~by Tom Hewett~
This being our first day in Rwanda, jet lag is REAL. This morning’s alarm woke me from the deepest sleep I can remember and I’ve been craving naps all day long.
To prepare for the trip, Mike Ribelin invited us to his home a few months ago for the movie “Sometimes in April” – a graphic portrayal of events of 1994 when Rwanda went to war with itself and an estimated 1mm Tutsi and moderate Hutu citizens were killed. The genocide museum presents an opportunity to understand the events that unfolded slowly over decades and then exploded into genocide. During the Belgian colonial period (1916-1962), there was an decision to classify any Rwandan owning 10 or more head of cattle as “Tutsi” on their paperwork, anyone with less than 10, their paperwork said “Hutu”. Throughout this period, Tutsi Rwandans were awarded the top jobs and economic status.
With the end of Colonial rule, the majority Hutu rose to power and persecution of the Tutsi led many to cross borders to friendlier lands as refugees. There they organized as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) ultimately starting a civil war in 1990. A peace agreement in 1993 served as an opportunity for the Hutu leaders of Rwanda to create lists of Tutsi living in Rwanda, sponsor militias, and train them for hateful acts of vengence. Communication via radio allowed messaging to quickly reach a populous that was distrustful from the decades of arbitrary ‘separation’ and the recent memories of civil war. The messaging was horrific – encouraging the Hutu citizens to remove ALL the Tutsi’s. Mob psychology took over and killing with impunity occurred for 100 days.
I’ll close in two ways: 1) it’s amazing how effectively Rwandans healed created justice out of chaos that allowed communities to award mercy or justice in ways that satisfied victims families. and 2) how frequently the events leading to this genocide have repeated in modern history (Germany, Cambodia, Yugoslavia) due to mass communication that can quickly incite large groups of citizens into mob psychology.
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