempts to exterminate part of the Rwandan population by extremists Hutus, although all Rwandans know that Kagame was the mastermind of the Rwandan genocide and one of the key players in the massacres of innocent civilians that ravaged Rwanda and are still going on in DRC.

As a result, such a scenario has led to the current political deadlock in Rwanda which could be tackled by good political initiatives or attempts to hold a genuine political dialogue highly inclusive of all Rwandans. Such an inter-Rwandan dialogue should aim at bringing about true national reconciliation, real security, development and lasting peace, which are of vital interest, for Rwanda, DRC, and the African Great Lakes region as a whole.

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OPEN LETTER TO MADAM INGABIRE UMUHOZA ARRESTED IN RWANDA

Madam Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
By Francis Muhoozi
KICUKIRO POLICE PRISON/ Rwanda Prison
Kigali - Rwanda

18th October 2010.

 Dear Madam,

Hoping that this open letter will find you still alive in President Paul Kagame’s  dungeons, allow me to greet you in the name of the Father God the Almighty, the son and Holy Spirit.

Words cannot express the sadness and grief we received with the news of your being taken into Rwanda prisons again on October 14, 2010. Though we all knew that Kagame would mistreat you, we never expected him to degrade you to the level you are in now. We understand you are not allowed any drop of water to bathe, you are handcuffed 24 hours, and you are forced to sit and sleep on the cold police cell floor without anything to cover yourself with.

Married and a mother of three, Ingabire you trained in Commercial law and Accounting and graduated in business economics and Corporate management in the Netherlands. Victoire you were doing well, had peace and protection in Europe. You worked as an official of an International Accounting Firm based in the Netherlands where you were in charge of its accounting departments in 25 branches in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is both unbelievable and commendable that in April 2009, you resigned from these lucrative functions and decided to dedicate yourself to a political career and to prepare your return to your homeland Rwanda as the head of your political party FDU Inkingi, to contribute to the much needed genuine rebuilding and reconciliation in your country Rwanda.

On 17 January 2010, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza you returned to your country, after 16 years in exile, as the main leader of the Rwandan political opposition. My dear Ingabire, on that day when you stepped your foot in Kagame’s Rwanda, I could not believe my eyes or thought and my heart skipped several beats at your courage and patriotism. There are millions of oppressed sons and daughters of Rwanda living in Rwanda; there are almost three million hopeless Rwandan men and women refugees roaming the entire world not knowing when God will perform a miracle for them to go back into Rwanda their country they love; but you, a young lady Ingabire of a golden big heart, saw it fit to go back into your country to help in the genuine soul rebuilding and heart reconciling in the traumatised people of Rwanda after the unfortunate six year civil war in Rwanda (1990 – 1996), and bloody retributions thereafter. My fear was due to the terrible ruthless history I personally knew about General Kagame and his disrespect for the rule of law and humanity in general.

General Kagame rose to the ranks he is holding today because of his merciless ruthlessness. After serving as an informer in late dictator Idi Amin’s notorious intelligence organs, his official military career started in 1979, when he joined Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) and spent years fighting as a guerrilla against the government of Milton Obote in what is commonly known in Uganda as the bush war. During this war, Kagame’s main job was to summarily kill opponents and NRA deserters in the most barbaric way, without mercy that his friends nicknamed him “Pilato” the merciless. It is because of this that after overthrowing the then Ugandan government on January 25, 1986, Yoweri Museveni appointed Kagame the head of military intelligence in the NRA, and was regarded as one of Museveni's closest allies. He hence joined the official Ugandan military.

During 1990, Kagame went to Fort Leavenworth where the U.S. Army gave him military training. Broadening this connection, the U.S. and U.K. military provided further training and active logistical support to the RPF, which it used to attack Rwanda from Uganda in 1990 and took over power in a bloody civil war that left over 800,000 mostly Tutsis children of Rwanda dead. Kagame called this the Tutsi genocide; though moderate Hutus also died and many more Hutus also perished on his direct orders. After coming to power, Kagame arranged for the RPF to receive further counter insurgency and combat training from U.S. Special Forces, which was put to use in the 1996-1997 Rwanda-Uganda backed military campaign to overthrow the government of neighbouring Zaire now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

You gallant daughter of the son of Rwanda Ingabire Umuhoza, because of your courage and popularity, Kagame prevented you from running as a presidential candidate for your party and falsely accused you of being a “genocide denier,” simply because you rightly remarked in broad day light, without mincing words, on January 17, 2010 that,

“Yes, Tutsis were massacred in 1994, but Hutus were also massacred, and there can never be any genuine reconciliation if only the vanquished side was prosecuted.”

You were not wrong my dear to ask for this nor were you the only one concerned about it. On October 01, 2010, the highest humanitarian International body on this planet, the mighty United Nations vindicated you when it released a well researched Mappings report accusing Rwanda/Uganda, and in particular Paul Kagame’s RPF of the Hutu genocide in D.R.Congo in the period 1993 – 2003.

Ingabire, we all know that Kagame is not persecuting you because you are a daughter of a Hutu Rwandan; No! Kagame is just a power hungry dictator who will eliminate anyone who criticises his power. Andre Kagwa Rwisereka (RIP) was a peace loving son of a Rwandan Tutsi before he was beheaded on July 14, 2010 for politically opposing Kagame; Mr. Jean-Léonard RUGAMBAGE (RIP), son of a peace loving Tutsi was a journalist and critic of Kagame’s government and was murdered in July 2010; General Kayumba Nyamwasa, his comrade in this RPF, a Tutsi and critic of Kagame’s autocratic rule was gunned down in South Africa on May 15, 2010; and many more in prison and exile.

My dear sister Umuhoza, this trigger happy dictator Kagame knows very well that he cannot win political power through free and fair elections just like his mentor General Museveni of Uganda. Yoweri Museveni also used the same tramped up rape and treason charged against his main political challenger Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Col (rtd) Dr. Kizza Besigye and wrongly imprisoned him in 2005. Museveni has been torturing poor Dr. Besigye with these false charges since then until just recently on October 12, 2010 when a five-judge panel approved a petition filed in 2007 by Besigye and 11 co-accused asking for their case to be thrown out because they were under trial in a military court and a civilian high court at the same time, violating the constitution. This ruling that was passed by the Constitutional Court of Uganda. You should have seen how Museveni’s “Black Mambas”, heavily armed with machine guns, attacked the High Court in Kampala on November 17, 2005 with utter impunity overthrowing the Ugandan Constitution that day to re-arrest Besigye’s co-accused who had been legally granted bail.

When President Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009, I was among the many Africans who thought that at least someone who would understand Africa better because of his roots, and our great lakes region in particular was at least going to solve this flesh piercing problem. But my hopes are not being helped by the fact that Bill Clinton is one of dictator Kagame’s mentors. However I am still hopeful that Madam Hillary Clinton the US Secretary of State will make her own uncorrupted judgement on this awkward Kagame-Bill Clinton relationship, especially after the October 01, 2010 UN Hutu genocide report by Kagame in DR Congo.

Ingabire Umuhoza, be there for us many cowards who cannot face Kagame in the face like you did and challenge him. Be there for the many millions who cannot have a peace of mind in their country Rwanda. Be there for the innocent blood that was shed by the senseless 1990 war imposed on Rwanda by Yoweri Museveni and his Kagame RPF group. Be there for the millions who perished in former Zaire in 1996 and thereafter in DR Congo, who cannot be there for themselves. I know I have selfishly asked for too much from you my dear sister, but die for that cause. Your blood will not be spilled in vain.

May the Almighty God bless you, and give you the strength to withstand Kagame’s dungeons and torture.

Francis Muhoozi
A peace loving citizen of the great lakes region of East and Central Africa

cc.
General Paul Kagame -  President of the Republic of Rwanda
General Yoweri Museveni – President of the Republic of Uganda.
Mr. Barack Obama – The United States of America President.
Madam Hillary Clinton – The Secretary of state USA.

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FNL Leader Goes into Exile in Congo, may Take up Arms Again.

FNL Leader Goes into Exile in Congo, may Take up Arms Again.
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AFP
23 June 2010

Burundi's opposition leader and former rebel chief has vanished and is believed to have gone into hiding in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said on Wednesday.

Agathon Rwasa - leader of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), which laid down its weapons in 2009 - had led opposition allegations that the government had been rigging the ongoing election process.

A high-ranking security official said that Rwasa was last seen leaving his home in Bujumbura's Kiriri neighbourhood before dawn, claiming to be on his way to church.

"He is then reported to have boarded a vehicle that was waiting for him and we have no idea where he is now," he said.

Rwasa usually has a security detail of around 10 men, but on Wednesday he made sure that he was accompanied by only one plainclothes police officer, the official added.

Political crisis

"He is reported to have crossed into the DR Congo with the assistance of a local Mai-Mai group," another security official said, referring to one of several rebel groups in the neighbouring country.

Several Bujumbura-based diplomats confirmed Rwasa's disappearance.

"All the information we're receiving points to the fact that Rwasa has gone into hiding," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity.