The Truth about Recovery in Rwanda
By Maddy Berg | December 31, 2013 | 12:23 PM
Rwanda is often heralded as one of Africa's major success stories, as
the nation is one of the few to have successfully emerged from an era
of major ethnic violence. It has, since its 1994 genocide, seen major
economic development, healthcare improvements, and reconciliation
efforts. But despite the progress made in the past 20 years, political
and social tensions bubble and threaten to explode below the surface.
Could another genocide be in order?
In order to recover from Rwanda's period of violence, post-genocide
president Paul Kagame eradicated ethnic difference and introduced a
homogeneous Rwanda. His ideal vision of the nation was a Rwanda
inhabited by Rwandans, with no place for ethnic distinctions such as
Hutu and Tutsi, the two groups that had been at odds during the
genocide. He oversaw legislation criminalizing any incitement to
conflict and strife based on sectarian lines, as well as the creation
of mandatory programs to promote reconciliation, such as solidarity
camps and community service workdays.
Through his post-conflict transformation focus, however, Kagame was
also forced to address the genocide itself. In doing so, he introduced
an official genocide discourse in which all Hutus were perpetrators
and all Tutsis were victims. This government-mandated discourse
ignored the nuances inherent in the killings, such as the atrocities
committed by Kagame's own Tutsi-dominated party, the Rwandan Patriotic
Front (RPF). Kagame's policies have come at a price; by the most
extreme characterization, Rwanda has become a repressive, one-party
state, justified by those events in the past and carried by a policy
of "never again."
Many scholars argue that Kagame's reconciliation and recovery policies
are not only ineffective, but will ultimately bring about the
country's downfall. One such proponent of this view is Kenneth Roth,
executive director of Human Rights Watch: "Kagame's strategy for
stability is a dangerous, long-term gable," he says. "By stymieing a
political opposition, an independent press, or a critical civil
society – in short, by not allowing democratic institutions to form –
Kagame is leaving people little to identify with but their ethnic
group."
In his attempts to foster peace and unity, Kagame simply rewrote
history. The government-mandated discourse impacted all reaches of
Rwandan life and society, from urban centers to rural villages, from
truth commissions to criminal trials. By disallowing the nuances of
the genocide, Kagame has in fact rendered his reconciliation process
ineffective.
Hutu and Tutsi still have meaning in Rwanda, and the country has not
had a fair chance to address its grievances. The specter of the
genocide continues to haunt this generation, making ethnic violence in
the near future unlikely. But with such widespread dissatisfaction
with the government's insufficient reconciliation process, as well as
continued ethnic tensions throughout the country, one cannot help but
wonder if history will repeat itself one day in Rwanda.
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