Tutsi women. How the Rapes and Massacres Happened in Rwanda

Rwandan genocide 1994 - campaign massacres Tutsis and moderate Hutus, committed Hutus. As well as the massacres of Hutus by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) against Tutsis. On the Hutu side, it was carried out by the Hutu extremist paramilitary groups Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi in Rwanda with the active support of sympathizers from ordinary citizens with the knowledge and instructions of the country's authorities. The number of people killed in 100 days exceeded 800 thousand people, of whom approximately 10% were Hutus. On the Tutsi side, it was carried out by the RPF and probably by Tutsi paramilitaries. The number of Hutus killed is about 200 thousand people.

The murder rate was five times the murder rate in German concentration camps during the Second World War. The offensive of the Rwandan Tutsi Patriotic Front put an end to the killing of Tutsis.

10 Hutu decrees

Every Hutu should know that a Tutsi woman, wherever she is, has the interests of her ethnic group at heart. Therefore, a Hutu who marries a Tutsi woman, befriends a Tutsi woman, or keeps a Tutsi as a secretary or concubine will be considered a traitor.
Every Hutu should remember that the daughters of our tribe are more conscious of their roles as wives and mothers. They are more beautiful, honest and efficient as secretaries.
Hutu women, be vigilant, try to reason with your husbands, brothers and sons.
Every Hutu should know that Tutsis are deceitful in transactions. His only goal is the superiority of his ethnic group. Therefore, every Hutu who
- is a business partner of a Tutsi
- who invests money in the Tutsi project
- who lends or lends money to Tutsis
- who helps Tutsis in business by issuing licenses and so on.
Hutus should occupy all strategic positions in politics, economics, and law enforcement.
In education, the majority of teachers and students must be Hutu.
The Rwandan armed forces will be staffed exclusively by Hutu representatives.
The Hutus must stop feeling sorry for the Tutsis.
The Hutus must be united in the fight against the Tutsis.
Every Hutu must spread the Hutu ideology. A Hutu who tries to stop his brothers from spreading the Hutu ideology is considered a traitor.

Rwandan society has traditionally consisted of two castes: the privileged minority of the Tutsi people and the overwhelming majority of the Hutu people, although a number of researchers have expressed doubts about the advisability of dividing Tutsis and Hutus along ethnic lines and point to the fact that during the period of Belgian control over Rwanda, the decision to classify a particular citizen in Tutsi or Hutu it was carried out on the basis of property.

Tutsis and Hutus speak the same language, but theoretically they have noticeable racial differences, greatly smoothed out by many years of assimilation. Until 1959, the status quo remained, but as a result of the period riots The Hutus gained administrative control. During a period of worsening economic difficulties, which coincided with the intensification of the Tutsi-based rebel movement known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the process of demonizing Tutsi in means began in 1990 mass media, especially in the newspaper Kangura (Wake Up!), published all sorts of speculation about a worldwide Tutsi conspiracy, focused on the brutality of RPF militants, and some reports were deliberately fabricated, such as the case of a Hutu woman beaten to death with hammers in 1993 or the capture near Burundi borders of Tutsi spies.

Chronicle

On April 6, 1994, while approaching Kigali, a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi President Ntaryamira was shot down by a MANPADS. The plane was returning from Tanzania, where both presidents participated in an international conference

Prime Minister Agata Uwilingiyimana was assassinated the next day, April 7. On the morning of this day, 10 Belgian and 5 Ghanaian UN peacekeepers guarding the Prime Minister's house were surrounded by soldiers of the Rwandan presidential guard. After a short standoff, the Belgian military received an order via radio from their commander to submit to the demands of the attackers and lay down their arms. Seeing that the peacekeepers guarding her were disarmed, Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana with her husband, children and several accompanying people tried to hide on the territory of the American embassy. However, soldiers and militants youth department ruling party, known as Interahamwe, found and brutally killed the prime minister, her husband and several other people. Miraculously, only her children survived, hidden by one of the UN employees.

The fate of those who surrendered Belgian soldiers The UN was also decided by the militants, whose leadership considered it necessary to neutralize the peacekeeping contingent and chose the method of dealing with members of the contingent that had worked well in Somalia. The Interahamwe militants initially suspected the Belgian contingent of the UN forces of “sympathy” for the Tutsis. Moreover, in the past, Rwanda was a colony of Belgium and many were not averse to reckoning with the former “colonizers”. According to eyewitnesses, the brutal militants first castrated all the Belgians, then stuffed the severed genitals into their mouths and, after brutal torture and humiliation, shot them dead

State radio and a private station affiliated with it, known as “A Thousand Hills” (Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines), heated up the situation with calls for the murder of Tutsis and read out lists of potentially dangerous persons, local burgomasters organized work to identify and kill them. Through administrative methods, ordinary citizens were also involved in organizing the campaign of mass murder, and many Tutsis were killed by their neighbors. The murder weapon was mainly a bladed weapon (machete). The most brutal scenes took place in places where refugees were temporarily concentrated in schools and churches.

1994, April 11 - murder of 2,000 Tutsis at the Don Bosco school (Kigali), after the evacuation of Belgian peacekeepers.
1994 April 21 - The International Red Cross reports possible executions of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
1994, April 22 - massacre of 5,000 Tutsis at Sovu Monastery.
The United States did not intervene in the conflict, fearing a repetition of the events of 1993 in Somalia.
1994, July 4 - troops of the Rwandan Patriotic Front entered the capital. 2 million Hutus, fearing retribution for the genocide (there were 30 thousand people in the paramilitary forces), and most of the genocide by the Tutsis, left the country.

Rwandan wanted poster

International Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda

In November 1994, the International Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda began operating in Tanzania. Among those under investigation are the organizers and instigators of the mass extermination of Rwandan citizens in the spring of 1994, among whom are mainly former officials of the ruling regime. In particular, former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda was sentenced to life for crimes against humanity. Among the proven episodes was the encouragement of misanthropic propaganda by the state radio station RTLM, which called for the destruction of Tutsi citizens.

In December 1999, George Rutagande, who in 1994 led the Interahamwe (youth wing) of the then ruling Republican Party, was sentenced to life imprisonment. national movement for the development of democracy"). In October 1995, Rutagande was arrested.

On September 1, 2003, the case of Emmanuel Ndindabhizi, who was Rwanda's Minister of Finance in 1994, was heard. According to the police, he is involved in the massacre of people in Kibuye Prefecture. E. Ndindabahizi personally ordered the killings, distributed weapons to Hutu volunteers and was present during the attacks and beatings. According to witnesses, he stated: “A lot of Tutsis pass through here, why don’t you kill them?”, “Are you killing Tutsi women who are married to Hutus? ...Go and kill them. They can poison you."

The role of the international tribunal is controversial in Rwanda, since trials are very lengthy and defendants cannot be punished with the death penalty. For trials of persons outside the jurisdiction of the tribunal, which tries only the most important organizers of the genocide, the country has created a system of local courts that have handed down at least 100 death sentences.

Prime Minister Agata Uwilingiyimana was five months pregnant when she was assassinated at her residence. The rebels ripped open her stomach.

43 1-year-old Mukarurinda Alice, who lost her entire family and an arm during the massacre, lives with the man who injured her.

42 -year-old Alfonsina Mukamfizi, who miraculously survived the genocide, the rest of her family were killed

R.S

Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, is very beloved here because he was the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which in 1994, as a result of a civil war, seized power in the country and stopped the genocide of the Tutsi.

After the RPF came to power, Kagame was the Minister of Defense, but in fact it was he who led the country. Then in 2000 he was elected president, and in 2010 he was elected to a second term. He miraculously managed to restore the country's strength and economy. For example, since 2005, the country’s GDP has doubled, and the country’s population has become 100% provided with food. Technology began to develop at a rapid pace, and the government managed to attract many foreign investors to the country. Kagame actively fought corruption and strengthened government agencies authorities. He developed trade relations with neighboring countries and signed a common market agreement with them. Under his rule, women stopped being discriminated against and began to participate in the political life of the country.

Most of the population is proud of their president, but there are also those who fear and criticize him. The problem is that the opposition has practically disappeared in the country. That is, it did not completely disappear, but simply many of its representatives ended up in prison. There were also reports that during the 2010 election campaign, some people were killed or arrested - this is also associated with political opposition to the president. By the way, in 2010, in addition to Kagame, three more people from different parties participated in the elections, and he then spoke a lot about the fact that there are free elections in Rwanda and that citizens themselves have the right to choose their own destiny. But even here, critics noted that these three parties provide great support to the president and that the three new candidates are his good friends.

Be that as it may, last December in Rwanda a referendum was held on amendments to the constitution that would give Kagame the right to be elected president for a third seven-year term, and then for two more terms of five years. The amendments were adopted with 98% of the votes. New elections will be held next year.

In 2000, when Kagame became president, the Rwandan parliament adopted the country's development program Vision 2020. Its goal is to transform Rwanda into a middle-income, technological country, fight poverty, improve the quality of healthcare and unite the people. Kagame began developing the program in the late 90s. When compiling it, he and his associates relied on the experience of China, Singapore and Thailand. Here are the main points of the program: effective management, high level education and health, development information technologies, infrastructure development, Agriculture and cattle breeding.

As the name implies, the implementation of the program should be completed by 2020, and in 2011 the Rwandan government summed up interim results. Then each of the goals of the plan was assigned one of three statuses: “according to plan,” “ahead” and “lagging behind.” And it turned out that the implementation of 44% of the goals went according to plan, 11% - ahead of schedule, 22% - behind the times. Among the latter were increasing population, fighting poverty and protecting environment. In 2012, Belgium conducted a study on the implementation of the program and stated that the successes were very impressive. Among the main achievements, she noted the development of education and healthcare and the creation favorable environment for doing business.

When it comes to the development agenda, Kagame often begins to argue that Rwanda's main asset is its people: “Our strategy is based on thinking about people. Therefore, when distributing the national budget, we focus on education, healthcare, technology development and innovation. We think about people all the time."

There are many activities in Rwanda government programs, which help the population get out of poverty and live more or less with dignity. For example, there is a program “ Pure water”, which over 18 years was able to increase the population’s access to disinfected water by 23%. There is also a program through which all children have the opportunity to go to primary school. In 2006, a program was launched with a name something like “A cow for every home.” Thanks to her, poor families received a cow. Under another program, children from low-income families are given simple laptops.

The President of Rwanda is also active in promoting technology. In particular, he provided the country with a decently functioning Internet and built something like a local Silicon Valley - the kLab information and communication technology center. Its specialists develop online games and IT technologies.

Tootsie(also referred to as Watutsi, batutsi) - a people in central Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo) numbering about 2 million people.

Language

History and versions of origin

Culture

Education

No more than half of the Tutsis in Rwanda and Burundi can read and write in native language and very few read and write French.

Folklore

Tutsi folklore includes proverbs, fairy tales, myths, riddles and songs. One of the folk tales talks about Sebgugu, a poor man who was helped by God by providing his family with food and everything they needed. But each time Sebgugu wanted more and more, and for his greed God deprived him of everything.

Music

Weaving remains one of the most widespread crafts among the peoples of Burundi and Rwanda. The centuries-old development of the weaving tradition has led to the emergence artistic forms, not only satisfying the everyday needs of people, but also being original works of art. The colors characteristic of Tutsi basketry are black, red and the pale golden color of dry straw. Black dye was obtained by boiling banana flowers, and red dye was similarly obtained from the roots and seeds of the urukamgi plant. By 1930, the palette was replenished with foreign dyes, and baskets decorated with green, orange, and purple patterns began to appear.

Miniature boxes woven using the ring technique are called “agaseki”. Since ancient times, weaving was practiced by women from wealthy families of the privileged Tutsi class, who had enough free time to improve their weaving skills. Since the Tutsis lost their dominant position, the tradition of intricate, graceful weaving has become a thing of the past, and wickerwork is gradually being replaced by plastic ones.

Tutsis decorated the handles of their blades and scabbards with beads to emphasize their high status. For braiding, the “brick nitting” technique was used - the beads are arranged like bricks in a masonry. This technique is typical for South Africa as a whole.

Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda

By the time of the genocide in Rwanda, the division between Hutu and Tutsi was more of a social nature; there were no longer linguistic and cultural differences between these ethnic groups. cultural differences, and physical differences have largely been erased due to interethnic marriages, although the idea is still widespread that Tutsis are taller and that their skin is lighter. Since the time of the Belgian colonial government, nationality has been recorded on a Rwandan's identity card, with the child's nationality record matching that of his father. That is, if a father was recorded as Tutsi, then all of his children were considered Tutsi, even if their mother was from Hutu.

Due to conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis, the situation in the African Great Lakes region remains tense.

Famous Tutsis

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Notes

Literature

Pirzio-Biroli, Detalmo. Cultural anthropology of tropical Africa. M.: " Eastern literature", 2001
Korochantsev V. A. The fight of tom-toms awakens a dream // About the peoples of Western and Central Africa. M.: 1987.
History of tropical Africa from ancient times to 1870 / Rep. ed. Olderoge D. A. / Transl. Matveeva G. A., Kalshchikova E. N. M.: “Science”, 1984
Society and state in tropical Africa, resp. ed. A. Gromyko, M.: “Science”, 1980
Lemarchand, Rene. Burundi: Ethnocide as Discourse and Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Nyankanzi, Edward L. Genocide: Rwanda and Burundi. Rochester, Vt.: Schenkman Books, 1997.

Excerpt characterizing Tootsie

On Pratsenskaya Mountain, in the very place where he fell with the flagpole in his hands, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky lay, bleeding, and, without knowing it, moaned a quiet, pitiful and childish groan.
By evening he stopped moaning and became completely quiet. He didn't know how long his oblivion lasted. Suddenly he felt alive again and suffering from a burning and tearing pain in his head.
"Where is it? high sky, which I did not know until now and saw today? was his first thought. “And I didn’t know this suffering either,” he thought. - Yes, I didn’t know anything until now. But where am I?
He began to listen and heard the sounds of approaching horses and the sounds of voices speaking French. He opened his eyes. Above him was again the same high sky with floating clouds rising even higher, through which a blue infinity could be seen. He did not turn his head and did not see those who, judging by the sound of hooves and voices, drove up to him and stopped.
The horsemen who arrived were Napoleon, accompanied by two adjutants. Bonaparte, driving around the battlefield, gave the last orders to strengthen the batteries firing at the Augesta Dam and examined the dead and wounded remaining on the battlefield.
- De beaux hommes! [Beauties!] - said Napoleon, looking at the killed Russian grenadier, who, with his face buried in the ground and the back of his head blackened, was lying on his stomach, throwing one already numb arm far away.
– Les munitions des pieces de position sont epuisees, sire! [There are no more battery charges, Your Majesty!] - said at that time the adjutant, who arrived from the batteries that were firing at Augest.
“Faites avancer celles de la reserve, [Have it brought from the reserves,” said Napoleon, and, having driven off a few steps, he stopped over Prince Andrei, who was lying on his back with the flagpole thrown next to him (the banner had already been taken by the French, like a trophy) .
“Voila une belle mort, [This is a beautiful death,”] said Napoleon, looking at Bolkonsky.
Prince Andrei realized that this was said about him, and that Napoleon was saying this. He heard the one who said these words called sire. But he heard these words as if he heard the buzzing of a fly. Not only was he not interested in them, but he did not even notice them, and immediately forgot them. His head was burning; he felt that he was emanating blood, and he saw above him the distant, high and eternal sky. He knew that it was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. He didn’t care at all at that moment, no matter who stood above him, no matter what they said about him; He was only glad that people were standing over him, and he only wished that these people would help him and return him to life, which seemed so beautiful to him, because he understood it so differently now. He mustered all his strength to move and make some sound. He weakly moved his leg and produced a pitying, weak, painful groan.
- A! “He’s alive,” said Napoleon. - Raise this one young man, ce jeune homme, and take it to the dressing station!
Having said this, Napoleon rode further towards Marshal Lan, who, taking off his hat, smiling and congratulating him on his victory, drove up to the emperor.
Prince Andrei did not remember anything further: he lost consciousness from the terrible pain that was caused to him by being placed on a stretcher, jolts during movement and probing the wound on dressing station. He woke up only at the end of the day, when he was united with other Russian wounded and captured officers and carried to the hospital. During this movement he felt somewhat fresher and could look around and even speak.
The first words he heard when he woke up were the words of the French escort officer, who hurriedly said:
- We must stop here: the emperor will pass by now; it will give him pleasure to see these captive gentlemen.
“There are so many prisoners these days, almost the entire Russian army, that he probably got bored with it,” said another officer.
- Well, however! This one, they say, is the commander of the entire guard of Emperor Alexander,” said the first, pointing to a wounded Russian officer in a white cavalry uniform.
Bolkonsky recognized Prince Repnin, whom he had met in St. Petersburg society. Next to him stood another, 19-year-old boy, also a wounded cavalry officer.
Bonaparte, galloping up, stopped his horse.
-Who is the eldest? - he said when he saw the prisoners.
They named the colonel, Prince Repnin.
– Are you the commander of the cavalry regiment of Emperor Alexander? - asked Napoleon.
“I commanded a squadron,” answered Repnin.
“Your regiment honestly fulfilled its duty,” said Napoleon.
“The praise of a great commander is the best reward for a soldier,” said Repnin.
“I give it to you with pleasure,” said Napoleon. -Who is this young man next to you?
Prince Repnin named Lieutenant Sukhtelen.
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:
– II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came to compete with us when he was young.]
“Youth doesn’t stop you from being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a breaking voice.
“Excellent answer,” said Napoleon. - Young man, you will go far!
Prince Andrei, who, to complete the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in full view of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon apparently remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the same name of the young man - jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was reflected in his memory for the first time.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers carrying him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, so petty seemed to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
And everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with the strict and majestic structure of thought that was caused in him by the weakening of his strength from the bleeding, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into the eyes of Napoleon, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, about the insignificance of life, the meaning of which no one could understand, and about the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one living could understand and explain.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving away, turned to one of the commanders:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; let my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin,” and he, moving his horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon they found, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who put it on again or how, but on his chest, above his uniform, suddenly there was an icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be good,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be good if everything were as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How nice it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom will I say this? Either the power is indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - the great all or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Marya? Nothing, nothing is true, except the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but most important!
The stretcher started moving. With each push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of his father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of the small, insignificant Napoleon and the high sky above all this, formed the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look at the misfortune of others, and doubts and torment began, and only the sky promised peace. By morning, all the dreams mixed up and merged into the chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Doctor Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
“C"est un sujet nerveux et bilieux," said Larrey, "il n"en rechappera pas. [This is a nervous and bilious man, he will not recover.]
Prince Andrey, among other hopelessly wounded, was handed over to the care of the residents.

At the beginning of 1806, Nikolai Rostov returned on vacation. Denisov was also going home to Voronezh, and Rostov persuaded him to go with him to Moscow and stay in their house. At the penultimate station, having met a comrade, Denisov drank three bottles of wine with him and, approaching Moscow, despite the potholes of the road, he did not wake up, lying at the bottom of the relay sleigh, near Rostov, which, as it approached Moscow, came more and more to impatience.
“Is it soon? Soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cab drivers!” thought Rostov, when they had already signed up for their holidays at the outpost and entered Moscow.
- Denisov, we’ve arrived! Sleeping! - he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond.
“Here is the corner of the intersection where Zakhar the cabman stands; Here he is Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where they bought gingerbread. Soon? Well!
- To which house? - asked the coachman.
- Yes, over there at the end, how can you not see! This is our home,” said Rostov, “after all, this is our home!” Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now.
Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat and did not answer.
“Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the footman in the irradiation room. - After all, this is our fire?
“That’s exactly how daddy’s office is lit up.”
– Haven’t gone to bed yet? A? How do you think? “Don’t forget to get me a new Hungarian at once,” Rostov added, feeling the new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the coachman. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! - Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses away from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh took to the right towards the entrance; Above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with chipped plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh as he walked and ran into the hallway. The house also stood motionless, unwelcoming, as if it did not care about who came to it. There was no one in the hallway. "My God! is everything alright? thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart and immediately starting to run further along the entryway and familiar, crooked steps. The same door handle of the castle, for the uncleanness of which the countess was angry, also opened weakly. One tallow candle was burning in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the traveling footman, the one who was so strong that he could lift the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the edges. He looked at the opened door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly transformed into an enthusiastically frightened one.
- Fathers, lights! Young Count! – he cried out, recognizing the young master. - What is this? My darling! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably to make an announcement, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and fell on the young master’s shoulder.

The conflict between the two African peoples, the Hutu and the Tutsi, has been going on for centuries. Its reasons are very simple: after gaining independence in two countries - Rwanda and Burundi - the one-of-a-kind “social agreement” that had existed between two African peoples for at least five centuries was violated.

The fact is that at the end of the 15th century, on the territory of modern Rwanda, early states Hutu farmers, and in the 16th century tall nomadic Tutsi pastoralists entered this region from the north. (In Uganda they were called Hima and Iru, respectively; in Congo, Tutsis are called Banyamulenge; Hutu practically do not live there). In Rwanda, Tutsis are lucky. Having conquered the country, they were able to create a unique economic system here called ubuhake. The Tutsi themselves did not engage in farming, this was the responsibility of the Hutus, and the Tutsi herds were also given to them for grazing. This is how a kind of symbiosis developed: the coexistence of agricultural and cattle breeding farms. At the same time, part of the cattle from the grazing herd was transferred to Hutu families in exchange for flour, agricultural products, tools, etc. Kayumov, S. Tutsi is not a Hutu comrade: Monstrous massacre in Rwanda / S. Kayumov // Africa Unveiled. - 2000. - P.17

The Tutsis, as owners of large herds of cattle, became aristocrats. These groups (Tutsi in Rwanda and Burundi, Iru in Angola) formed a kind of “noble” caste. Farmers did not have the right to own livestock; they only grazed them under certain conditions. They also did not have the right to hold administrative positions. It went on like this long time. But the conflict between the two peoples was inevitable, because, despite the fact that in both Rwanda and Burundi the Tutsis make up only 10-15% of the population, they form the basis of the military and economic elite of the region. Therefore, any free elections ensure an advantage for the Hutus, who in turn begin to “take it out” on the Tutsi." Lebedeva M. M. Interethnic conflicts at the turn of the century. Methodological aspect / M. M. Lebedeva // World economy and international relations. -2000. - No. 1. - P. 33

The result of constant civil strife and inter-ethnic tension was the largest genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda since World War II. A former colony of first Germany and, after World War I, Belgium, Rwanda gained independence in 1962. The offended Hutus immediately came to power and began to push back the Tutsis. Mass persecution of Tutsis began in the late 1980s and reached its climax in April 1994, when about a million Tutsis were killed in about a week, mostly with wooden swords and hoes. The signal for the beginning of such a genocide, unprecedented in Africa, was the death of the then President of Rwanda Habyarimana, when in April 1994 the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

However, the Tutsi managed to quickly organize an army and, by invading from Uganda, seize power in Rwanda.

The UN's response to the genocide was, to put it mildly, peculiar. The then Secretary General Boutros Ghali, under pressure from the United States, decided to withdraw the peacekeeping forces from Rwanda - they were exposed to too much danger there.

In Burundi, which gained independence in the same 1962, where the ratio of Tutsi and Hutu was approximately the same as in Rwanda, chain reaction. Here the Tutsi retained a majority in the government and army, but this did not prevent the Hutus from creating several rebel armies. The first Hutu uprising occurred in 1965, but it was brutally suppressed. In November 1966, as a result of a military coup, a republic was proclaimed and a totalitarian military regime was established in the country. A new Hutu uprising in 1970-1971, which took the form of a civil war, led to the fact that about 150 thousand Hutus were killed and at least one hundred thousand became refugees. And representatives of the Tutsi people established themselves in Burundi.

While the war was flaring up, both peoples - the Tutsi and the Hutu - quickly established cooperation with their fellow tribesmen on both sides of the border between Rwanda and Burundi, since its transparency was quite conducive to this. As a result, Burundian Hutu rebels began to provide assistance to the newly persecuted Hutu in Rwanda, and to their fellow tribesmen who were forced to flee to the Congo after Kagame came to power. A little earlier, a similar international trade union was organized by Tutsis. Meanwhile, another state became involved in the inter-tribal conflict - Congo.

In 1997 in Democratic Republic Important events took place in Congo. Local Tutsis could not tolerate the presence of such a thing in the country large quantity hated by the Hutus, and made harsh accusations against the then President Mobutu Sese Seko. As a result, Laurent-Désiré Kabila came to power in May 1997 and overthrew dictator Mobutu. In this he was helped by Western intelligence services, as well as by the Tutsis who ruled both Uganda and Rwanda. Emelyanov, Andrey Modern conflict in Africa / A. Emelyanov // Journal of the Theory of International Relations and political processes. - 2011. - No. 12. - P. 25

However, Kabila very quickly fell out with the Tutsis. On July 27, 1998, he announced that all foreign military (mostly Tutsi) and civilian officials would be expelled from the country and that the non-Congolese unit of the Congolese army would be disbanded. He accused them of intending to "restore the medieval Tutsi empire." In June 1999, Kabila turned to international Court in The Hague with demands to recognize Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi as aggressors for violating the UN Charter.

As a result, the Hutu, who fled from Rwanda, where they were going to be tried for genocide against the Tutsi in the early 90s, quickly found refuge in the Congo, and in response, Kagame sent his troops into the territory of this country. The war that began quickly reached a stalemate until Laurent Kabila was assassinated on January 16, 2001. Subsequently, Congolese counterintelligence accused the intelligence services of Uganda and Rwanda of murdering the president. There was some truth in this accusation. Then the Congolese secret services found and sentenced him to death penalty killers - 30 people. True, the name of the true culprit was not named. Laurent's son Joseph Kabila came to power in the country.

It took another five years for the war to end. In July 2002, two presidents - Kagame and Kabila - signed an agreement under which the Hutus, who participated in the destruction of 800 thousand Tutsis in 1994 and fled to the Congo, will be disarmed. In turn, Rwanda pledged to withdraw the 20,000-strong armed forces located there from Congo.

An interesting fact is that three of the four countries that participated in the conflict - Burundi, Rwanda and Congo - were controlled by Belgium until 1962. However, Belgium behaved passively in the conflict, and today many believe that it was its intelligence services that deliberately overlooked the opportunity to end the conflict.

In December 1997, a special committee of the Belgian Senate conducted a parliamentary investigation into events in Rwanda and found that the intelligence services had failed all their work in Rwanda.

Meanwhile, there is a version that passive position Belgium is explained by the fact that Brussels relied on the Hutus in the interethnic conflict. The same Senate commission concluded that although officers of the Belgian contingent reported anti-Belgian sentiments on the part of Hutu extremists, military intelligence SGR kept these facts quiet. According to some reports, representatives of a number of noble Hutu families have long-standing and valuable connections in the former metropolis, many have acquired property there. There is even a so-called “Hutu Academy” in the capital of Belgium, Brussels.

So far, all ways to reconcile Tutsis and Hutu remain unsuccessful. Nelson Mandela's method, which was tried in South Africa, failed. As an international mediator in negotiations between the government of Burundi and the rebels, former president South Africa introduced the “one person, one vote” scheme in 1993. He said that a peaceful resolution to the 7-year-old inter-ethnic conflict could only be possible if the Tutsi minority renounced their monopoly on power. He stated that "the army must consist, at least half, of another people - the Hutus, and voting must be carried out according to the principle of one person - one vote."

Today, Burundian authorities believe that reintroducing the principle of “one person, one vote” would mean continuing the war. Therefore, it is necessary to create a system of alternating Hutus and Tutsis in power, removing extremists from one or another ethnic group from an active role. Now another truce has been concluded in Burundi, but no one knows how long it will last.

The situation in Rwanda is calmer - Kagame calls himself the president of all Rwandans, regardless of their nationality. But at the same time, he brutally persecutes those Hutus who are guilty of the genocide of the Tutsis in the early 90s.

In just 100 days, up to a million indigenous people of the small African country of Rwanda were killed. Civil War turned into genocide. The world community was inactive, and it was difficult to distinguish truth from lies in media reports.

Official account of the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Every first week of April, the front pages of Western media are filled with stories that begin with announcements of the anniversary 1994 genocide in Rwanda(East Africa).

Then almost 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died at the hands of radical and extremist Hutus. Almost all stories about the “Rwandan genocide” focus on several key points that shocked people from all walks of life, different linguistic classes, economic classes and adherents of different political views:

The death toll is at least 800,000 people (according to different sources up to 1,000,000 people);
Mainly the Tutsi and Hutus ethnic peoples died;
Brutal methods of murder using machetes and other types of bladed weapons (picks, hoes, adzes...);
Meaningless for the 20th century, primitive savagery (occurring in 1994);
Hutu extremism;
There are so many victims in just 100 days;
The whole world was “eyewitnesses”, but no one did anything.

These key moments have been canonized and systematically cemented in people's minds for more than 20 years through media propaganda, radio programs, photographs, videos and films. The official narratives of events were very stingy with the truth. Everyone only knows that the Tutsis were the victims and the Hutus the oppressors.

Twenty years have passed since key events 1994, and media news consumers, incl. clergy, politicians, scientists and many others must accept responsibility for their own participation in the hysteria surrounding the issue of “Rwandan genocide”. What was the basis for the so-called “100 days of genocide” that began on April 6, 1994 and continued until July 15, 1994 in Rwanda?

Before mourning the lives and deaths in Rwanda, it is necessary to eradicate ignorance on the matter and know and understand some critical facts.

“Hutu” and “Tutsi” are not just wild tribes of indigenous Africans, they are socio-political and socio-economic categories.

Before the imperial occupation, the indigenous population of Rwanda and Uganda were Hutus, they led an agricultural lifestyle. After 1890, the Tutsi tribes, who were pastoralists, began to forcefully displace the Hutus and already made up 20% of the population of Rwanda.

First the Germans in 1916 and then the Belgians turned Rwanda into their colony, placing Tutsis in all power structures, gradually turning the Hutu masses into slaves.

The Tutsis served as colonial occupiers, using brutality and terrorism to keep Hutus as slaves in the fields. Although there were no linguistic differences between them, there were many intermarriages and the Tutsis were an ethnic minority, they were considered the elite.

The Hutus were shorter and had smaller skulls. During the time of Belgian colonization of Rwanda, the nationality of children was recorded according to the nationality of the father.

: Hutus become “oppressors” and Tutsis “victims”

By 1959, civil strife between Hutus and Tutsis began in Rwanda, the Hutu's patience ran out, they turned to guerrilla warfare, burning houses and killing Tutsis.

In the revolution of 1959-1960 in Rwanda with the support of the Belgian Catholic priests The Hutu overthrew the Tutsi monarchy. Many killed, thousands of Tutsi elite associated with former government, fled the country, mainly to Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. Those who remained fought guerrilla wars for the next 30 years.

The Belgian colonialists changed their support and, to protect their interests, placed some Hutu leaders in power. In 1962, Rwanda gained independence with a Hutu government at its head.

The Tutsi elite, believing that they were God's chosen people and born to dominate millions of Hutus, began to call themselves victims and the Hutus oppressors. Outside Rwanda, the Tutsis created the Non-Aligned Movement, they accumulated weapons and trained in terrorist methods.

From the mid-1960s and early 1970s they carried out the most flagrant terrorism in Rwanda. Attacking under the cover of darkness, Tutsis subjected French-speakers to reprisals, and Hutu representatives were blamed for punitive atrocities. Conducting partisan raids, they blew up cafes, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and bus stops. In doing so, they demonstrated a very real picture of the suffering and oppression of French-speaking Tutsis inside Rwanda.

The largest diaspora of Tutsi refugees was in Uganda, where President Museveni came to power in 1986. There, in 1987, the political party Rwandan Patriotic Front emerged (now the RPF is the ruling party in Rwanda). In 1990, a small group of RPF (about 500 people) from Uganda crossed the border and attacked Rwanda.

The militants' attack was repulsed by the superior numbers of the Rwandan army. The Belgians helped establish a truce, which lasted from October until December. In 1991, weapons were being amassed, and the war was fought in small pockets.

Rwanda was ruled by Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana from 1973 to April 1994, with French support. He was a supporter of a one-party dictatorship, but made concessions to some French-speaking Tutsis who remained in small numbers in Rwanda.

The Hutus, who gained full control of Rwanda, were main reason hostility, they wanted to completely destroy all Tutsis and even some Hutus who sympathized with and justified the Tutsis. For their nightly attacks, extremist Hutus called the Tutsi cockroaches, against whom they began genocide.

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying two presidents, including Juvenal Habyarimana, was shot down. The extremists received a reason to start a bloody massacre, in which 500 people were killed in one day. They brutally massacred Belgian peacekeepers at the airport when they were ordered to lay down their arms.

The time came to escape, and many foreigners, mainly French and Belgians, began to leave the country. Radical Hutus have become mortal enemies and the target of thousands of terrorists in Uganda.

The Tutsi, who considered themselves victims of genocide, launched an offensive again on April 7, 1994, by which time the RPF already numbered more than 15 thousand people. They burned entire villages, created crematoria, contaminated water in camps and poisoned thousands of people. The murder rate was five times higher than in German concentration camps (in which the Nazis also carried out).

The killings were brutal. To save ammunition, Tutsis and Hutus fought with machetes; they cut off the limbs of their opponents and subjected them to the most severe torture, and then they cut off the heads and stored the skulls as trophies. In total, losses on both sides over the next three months amounted to more than 800,000 people.

The nightmare ended in July 1994, after RPF forces took complete control of the entire country.

Massacre in Rwanda
Civil wars in Africa

The bloody conflict in Rwanda between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples began on April 7, 1994 and in one hundred days claimed the lives of about a million people.
On April 7, 1994, a conflict began in Rwanda that killed up to a million members of the Tutsi and Hutu tribes. At this time, the country's president, Juvenal Habyarimana, who belonged to the Hutu tribe, which made up the majority of the population, led fighting against Tutsi rebels - the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Relations between Hutus and Tutsis were very tense. On April 6, 1994, the plane of the country's president was shot down by a missile (who fired it is not completely clear), the head of state was killed. The death of the president served, primarily in army circles, as a signal for the start of massacres of Tutsis.

Chronicle of the African Holocaust - in the Kommersant photo gallery.
The massacre in Rwanda, which has been called the African Holocaust, began in April 1994. At this time, the country's president, Juvenal Habyarimana, who belonged to the Hutu tribe, which made up the majority of the population, was fighting against the Tutsi rebels - the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Relations between Hutus and Tutsis were very tense.

While Rwanda was a Belgian colony, the metropolis deliberately divided its inhabitants: representatives of the Tutsi were considered the elite and received the best jobs and different privileges. After Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the situation changed dramatically: the oppressed majority, the Hutu, rose up and began to oppress the Tutsis in every possible way. The RPF, led by Paul Kagame, fought against the Hutu government in the early 90s. On April 6, 1994, the plane of the country's president was shot down by a missile (who fired it is not completely clear), the head of state was killed. The death of the president served as a signal for the “hawks”, primarily in army circles, to begin massacres of Tutsis.

Not only ordinary residents were involved in the conflict. In a matter of days, all moderate Hutu politicians who did not belong to the presidential clan were slaughtered. “Moderate” Prime Minister Agatha Uwilingiyamana (pictured), who was five months pregnant, had her stomach ripped open by soldiers. Five ministers and the chairman of the constitutional court were also killed.

Having finished with the “traitors” from among their fellow tribesmen, the Hutu extremists began to “ final decision"national question. The massacre was by no means spontaneous. The national radio announced the gathering of police detachments. The mayors gave them pre-prepared lists, and the Tutsis were systematically slaughtered. The whole country took part in the massacre.

Thus, in a hospital in the city of Butare, pogromists forced Hutu doctors to kill their Tutsi colleagues with their own hands. In another case, on the orders of a Hutu, European nurses forced a Tutsi into a barn and set it on fire. In three weeks, more than half a million people died, in a month - 800 thousand.

The Rwandan genocide was particularly brutal. The victims were tortured for a long time before death, with their fingers, hands, feet, arms and legs cut off. Often, not wanting to endure the abuse, the victims asked to kill them, even offered them money. Sometimes the bodies of the victims were mocked after the murders.

According to various organizations, about 250 thousand women were raped during the genocide, including the murdered prime minister. Many of the surviving women contracted sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. One survivor said: “I will not go to the gachaca (community court) because it is too difficult for me to testify. Yes, I don’t even know who exactly killed my husband and who raped me... I have seven children, but only two of them go to school, because we are poor. I have AIDS and I don't know who will take care of them when I die."

But soon everything went in the opposite direction. Tutsis mobilized from neighboring countries, mostly from Uganda, took Kigali on July 4, 1994 and installed their government. Decisive role The support of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who, by the way, is also Tutsi by origin, played a role in the Tutsi victory. Now the prisons are filled with representatives of the former Hutu political elite. According to official data, about 300 people died there, according to unofficial data - 18 thousand.

When a Tutsi rebel army defeated government forces in 1996, French units, according to a special commission, covered the retreat of Hutu militants, allowing them to take refuge in neighboring Zaire (now the DRC). Paris has always rejected such accusations, previously voiced unofficially, insisting that French troops tried to protect people and acted with UN sanction. The Rwandan government accused France of complicity in the 2008 genocide.

10.

The international community demonstrated indecisiveness during the massacres, for which those responsible have repeatedly apologized to the people of Rwanda. At the beginning of the massacre, there were 2.5 thousand UN peacekeepers in the country. However, after ten Belgian soldiers died, the UN Security Council decided to withdraw troops and leave only 270 troops. Then, in mid-May, the Security Council changed its mind and decided to send 5.5 thousand peacekeepers to Rwanda, which was done, but after the end of the massacre. Bill Clinton, who headed the US administration in 1994, and Kofi Annan, who was in charge of peacekeeping operations at the UN in those years, apologized to Rwanda. Their example was followed by representatives of a number of countries, including the former metropolis - Belgium.

11.

In a well-organized massacre carried out with extreme brutality, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were killed over three months, as well as moderate Hutus who opposed the genocide (if the Hutus refused to kill the Tutsis, they died themselves). The genocide ended after Paul Kagame's troops managed to capture Kigali, after which about 2 million Hutus fled to the Congo (at that time Zaire).

12.

Over the past 20 years, no clear answer to the question of who is to blame for the tragedy has been found: the parties to the conflict continue to blame each other and the international community. Judicial system Rwanda is unable to cope with thousands of cases, many of the organizers of the massacres are successfully hiding abroad, and relatives of the victims, having not achieved justice, continue to seek revenge.