History of Rwanda: Encyclopedia II - History of Rwanda - Ethnic strife and independence

History of Rwanda - Ethnic strife and independence

Charles made many changes - in 1954 he shared out the land between the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Tutsi were unhappy with this, which led to Charles' assassination in 1959. Political instability and tribal conflict grew despite the efforts of his son, King Kigeri V. An increasingly restive Hutu population, encouraged by the Belgian military, sparked a revolt in November 1959, resulting in the overthrow of King Kigeri V, the last Tutsi monarch, who fled to Uganda. The Tutsis, enraged by their gradual loss of power, made an attempt on the life of Mouvement Democratique Republicain (MDR) leader Grégoire Kayibanda, the largest Hutu political party. Genocide ensued, with an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 Tutsis being killed by Hutus.

On 25 September 1960, through United Nations intervention, a referendum was held to establish whether Rwanda should become a republic or remain a kingdom. The result indicated an overwhelming support for a republic. After elections, the first Rwandese Republic was declared, with Grégoire Kayibanda as prime minister.

During the 1959 revolt and its aftermath, more than 160,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries. These Hutus knew that because of the small numbers of the Tutsi opposition, they had the advantage: both in terms of how the state would function if it adopted a purely democratic system, and in terms of the probable outcome of any violent conflict between the two unequally sized groups. This revolution of 1959 marked a major change in political life in Rwanda. Some 150,000 Tutsis were exiled to neighboring countries. What's more, those Tutsis that remained in Rwanda were excluded from having any political power in a state becoming more and more centralized under Hutu power. The Belgians declared the country independent in 1962, and there was no mistake to be made, the power would be completely in the hands of the Hutu. In fact, following the independence, the Hutu would come to blame anything that went wrong in the country on the Tutsi. The Tutsis were to become the national scapegoats. The previous history of Rwanda under the Tutsi monarchy and then as a colony was rejected as a long period of darkness. The new Rwanda was Hutu and Catholic and thus believed to be a complete break with the past.

Grégoire Kayibanda, leader of the PARMEHUTU Party, became Rwanda's first elected president, leading a government chosen from the membership of the directly elected unicameral National Assembly. Peaceful negotiation of international problems, social and economic elevation of the masses, and integrated development of Rwanda were the ideals of the Kayibanda regime. Relations with forty three countries, including the United States, were established in the first ten years. Despite the progress made, inefficiency and corruption began festering in government ministries in the mid-1960s. Under President Kayibanda, a system of quotas was established. Thenceforth, the Tutsis would be allowed only ten percent of school and university seats. The quotas also extended to the civil service. In these posts too, the Tutsis would only be allotted a 10% take.

At the time, employment was bad, and competition for the available seats only exacerbated ethnic tensions. The Kayibanda government also continued the government policy of labeling people with ethnic identity cards, a practice first begun by the Belgian colonial government, and using this practice to attack mixed marriages. This was not, however, meant to generally target all Tutsi, but was directed against the educated classes.

Another bout of violence followed in 1964, and for years a system of inequality was instituted. A Hutu could freely murder a Tutsi and would never be prosecuted. The other political parties UNAR and RADER were banned and their Tutsi members executed. Tutsi were described as cockroaches. Hundreds of thousands fled as refugees into neighbouring countries. While some in the west, most notably Bertrand Russell, acknowledged that this was the worst event since the Holocaust and called for something to be done, these calls were ignored.

The Rwandan government was friendly to the west and the base of CIA operations in the successful effort to oust the left leaning Patrice Lumumba of the Congo. The Catholic Church was closely intertwined with PARMEHUTU. They shared local resources and on the ground networks, and through the church the government maintained links and support with those in Belgium and Germany. The country's two newspapers, both strongly in favour of the government, were both staunchly Catholic publications.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ethnic strife and independence", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki