The Rwanda Government has angrily rejected calls by a French judge for President Paul Kagame to stand trial over allegations that he was personal responsible for the order that caused his predecessor President Habyarimana's plane to be shot down - which in turn was the spark for the Hutu massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus who tried to defend their Hutu family and friends see genocide remembered
The irony is of course is that the French were widely suspected of supplying arms to the Hutu militia which were at the forefront of the genocide so it is not surprising that they are not regarded as an independent authority by the predominately Tutsi government.
"The French are trying to appease their conscience for their role in the genocide and are now trying to find someone else to hold responsible for their acts here," Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande told Reuters news agency.
Last night I watch the DVD of Hotel Rwanda, which vividly reminded me of the stark realities of the massacres for those really involved
Most compelling was the origin of the contemporary conflict between Hutus and Tutsis - read a more detailed account here
Historically there are three tribal groups in Rwanda - the pygmy Twa were the original hunters tribe, who were joined in 1300s by the pastoral farmers Hutus and became largely integrated and contributed to their smaller size (see below). The cattle-trading Tutsi's arrived later and became the monarchical system of government of most of contemporary Rwanda which was subsequently both tolerated and manipulated by the German and then Belgian colonial powers.
The divide between the minority Tutsi and majority Hutus was exacerbated by the Belgian colonial power who needed and educated "African elite" to administer the territory.
Taking the purely arbitrary criteria of height (the physically fittest) and slimmest of nose (the most intelligent) and lightness of skin ( the most attractive and closet to their white masters) they created two classes of Rwandan African - the minority Tutsi to administer - the majority Hutu to labour.
The criteria were applied in such a way that adult siblings could end up in different groups what ever their previous tribal origins - but their offspring would fall into the parents category. In some administrative districts ( especially on the border of what is now Burundi) they were further delineations when a child reached adulthood at about 14 years.
Consequently the two groups by definition lived side by side, were often intermarried across several generations, and the tensions re-emerged in the post-colonial era when broad-based education became available to all and the Hutu majority achieved political success at the expense of their former leaders the Tutsi.
This is compelling and sickening divide is illustrated in the faces of the actors chosen for the film above - the man being a Hutu and his wife being a Tutsi. Compulsory identity papers at the time of the massacre were marked with a clear group marking.
For Christians there is the additional challenge that the divide crosses the faithful in this predominately Christian country - which is why so many massacres in 1994 took place in churches where frightened Tutsi gathered believing (wrongly) that the sanctity of the church building would afford them some sanctuary.
So now this troubled land faces another great political test - the international powers have to make find judgements knowing that a misjudgment could so easily trigger another round of inter-group strife.What is perhaps potentially one of the best educated, resourced, and self-sufficient countries in African with a common heritage, customs and language has subsequently has this fault line down its middle which is neither stricly tribal, ethnic political or religious.
Please pray for Rwanda, - for political and church leaders - for the UN and the international community.
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