APRIL, A Month to Remember.
I have watched two very classic movies and several documentaries which tell the story of a horrific genocide which took place in a small country in the middle of Africa. The country is called Rwanda. The people of this beautiful country look just like any other African I have met. Dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, some are tall and some are short, some are fat and some are slim. Some speak and write very good English like I do and some speak and write very bad English. They have similar cultures like what I have in my country and they are generally very nice people. Infact, they are no different from me as a Ghanaian!
The genocide began in April of 1994 and ended in mid July of 1994. It has sparked and re-kindled a lot of debate about how brutal a human being could be towards another. It also revealed to me how to best of friends could suddenly become the worst of enemies simply because of tribal differences. The genocide also showed how married couples turned against each other and even butchered their own children and relatives for fear of being killed themselves. It showed how almost one million people were deliberately killed in a spate of just three months! If we work out the mathematics of this slaughter and compare it to the Nazi German holocaust of the early 1940s it could have surpassed that one. Why? Because if an average of about 300,000 people were killed in one month in Rwanda at the time, it stands to reason that about 14 million would have been killed within 4 years if the genocide had been allowed to continue. It is reported that Nazi Germans killed about 6 million Jews between 1940 and 1944 during WWII, a period of 4 years! Correct me if I am wrong but that is my candid opinion.
I personally talked to some soldier friends of mine who served with the United Nations peace keeping force in Rwanda (UNAMIR) before and after the genocide and they told me stories of what happened. Some of the Ghanaian soldiers kept having these nightmares even long after they returned from the peace keeping mission. They told me stories of very horrific scenes which I found very hard to believe, but that was the Gospel truth. Even they would have found it hard to believe if it weren’t for them being there to witness such horrific mass killings of fellow human beings.
Official government sources state that out of a population of 7.3 million people, 84% of where Hutu, 15% Tutsi and 1% Twa. The official figures published by the Rwandan government estimated the number of victims of the genocide to 1,174,000 in just 100 days. Mathematically, it worked out to about 10,000 murdered every day, 400 every hour, 7 every minute.
Reports further state that most of the victims were killed in their villages or in towns, often by their neighbors and fellow villagers. Militia members typically murdered their victims by hacking them with machetes, although some army units used rifles. Victims were often found hiding in churches and school buildings, where Hutu gangs massacred them. Ordinary citizens were called on by local officials and government-sponsored radio to kill their neighbors, and those who refused to kill were often murdered themselves. "Either you took part in the massacres or you were massacred yourself.”
One such notable massacre is reported to have occurred at Nyarubuye. On April 12, more than 1,500 Tutsis sought refuge in a Catholic church in Nyange, then in Kivumu commune. Local Interahamwe, acting in concert with the other local authorities, then used bulldozers to knock down the church building. Those who tried to escape were hacked down with machetes or shot dead. The local priest of the church called Athanase Seromba was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by the ICTR for his role in the demolition of his own church and convicted of the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity. In another case, thousands sought refuge in Ecole Technique Officielle school in Kigali where Belgian UNAMIR soldiers were stationed. However, on April 11, these soldiers withdrew from the school and thus allowed members of the Rwandan armed forces and militia to kill all the Tutsis who were hiding there.
You would be amazed to learn that all these mass killings was well organized before hand and by the time it had started, the Rwandan militia numbered around 30,000. The plan was that each trained militia member was to be responsible for killing every ten families and this was organized nationwide, with representatives in every neighborhood of that country. Some of the militia members were able to acquire guns by completing requisition forms. Other weapons, such as grenades, required no paperwork and were widely distributed. Many members of the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi were armed only with machetes.
The Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda revealed, in his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal, that the genocide was even openly discussed at cabinet meetings and that one cabinet minister once said that she was personally in favor of getting rid of all Tutsis, she believed that without the Tutsi, all of Rwanda's problems would be over. In addition to Kambanda, the genocide's organizers included one Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, a retired army officer, and many top ranking government officials and members of the army, such as the notorious General Augustin Bizimungu. On the local level, the genocide's planners included Burgomasters, or mayors, and members of the police. Can you imagine that? For me this whole thing just smacked of government complicity!
The Rwandan media was the main catalyst to fueling the genocide. Due to high rates of illiteracy at the time of the genocide, radio was an important way for the government to deliver messages to the public. Two radio stations were direct keys to inciting violence before and during the genocide. They were Radio Rwanda and Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). The RTLM had used terms such as inyenzi meaning cockroach in Kinyarwandan and Tutsi interchangeably with others referring to the RPF combatants and warned specifically that RPF combatants dressed in civilian clothes were mingling among displaced people fleeing combat zones. So you see how powerful the radio was used as a tool to directly incite combatants to perpetrate the genocide?
These mass killings have also been committed in other parts of Africa in places like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. It simply beats my mind to imagine how people could just pick up guns and machetes to kill others just like that. Whole villages would be wiped out in a matter of days all because some our politicians sitting in the comfort of their luxurious air conditioned mansions talk loosely or some even conspire and inspire the youth to commit such heinous crimes against humanity. Ironically, they are the first to fly out of the scene when all hell breaks loose. I say this because most of these mass killings I am talking about have been sparked simply by loose political talk and failed promises.
No wonder I am not surprised at what is happening today in Bawku, a town located in my own country. For me this is Childs play compared to that of Rwanda or even the recent violence which took place in the city of Jos, Nigeria a few weeks ago. I often here people talk about Ghanaians being a very peaceful people hence the absence of a civil war ever taken place here in Ghana before. For me, I disagree to this assertion because I believe no groups of people are born with the license to kill. They are either instigated to kill or simply coerced or forced to do so and this can happen to any group of people in any country. We as a people simply have to be sincere and tolerant with each other so that we can live in harmony as one people with one destiny. We as a people should realize that we come from different cultural backgrounds and thus we will have differences in opinions and views and this should be the main reason why we should learn to be tolerant with each other.
Folks, I present to you an article which I culled from the Internet about the crime which was committed against humanity in Rwanda, a sister African country. It is my wish that this article will show us the consequences of not learning to be tolerant with each other as a people. What you are about to read is my selected article of the month which is just a brief summary of what really happened and how it did happen, so be my guest.
How it all Started.
Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus.
Even for a country with such a turbulent history as Rwanda, the scale and speed of the slaughter left its people reeling. The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994.
A French judge has blamed current Rwandan President, Paul Kagame - at the time the leader of a Tutsi rebel group - and some of his close associates for carrying out the rocket attack. Mr Kagame vehemently denies this and says it was the work of Hutu extremists, in order to provide a pretext to carry out their well-laid plans to exterminate the Tutsi community.
Whoever was responsible, within hours a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country, and did not subside until three months later.
But the death of the president was by no means the only cause of Africa's largest genocide in modern times.
History of violence
Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There have been always been disagreements between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, but the animosity between them has grown substantially since the colonial period. The two ethnic groups are actually very similar - they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions. However, Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus, with some saying their origins lie in Ethiopia.
During the genocide, the bodies of Tutsis were thrown into rivers, with their killers saying they were being sent back to Ethiopia.
When the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, they produced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity. The Belgians considered the Tutsis to be superior to the Hutus. Not surprisingly, the Tutsis welcomed this idea, and for the next 20 years they enjoyed better jobs and educational opportunities than their neighbours.
Resentment among the Hutus gradually built up, culminating in a series of riots in 1959. More than 20,000 Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. When Belgium relinquished power and granted Rwanda independence in 1962, the Hutus took their place. Over subsequent decades, the Tutsis were portrayed as the scapegoats for every crisis.
Building up to genocide
This was still the case in the years before the genocide. The economic situation worsened and the incumbent president, Juvenal Habyarimana, began losing popularity.
At the same time, Tutsi refugees in Uganda - supported by some moderate Hutus - were forming the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Mr Kagame. Their aim was to overthrow Habyarimana and secure their right to return to their homeland.
Habyarimana chose to exploit this threat as a way to bring dissident Hutus back to his side, and Tutsis inside Rwanda were accused of being RPF collaborators.
In August 1993, after several attacks and months of negotiation, a peace accord was signed between Habyarimana and the RPF, but it did little to stop the continued unrest.
When Habyarimana's plane was shot down at the beginning of April 1994, it was the final nail in the coffin. Exactly who killed the president - and with him the president of Burundi and many chief members of staff - has not been established.
Whoever was behind the killing its effect was both instantaneous and catastrophic.
Mass murder
In Kigali, the presidential guard immediately initiated a campaign of retribution. Leaders of the political opposition were murdered, and almost immediately, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. Within hours, recruits were dispatched all over the country to carry out a wave of slaughter. The early organisers included military officials, politicians and businessmen, but soon many others joined in the mayhem. Encouraged by the presidential guard and radio propaganda, an unofficial militia group called the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was mobilised. At its peak, this group was 30,000-strong.
Soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citizens to take part. In some cases, Hutu civilians were forced to murder their Tutsi neighbours by military personnel. Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some were even told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they killed.
On the ground at least, the Rwandans were largely left alone by the international community. UN troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers.
The day after Habyarimana's death, the RPF renewed their assault on government forces, and numerous attempts by the UN to negotiate a ceasefire came to nothing.
Aftermath
Finally, in July, the RPF captured Kigali. The government collapsed and the RPF declared a ceasefire. As soon as it became apparent that the RPF was victorious, an estimated two million Hutus fled to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).
These refugees include many who have since been implicated in the massacres.
At first, a multi-ethnic government was set up, with a Hutu, Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Mr Kagame as his deputy.
But the pair later fell out and Bizimungu was jailed on charges of inciting ethnic violence, while Mr Kagame became president. Although the killing in Rwanda was over, the presence of Hutu militias in DR Congo has led to years of conflict there, causing up to five million deaths.
Rwanda's now Tutsi-led government has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it wants to wipe out the Hutu forces. And a Congolese Tutsi rebel group remains active, refusing to lay down arms, saying otherwise its community would be at risk of genocide. The world's largest peacekeeping force has been unable to end the fighting.
Folks, the Rwandan genocide took place only 16 years ago, which is not very long ago so my purpose for sharing this piece is to let us be reminded that what happened there was a very horrific, barbaric and despicable crime which was committed against humanity and under no circumstances should it be allowed to happen again any where in Africa and especially in our own individual countries. May God keep us safe and sound as we remember this very sad period in the history of mother Africa!
