EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM LEGACY IN RWANDA

In We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, author Philip Gourevitch writes, “Whatever Hutu and Tutsi identity may have stood for in the pre-colonial state no longer mattered; the Belgians had made “ethnicity” the defining feature of Rwandan existence”. In his book, he analyzes the background and causes of the Rwandan genocide in 1994 through interviews with survivors or descendants, and through his own trips to the country. The horrible tragedy of 1994 was a result the Hutus getting retaliation on the Tutsi tribe, but these two tribes were not always seen as two separate races. After the Belgium Empire gained control of Rwanda, it was through their regime that Hutus and Tutsis were manipulated to plot against each other, and that one was more superior to the other. By examining the pre-colonial history of Rwanda, Belgium control leading up to the country’s independence, and the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus, we can legitimately connect the legacy of European imperialism to the genocide of 1994, and see how much of an impact imperialism has had on the country. The pre-colonial era in Rwanda is important to consider when determining how much of an impact imperialism did have on the country. Before Belgium took control over Rwanda, the country was inhabited by “cave-dwelling pygmies whose descendants today are called the Twa people, a marginalized and disenfranchised group”. The Hutus and Tutsi tribes came into the picture in later centuries, while reports say that the Hutus may have settled first. While the exact relationship of the Twa, Hutu, and Tutsi tribes is somewhat unknown, it is believed that that the relationship was one of mutual benefit, and each tribe’s skills and trades were exchanged. The Hutu and Tutsi tribes did not always have a turbulent relationship with one another, and the tribes had many similarities. Gourevitch writes that the two tribes shared the same culture, language, religion, political views, and frequently intermarried and lived amongst each other in peace and friendship. One of the only differences between the two tribes was that Hutus were cultivators and Tutsis were herdsmen. The pre-colonial period of Rwanda involved tribes living under the reign of a ruler, but ultimately did not have civil wars against each other. Social stratification was however heightened and practiced more thoroughly with the election of Tutski king Mwami Kigeri Rwabugiri. It was then that military and political power had grown and the Tutsi and Hutu tribes had their place in society cut out. The feudal system was that Tutsis were aristocrats and Hutus were vassals. Tutsis usually had greater financial power than the Hutus and held political and military office positions. Eventually the two tribes grew distant from each other and adopted different cultures. While argued by many, it is thought that the physical differences between the two tribes are prevalent: Tutsis were lighter-skinned, tall and thin, while the Hutus were darker-skinned, short, and broad. The social stratification between these tribes was soon to be exercised even more when Rwanda is taken over by the German and Belgium empire. The Conference of Berlin in 1885 was a meeting of European powers to divvy up the states of Africa. Germany originally gained control of Rwanda in 1897 when the country was in deep political turmoil after the death of their king. Belgium then was granted the country as a result of World War I and more than ever, the Tutsi and Hutu tribes were seen as “opposing “ethnic” identities” and the Belgium Empire exploited this division in their colonial policy. The Belgium administration began ruling Rwanda and modifying any previous features of old Rwandan life to fit Belgium’s needs and benefits. Under Belgian colonizers, the Hutus and Tutsis were further divided against each other by scientists who determined their physical differences through a variety of tests involving the way the nose was shaped. Belgian administration determined that Tutsis could be deemed nobler because of their facial structures. Belgians were also influenced by racial ideas, and thus favored the Tutsis because they appeared more European or “white” looking. Racial discrimination peaked in 1933-34 when Belgian administration instituted “ethnic” identity cards that labeled each citizen as a Twa, Hutu, or Tutsi; while Tutsis were the minority in society (14% compared to Hutu 85%), Belgium favoritism allowed the tribe to achieve high in the ranks in society and subjugate the lower classes. The Tutsis were given more opportunity than the Hutus in both education and finances. The Belgian colonial order made sure that Tutsis knew their place above the Hutus and instructed them to discriminate and abuse the inferior tribe. Hutus were angry because they were impoverished and being abused by not only the colonizers, but also the tribe that they once were not so distant from. It was not before long that the oppressed Hutus would rebel and retaliate, and being the larger “ethnic group”, they started a social revolution in 1959. Violence ensued as the Hutus began to attack the Tutsis in well organized groups. Tutsis were left to flee to other states of Africa. The Hutus took over Tutsi rule, and declared an independent republic under the new president Gregoire Kayibanda. Gourevitch writes about a UN commission report that stated that the Rwandan social revolution had “‘brought about the racial dictatorship of one party’ and simply replaced ‘one type of oppressive regime with another’”. Rwanda became independent of Belgium in 1962, with Kayibanda as president. Gourevitch also speaks about how the Hutu tribe became “mimic men”, because they abused the Tutsi tribe in the same way that they once rebelled against. Violence had become a commonplace in Rwandan society and it ultimately stemmed by being placed in ethnic groups by the Belgian empire that deemed one tribe more superior than the other. Post-independence was an era of Hutu reign, as Hutu politicians came into power and many Tutsis were already in exile from Rwanda. However, the tension between the two tribes was certainly not over and the Tutsis were not content with the elimination of their once superior political position. In 1990, the Tutsis who were exiled into Uganda invaded Rwanda and negotiations between tribes were made. An amendment to the Rwandan constitution was made and it defined that there was to be multiparty participation in the government. Hutus were not in favor of this revision. Events that would soon follow started the genocide of 1994. The then president Habyarimana’s plane was shot down, and the Prime Minster, a Hutu, was murdered. From those two deaths started a wave of mass killings of the Tutsis led by Hutu military groups. Rwandan government organized groups that included military men, politicians, businessmen, but also church leaders and regular civilians as well. It became propaganda, and if you were a Tutsi, it was almost guaranteed you were to be dead very soon, maybe in hours. Gourevitch talked to survivor Theodore Nykilinkwaya, and he said “everyone was called to hunt the enemy”. The Rwandan government had a strict organizational plan, and if you were a Hutu, you had to follow order. If a Hutu announced he did not want to take part in the killings, he would be considered an accomplice of the opposing tribe, and would be killed. Gourevitch spoke to another man whose father was a Hutu and mother was a Tutsi and spoke about why this Hutu tribe could kill so many people in such a gruesome way. He said, “Conformity is very deep, very developed [in Rwanda]. In Rwandan history, everyone obeys authority. People revere power, and there isn’t enough education. You take a poor, ignorant population, and give them arms, and say ‘It’s yours. Kill.’ They’ll obey.” This man’s opinion, while chilling, is indicative of the violent culture that was brought into Rwandan society. The Hutus, acting as “mimic men”, killed unmercifully and abused the Tutsis, in a similar way that they had once experienced years before. This violent culture is ultimately surrounding the idea of the tribes being different races, which was enforced time and time again by the Belgian administration. The tribes were somewhat brainwashed by the Belgian empire in prior years, to believing that one tribe was to rule over another. Rwanda’s history prior to colonial rule appears to involve three tribes in a symbiotic relationship. When Belgium took over the country, the government created a system to separate the tribes by “ethnicity” and thus favored the Tutsis, which gave them the authority to abuse and subjugate the lower tribes. It would seem likely then, that the German and Belgian systems of colonialism in Rwanda during the 19th and 20th centuries had a negative and lasting impact on the rocky development of the Rwandan nation post-independence. By Belgium’s colonizing efforts, the tribes of Rwanda were taught violence based on race and ethnicity because that was the way they were ruled by their colonizers. The Tutsis ruled over the Hutus and were more privileged in society. The Hutus retaliation was a result of being called the inferior race, and knowing that they were the large majority of the country, a civil war against the Tutsis was in their favor. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 leaves many unanswered questions as to why one tribe would want to kill off another; however, when we take into consideration that the Belgium Empire was the colonizers to segregate the tribes, we can connect the imperial legacy to the horrific event.

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[ 1 ]. Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (New York, NY: Picador, 1998), 57.
[ 2 ]. Ibid., 47.
[ 3 ]. Ibid.
[ 4 ]. “Pre-Colonial & Colonial”, Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. 2010. http://www.minaffet.gov.rw/index.php?id=935
[ 5 ]. Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (New York, NY: Picador, 1998), 47.
[ 6 ]. Ibid., 48.
[ 7 ]. Ibid., 49.
[ 8 ]. Ibid., 54.
[ 9 ]. Sarah Hymowitz, Amelia Parker, “The Hutus and Tutsis”, American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2013. http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/center/rwanda/jigsaw1.pdf
[ 10 ]. Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (New York, NY: Picador, 1998), 57.
[ 11 ]. Ibid., 61
[ 12 ]. Ibid., 63
[ 13 ]. “Rwanda”, Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514402/Rwanda.
[ 14 ]. Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (New York, NY: Picador, 1998), 24.
[ 15 ]. Ibid., 23.