Rwanda

Rwanda

My junior year in high school I was enrolled in a class called “Current Problems and Issues”. Mid-semester we watched a movie that opened my eyes to a whole other world. The movie was called Hotel Rwanda. The movie was based on true events that took place during genocidal violence that occurred in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in 1994. The Hutu military and militias killed almost one million Tutsis in a period of barely three months. I can honestly say that this film opened my eyes to what was going on in the world around me. It baffled me to think that something of this caliber occurred so recently and I had never even heard of it. After learning about the Rwandan genocide I was fascinated by it. Ever since then I have felt a connection with Rwanda which is why I chose Rwanda for this paper. Hopefully, this paper will make you as fascinated as I am with the country of Rwanda.

The first inhabitants of Rwanda were called the Twa, not the Tutsi or Hutu. In A.D. 1000 the Twa were outnumbered by the Hutus. In the 15th century, the Tutsis migrated into the area, and gained dominance over the Hutu majority. (Chretien 1-5) A single Tutsi-ruled state occupied most of present-day Rwanda in the late 18th century. The state was ruled by a king who controlled regionally based chiefs who were also Tutsi. Since they had so much power they dominated the Hutus, who made up the majority of the population. In the early 19th century Rwanda reached the height of its power under kings Mutara II and Kigeri IV. (Keane 25-31) Kigeri established a strong enough army that prohibited most foreigners from entering Rwanda.

Despite having a strong army, in 1890, Rwanda accepted German rule without resistance. Rwanda then became part of German East Africa. Despite being part of German East Africa, the Germans had virtually no influence over the affairs of Rwanda. Belgian forces occupied Rwanda in 1916, during World War I, and in 1919 it became part of the Belgian League of Nations which was a mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. Until the last years of Belgian reign the traditional social structure of Rwanda was not altered.(Keane 45-47)

In 1935 a national identification on the basis of ethnicity was issued by the Belgian colonial administration. Rwandans who possessed ten or more cows were registered as Tutsi, while those with less than ten cows were registered as Hutu. In the beginning the Belgian authorities favored the King and his chiefs, for many different practical and political reasons. (Chretein 5-23) Eventually a demand for independence from the Belgian government began. A political party, the Union Nationale Rwandise (UNAR), was formed by the ruling Tutsi. Secretively the Belgian authorities supported another party formed by the Hutu. This party was called Parmehutu, and it was founded on the basis of a sectarian ethnic ideology. The Hutu’s demanded a change in Rwanda’s power structure that would give them a voice in the country’s government. (Chretien 25-38) From this Hutu political parties were formed. In 1959, with the help of the Belgians, the Parmehutu began the first massacres of the Tutsi.(Keane 73-86) By using violence, the Parmehutu eventually abolished the monarchy. Because of this, over 100,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries. Belgium officially granted political independence to Hutu controlled Rwanda on July 1st 1962.

A group of Tutsi rebels called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) attempted to overthrow the Hutu-led Rwandan government in 1990. By August 1993 a peace agreement was signed to unite the RPF and the Rwandan government. The peace agreement was short lived due to a plane being shot down in April 1994. (Chretien 39-46) The plane crash killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. This triggered an uproar throughout Rwanda and deep-seated ethnic violence erupted. Over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in mass genocide. (Des Forges 16-27) In July 1994 the Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and the killing ceased. Almost two million Hutu refugees, fearing the retribution of the Tutsis, fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Barnett 1-4) These refugees formed an extremist rebel group determined to overtake the Tutsi government in Rwanda, just like the RPF in 1990.(Des Forges 33-46)

Rwanda held their first local elections in March 1999 and its first presidential and legislative elections in August 2003. Despite these political reforms and international assistance Rwanda is still struggling to increase agricultural output and investments. About 90% of Rwanda’s