Rwandan Civil War

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Rwandan Civil War
Date 1990 - 1994 Location Rwanda Result Rebel (Tutsi) victory
Combatants
Hutu: Interahamwe Impuzamugambi Rwandan Armed Forces	Tutsi: Rwandan Patriotic Front
Commanders
Juvénal Habyarimana Robert Kajuga Georges Rutaganda Col. Théoneste Bagosora Gen. Augustin Bizimungu Idelphonse Hategekimana	Paul Kagame
Strength
80,000 Interhamwe, about 100,000 Impuzamugambi, and 200,000 Rwandan troops.	25,000 RPF forces
Casualties
Unknown	800,000 to one million Tutsi and moderate Hutus killed.

The Rwandan Civil War was a complex conflict that began in 1990 between exiled Rwandans of Tutsi ethnicity and the Hutu-dominated government of President Juvénal Habyarimana. Following an invasion by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1990, fighting had stalemated for two years until the signing of the Arusha Accords in 1993. The assassination of presidents Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi on April 6, 1994 signaled the start of the Rwandan Genocide. At the same time as hundreds of thousands of civilians were being slaughtered, the RPF restarted their campaign, engaging in two months of intense fighting that ended as they seized control of the country.

According to some definitions, the Rwandan Civil War ends with the RPF takeover. Another interpretation includes the subsequent militarization of the refugee camps and frequent attacks of Rwandan and Ugandan armies on them that contributed to the First Congo War (1996-1997) as well as aspects of the Second Congo War (1998-2003).

Contents 1 Conflict (1990-1994) 1.1 Arusha accords 2 Genocide 3 Refugee crisis 4 Invasion 5 The African World War 6 Post-war 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Conflict (1990-1994)

A new wave of ethnic tensions were unleashed in 1990. One of the main causes was a slumping economy and food shortages. Throughout the year, the country was subject to bad weather and lessening coffee prices. These problems helped create a dangerous political climate. Further political tension was evident following a call by the French President for increased democracy in Francophone Africa. France, though not traditionally associated with Rwanda, began to show that it would put political pressure on Rwanda if it didn't make concessions to democracy. Many Rwandans heard the call, and began forming a democracy movement which protested during the summer.^{[citation needed]}

Another source of mounting tensions in 1990, were the grumblings of the Tutsi diaspora. Those Tutsis who had been exiled over thirty years were now coming together in an organized group known as the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). The Hutus in Rwanda considered these Tutsis an evil aristocracy which had rightly been exiled. They pointed out that the descendants of these Tutsis no longer had any knowledge of Rwanda, and spoke English instead of French. The exiled Tutsis, however, demanded recognition of their rights as Rwandans; including, naturally, the right to return there. These Tutsis began to pressure the Rwandan government, and eventually forced the Habyarimana government to make concessions.^{[citation needed]}

Habyarimana found himself forced to set up a national committee to examine the "Concept of Democracy" and to work on the formation of a "National Political Charter" which would help reconcile the Hutus and Tutsis. During this crucial point in negotiations the situation went bad. The RPF was simply unwilling to wait any longer for the Rwandan government to come through on its promises.^{[citation needed]}

At 2:30 pm on October 1, 1990, fifty RPF rebels crossed the border from Uganda, killing customs guards. They were followed by hundreds more rebels, dressed in the uniforms of the Ugandan national army. The rebel force, composed primarily of second-generation Tutsis, numbered over four thousand troops who were well-trained in the Ugandan army and had combat experience from the Ugandan Bush War. The RPF rebels, organized in a clandestine cell structure, had simply deserted their posts and taken their weapons with them. The RPF was under the command of Major-General Fred Rwigema, who had risen to be deputy minister of defense. However, growing xenophobia had led to his removal and rule prohibiting non-Ugandan nationals, including Rwandan refugees, from owning land. It was this "push" factor from Uganda, as much as the "pull" of their ancestral homes, that led the RPF to fight for citizenship in Rwanda. RPF demands included an end to ethnic segregation and the system of identify cards, as well as other political and economic reforms that portrayed the RPF as a democratic and tolerant organization seeking to depose a dangerous and corrupt regime.^[1]

The Tutsi diaspora miscalculated the reaction of its invasion of Rwanda. Though the Tutsi objective seemed to be to pressure the Rwandan government into making concessions which would strip Tutsis of their largely 'second class' status, the invasion was seen as an attempt to bring the Tutsi ethnic group back into power. The effect was to increase ethnic tensions to a level higher than they had ever been. Hutus rallied around the President. Habyarimana himself reacted by immediately instituting genocidal programs, which would be directed against all Tutsis and against any Hutus seen as in league with Tutsi interests. Habyarimana justified these acts by proclaiming it was the intent of the Tutsis to restore a kind of Tutsi feudal system and to thus enslave the Hutu race.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Arusha accords

Main article: Arusha accords

The war dragged on for almost two years until a cease-fire accord was signed July 12, 1992, in Arusha, Tanzania, fixing a timetable for an end to the fighting and political talks, leading to a peace accord and powersharing, and authorizing a neutral military observer group under the auspices of the Organization for African Unity. A cease-fire took effect July 31, 1992, and political talks began August 10, 1992.

[edit] Genocide

Main article: Rwandan Genocide

From 1992 through 1993, there was apparently a lot of planning that was going on. Habyarimana, the Rwandan leader, was financing Hutu militia groups with weapons provided by France. As a matter of fact, France at the time was even providing military assistance to the Hutu militias. [1]. On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying President Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land at Kigali. Both presidents were killed when the plane crashed. As though the shooting down was a signal, military and militia groups began rounding up and killing all Tutsis they could capture as well as political moderates irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds. Large numbers of opposition politicians were also murdered. At this time, France proved their role in preparing the genocide as according to Rwandan Genocide Expert Linda Mervin "France had 37 officers embedded in the Rwandan genocidal Army." [2]. Furthermore, many nations evacuated all their nationals from Kigali and closed their embassies as violence escalated.

The prime minister and her ten Belgian bodyguards were among the first victims. The killing swiftly spread from Kigali to all corners of the country; between April 6 and the beginning of July, a genocide of unprecedented swiftness officially left 937,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead at the hands of organized bands of militia: Interahamwe. Even ordinary citizens were called on by local officials to kill their neighbors. The president's MRND Party was implicated in organizing many aspects of the genocide.

For the next couple of weeks, many questionable decisions were made by the United Nations security council, which had authorized a peacekeeping force in the country called the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1992. Following the killing of ten Belgium UNAMIR troops during the assassination of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Belgium withdrew all of their forces, leaving only Ghanaian and Senegalese troops behind. The UN Security Council unanimously voted to withdraw its troops, with France and Belgium at the forefront, over the protests of the peacekeepers' top commander, Canadian Major-General Roméo Dallaire. The United States severely limited U.S. funding and involvement in the peacekeeping mission through the use of Presidential Decision Directive 25 (PDD25), which stated that U.S. peacekeeping operation had to be "in U.S. interests." Finally, on May 16, 1994, the UN conceded that "acts of genocide may have been committed." At that time, the Red Cross estimated at least 100,000 deaths at the hands of the Hutu extremists, the majority of those being minority Tutsis.

The RPF battalion stationed in Kigali under the Arusha accords came under attack immediately after the shooting down of the president's plane. The battalion fought its way out of Kigali and joined up with RPF units in the north. The RPF renewed its civil war against the Rwanda Hutu government when it received word that the genocidal massacres had begun. Its leader Paul Kagame directed RPF forces in neighboring countries such as Uganda and Tanzania to invade the country, battling the Hutu forces and Interahamwe militias who were committing the massacres. The resulting civil war raged concurrently with the genocide for two months. The UN peacekeeping operation, UNAMIR, was drawn down during the fighting but brought back up to strength after the RPF victory. UNAMIR remained in Rwanda until March 8, 1996.

[edit] Refugee crisis

Main article: Great Lakes refugee crisis

The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the genocide in July 1994, but approximately two million Hutu refugees - some who participated in the genocide and fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Thousands died in epidemics of cholera and dysentery that swept the refugee camps. The international community responded with one of the largest humanitarian relief efforts ever mounted. The U.S. was one of the largest contributors. The Hutu leadership began to militarize the camps, using them as bases to overthrow the new Kagame government.

[edit] Invasion

Main article: First Congo War

Its patience exhausted, Rwanda sponsored an invasion of Zaire in 1996. Its chosen proxy force was the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila. The AFDL and Rwandan forces, supported by Uganda, cleared the border refugee camps easily. However, many Hutu militants fled westwards, away from the border. The AFDL followed behind, marching towards Kinshasa as the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko collapsed. The AFDL overthrew the government and Kabila proclaimed himself the new president of the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May 1997.

[edit] The African World War

Main article: Second Congo War

Kabila soon turned on his Rwandan and Ugandan supporters, who reinvaded the DRC in 1998 to overthrow Kabila. Kabila formed an alliance the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, an organization formed by Hutu militants, many of who had participated in the genocide. After Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and his son Joseph became president, Hutu militants reformed into the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

[edit] Post-war

The war, the deadliest since World War II, officially ended in 2003. However, the remnants of the FDLR and possibly other Hutu militants maintain a presence in eastern Congo. While not strong enough to pose a threat to the Kagame government, they continue to destabilize the Congolese border region.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Rwanda Civil War, globalsecurity.org
• RWANDA REMEMBERS GENOCIDE VICTIMS, bbc.com