PO377 ETHNIC CONFLICT AND
POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Week 5: Rwanda
Lecture Outline
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Overview
History of Rwanda
Contested Views on Ethnicity in Rwanda: Ancient Hatred or Legacy of
Colonialism?
 3 schools of thought
Ranked vs. Unranked Ethnic Systems
 Ranked ethnic systems
 Unranked ethnic systems
 4 directions in which subordinate groups can try to move a ranked system
Civil War and Peace Accords
 Negotiations and aid conditionality
 Arusha Accords
Genocide
Explaining Genocide?
Post-Genocide
Conclusions
Pop Quiz
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I think I understand why genocide
occurred in Rwanda:
 Yes.
 No.
Overview
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Population: 10.9 million (2011).
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Two thirds live below the poverty line (in 1994
figure was 86%).
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1994 genocide: 800,000-1,000,000 people
killed (mostly Tutsi). 250,000-500,000 women
and girls raped.
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Killing rate 5 times that of the Nazis.
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Genocide was carefully planned.
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History of Rwanda is deeply contested.
History of Rwanda
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Pre-colonial oral tradition. Myth of Gatwa, Gahutu and
Gatutsi. Ruled by Tutsi monarchy at European contact but
power structures and social relations complicated. Clan
system which largely cut across Tutsi-Hutu-Twa identities.
1885 Berlin Conference Rwanda ‘given’ to Germany as part
of German East Africa (Ruanda-Urundi).
Pop. spoke same language (Kinyarwanda), shared same
religion (Kubandwa then Christianity), told same myths and
ancestral stories, yet three groups. Twa (1%): pygmy huntergatherers. Hutu (majority): peasant farmers; resembled
neighbours, classed by Europeans as ‘Bantu’. Tutsi (ruling
class): cattle-herders; taller and thinner, lighter skinned.
History of Rwanda (2)
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European racial ideas: Tutsi as superior to Hutu and Twa, as
quasi-Caucasian and as descendants of conquering ‘race’
from Ethiopia or Egypt (ref. explorer John Hanning Speke).
Tutsis as ‘Hamites’: descendants of Ham, Noah’s son (Book of
Genesis). (See Prunier 1997; Destexhe 1995.)
European contact during time of change towards greater
centralisation, greater dominance by central Tutsi monarchy
and increase in Tutsi chiefly powers.
Belgian rule succeeded German 1916; moves towards more
direct colonial rule and further consolidation of Tutsi power
at expense of Hutu. Forced labour, beatings.
History of Rwanda (3)
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1933 Belgian census in Rwanda and implementation of
ethnic identity cards (14-15% classed as Tutsi).
1945 UN formed; Trusteeship Council to oversee 3rd world
decolonisation. Rwanda is made a trusteeship.
UN Trusteeship Council critical of Belgian rule; 1950s moves
towards democracy. Formation of political parties,
established on ethnic lines: Parmehutu party (Parti du
Mouvement de l’Emancipation Hutu); opposition party mainly
Tutsi, Union National Rwandaise (UNAR).
History of Rwanda (4)
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1957: Hutu manifesto calls for emancipation and majority
rule, receiving support from Belgium and the UN etc.
1959 inter-ethnic political violence after suspicious death of
Tutsi king. Hutu revolution, exile of 150,000-200,000 Tutsi,
abolition of monarchy; republic established.
1962 Rwanda and Burundi become independent as separate
states.
1963, 1967, 1973 slaughters of Tutsi. Hutu rule until 1990
civil war.
Contested Views on Ethnicity
3 schools of thought:
1)
2)
3)
Primordialists: distinct ethnic groups in Rwanda for 100s of
years (colonial administrators and missionaries; some
anthropologists; used as part rationale for genocide).
Hutu and Tutsi are one ethnic group as they share
language, religion and culture; Hutu and Tutsi were purely
caste/class groupings. Existing divisions are entirely a
colonial legacy.
In between such views: pre-colonial Tutsi monarchy created
differences and distinct identities but these were more
fluid and about wealth/class, not ethnicity; colonial era
and racial agendas entrenched Hutu and Tutsi labels as
ethnic/racial groups.
(Uvin 1997 is useful on these debates.)
Ranked vs. Unranked Ethnic Systems
Ranked ethnic systems
 Ethnic groups in hierarchical, ‘ranked’ relationship.
Social class and ethnicity coincide; society stratified
along ethnic lines. One ethnic group clearly
superordinate over a subordinate group in political,
economic and social status simultaneously. Ethnic
groups often fill distinct occupational groups.
Examples: Rwanda and Burundi; Jamaica; apartheid
South Africa; any system of slavery.
Ranked vs. Unranked Ethnic Systems (2)
Unranked ethnic systems
 Ethnic groups are parallel, ‘unranked’. Social class and
ethnicity don’t fully coincide; ethnic groups are crossclass so each is internally stratified. Each parallel
group is potentially a whole society, covering range of
occupations and statuses.
Examples: Sri Lanka; former Yugoslavia; Northern
Ireland.
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Neither type of system is completely pure and both
are subject to change.
Ranked vs. Unranked Ethnic Systems (3)
4 directions in which subordinate groups can try to move a
ranked system:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Subordinate groups try to displace superordinate groups
(e.g. Rwanda 1959).
Subordinate groups aim to abolish ethnic divisions
altogether (e.g. United States).
Subordinate groups try to raise their position in ethnic
hierarchy without denying legitimacy of that hierarchy
(e.g. caste changes in India are similar).
Subordinate groups try to move the system from ranked
to unranked (e.g. Rwanda 1990: RPF war).
(On ranked and unranked ethnic systems see chpt. 1 of Horowitz 2000.)
Civil War and Peace Accords
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1980s Museveni gets Ugandan presidency through
insurgency aided by Tutsi immigrants; backs Tutsi efforts
to overthrow Hutu-led Rwandan government.
1989 collapse of international coffee market increases
economic hardship, followed by structural adjustment
programme 1990-94.
1990-91 exiled Tutsi (Rwandan Patriotic Front) war
against Rwandan govt. RPF includes moderate Hutu and
claims it wants multi-ethnic democracy.
1991 cease-fire between Rwandan govt and RPF after
strong international pressure. Govt negotiates with RPF
and other opposition leaders.
Civil War and Peace Accords (2)
Negotiations and aid conditionality
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1992 talks in Arusha (Tanzania) in response to pressure
from USA, Belgium, and Organization of African Unity
(OAU).
US State Department: continued aid dependent upon
progress towards multi-party coalition government.
Negotiations led to Aug. 1993 Arusha Accords.
Organized by OAU; delegations from African states;
observers/monitors from France, Belgium, Germany, US,
Britain, Canada, Netherlands, EU.
Civil War and Peace Accords (3)
Arusha Accords
1. Democratic power-sharing governance.
2. RPF and Rwandan armed forces to integrate.
3. Intl. peacekeeping force (UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda)
to be deployed and French soldiers to withdraw.
4. Refugees to be allowed home.
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Hutu regime not genuinely committed to cease-fire or accords;
1991-1994 periodic massacres. Accords never instituted.
Civilian militias are armed and trained by the MRND and CDR.
Many thought Accords were best settlement that could be
achieved; problem was Habyarimana’s regime not committed.
Others say Accords backed hardliners into a corner and
created extremist reaction (see Khadiagala 2002, week 19 reading list).
Genocide
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‘[B]oth the mediators and the parties to the Arusha
Agreement staked its implementation almost exclusively on
international actors who were unwilling and unprepared to
expend the resources required to meet its provisions’
(Khadiagala 2002, p. 463).
Implementation of Arusha Accords delayed; genocide of
Tutsis began April 1994. UNAMIR peacekeepers withdrew.
Genocide ended July 1994 through RPF military victory.
RPF governing in coalition with other political parties.
Genocide (2)
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Systematic, murderous anti-Tutsi propaganda
campaign began well before 1994.
Radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) disseminated misinformation and
propaganda. (Some staff later convicted by ICTR of
inciting genocide.)
6 April 1994 Hutu presidents of Rwanda and
Burundi were killed when their plane was shot down
by a rocket (still the subject of controversy).
Genocide (3)
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Interim govt blamed plane crash on RPF and Belgian
UNAMIR troops; Rwandan army killed 10 Belgians;
Belgium withdrew troops then UN withdrew almost all
peacekeepers.
UN decided to send expanded peacekeeping force
(UNAMIR II) but didn’t arrive until Aug (already over).
France intervened unilaterally; armed and supported Hutu
elite.
Apr.-Jul. 1994 est. 800,000-1,000,000 Rwandans killed;
majority Tutsi but also many moderate Hutu. Brutal deaths;
most violence committed by civilian militia groups
(interahamwe) armed with machetes and sharpened
wooden and metal objects.
Explaining Genocide?
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There is no consensus in the literature on exactly why genocide
occurred in Rwanda and at the time it did so. Different scholars
place different weights on various factors and how they
interact:
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racist narratives about ethnicity (Uvin 1997; Taylor 1999; Prunier
1997; Destexhe 1995; Mamdani 2002);
colonial changes to the nature of the state and traditional social and
economic structures (Prunier 1997; Destexhe 1995; Mamdani 2002;
Hintjens 1999);
socio-political contestation between the northwest and the rest of
Rwanda: intra-Hutu competition (Uvin 1997; Hintjens 1999);
economic crisis, structural adjustment programme, and scarcity of
land (Storey 1999; Uvin 1997; African Rights 1995a; Jones 2002);
Explaining Genocide? (2)
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fear, insecurity and displacement generated by the civil war
(Reyntjens 1996);
political manipulation by elites trying to hold onto power in the face
of crisis and internal and external pressure to democratize (Uvin
1997; Hintjens 1999; Prunier 1997; Reyntjens 1996);
deliberate media propaganda (appears in all accounts);
a social tradition of extreme conformity (Reyntjens 1996; Hintjens
1999);
the failure of the ‘international community’ in various forms: structural
adjustment, coercion via aid conditionality, involvement of particular
individual states, role of NGOs, withdrawal of peacekeepers etc.
(Clapham 1998; Prunier 1997; Storey 1997; Gourevitch 1999;
Melvern 2000; Klinghoffer 1998).
Pop Quiz
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1.
2.
3.
I believe that ethnic tensions in Rwanda
have…
Largely been resolved since the end to the
genocide, with the ‘government of national unity’.
Been repressed but not overcome.
Been transferred to neighbouring states.
Post-Genocide
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By 19 July 1994 RPF had control of most of Rwanda and
installed themselves as govt ‘of national unity’, in coalition
with 4 other political parties provided for in the Arusha
Accords (exception of MRND). New President, PM and many
cabinet members were Hutu but the current govt is more
Tutsi-dominated.
Current President, Paul Kagame, is a Tutsi who was military
commander of the RPF when it ended the genocide.
When RPF took power up to 2,000,000 Hutu fled to refugee
camps in neighbouring states, mainly Zaire. From camps Hutu
exiles launched attacks on Rwanda; Rwandan govt invaded
Zaire (now DR Congo) to clear out Hutu refugee camps.
Various types of Rwandan military involvement in DRC since
then, including mass slaughter of Hutus.
Post-Genocide (2)
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Today Rwanda is fairly stable but more like
tenuous stalemate than genuine peace.
Weakly democratic and really pretty
authoritarian. Repression of political
opposition and media. Focus on development.
Govt has arguably failed to move towards
genuine national reconciliation. Approach
seems largely to be to try and erase the
notion of ethnic difference, rather than to
acknowledge and value all – what do you
think about this approach to ethnic conflict?
Conclusions
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Different group identities existed in Rwanda prior to colonial
contact but the nature of these identities/divisions remains
hotly debated.
Colonial notions of race and colonial political administration
had huge and negative impact on constructions of ethnic
identity in Rwanda.
Arusha Accords were imposed upon Hutu elite and strongly
resisted – did this contribute to causing the genocide?
The impact of the economic situation seems to have been
very significant but fundamentally it was the interaction of
this with political power struggles which led to state
incitement to genocide.