This article studies the background of and options for the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It looks at the roots of the hostilities between the Bahutu and Batutsi and how relations shifted from one of Batutsi domination to their massacre at the hands of the Bahutu.
While no ‘solution’ for the problem of Rwanda is suggested, some important points are put forward. Failure to bring those responsible to justice will result in revenge attacks and a return to cycles of violence. Also, while a broad-based government that rejects violence is required, it needs to be reinforced by bottom-up institutional reform of the state. A multi-cultural political community where all members embrace democracy is the goal, where Bahutu and Batutsi differences are transcended, not reproduced.
The main findings of this paper are:
- In the pre-colonial Rwandan state, the Batutsi established domination over the Bahutu and the pastoralist aristocracy over a subject peasantry. The colonial state built on this difference in the 1910s, classifying the Batutsi as superior, removing all Bahutu from any positions of power and concentrating it on the Batutsi. This power was routinely abused, usually justified as ‘customary’.
- The expansion of the money economy and the introduction of a Western education system provided the basis for an emerging Bahutu counter-elite. A series of elections during decolonisation led to extreme political polarisation between Batutsi and Bahutu, culminating in the ‘social revolution’ of 1959 where Batutsi chiefs were replaced with Bahutu. At the general election in 1961 the Bahutu party secured 77% of the vote and the first government of independence was a power-sharing between Batutsi and Bahutu parties.
- The 1994 genocide of the Batutsi by the Bahutu was, although planned from above, executed by practically all sections of the population. This created difficulties regarding who should be brought to justice and how. An external notion of focussing on reconciliation rather than justice is not politically tenable, as too many want to see those responsible tried.
- Both the regional and international communities played a role in the genocide
The main policy implications of this paper are:
- Rwanda needs to break away from the notion of the state as a representation of the Bahutu majority. The creation of a democracy requires the consensus of all, both winners and losers, and the creation of such a multi-cultural political community is Rwanda’s key challenge. Institutional reform is necessary, from power-sharing at the top, all the way down to building a durable consensus at the bottom.
- Every institution in Rwanda was affected by the genocide. Justice needs to be forthcoming – if it does not come from the authorities, it will be meted out by survivors. The alternative to justice is not reconciliation, it is revenge.
- Reconciliation will also require the construction of a shared history, which requires a common interpretation of the revolution of 1959.