extremism
The country’s first election since the genocide was an important test for Hutus and Tutsis. Chris McGreal reports from Rubona
Sosthene Niyitegeka is an unsung hero of the Rwandan genocide. After the killing began five years ago this month, the Hutu shopkeeper cajoled, bribed and blackmailed dozens of his neighbours into sheltering Tutsis from the killers in his village, Rubona.
When the slaughter was over Niyitegeka pulled more than 100ETutsis from the dozens of hiding places he had provided. Yet five years later he still cannot go home because of resentment that he saved so many lives.
“It is shameful that I cannot go and live in my village. It shows the mentality of genocide is still alive in some people’s heads,” he said. “But it is true that Rwanda has changed. I believe many Hutus who supported the genocide or did not care what happened to the Tutsis now believe the killing was wrong.”
But could the genocide happen again? Would the world respond differently? The example of Yugoslavia is not encouraging. When the killing started, Niyitegeka’s reputation as a Seventh Day Adventist preacher who would stand up for what is right had spread beyond his village. Tutsis from 30km away saw him as their only hope.
Among the first to arrive was a naked woman badly wounded by machetes. She lay on his doorstep for hours until he found her. Others followed, usually arriving after dark at the back of his house.
As the numbers mounted, he looked for help in sheltering the Tutsis. Then he took to bribing and bullying people into collaborating. He acquired the use of about 30 houses, moving Tutsis between them, always one step ahead of the extremist interahamwe militia. Friends were recruited to spy on the interahamwe. They drank in the same bars as the militiamen, listening as they planned their raids.
“The interahamwe were from the same village. Some were from my extended family. Everyone knew who they were. It made it easier to spy on them. But it was still hard work,” Niyitegeka said. He got a message to Tutsi rebels who were advancing towards Rubona. They launched a raid and plucked 104 Tutsis to safety. Most villagers had no idea they had been there. Niyitegeka fled with the rebels.
When the village mayor found out what the preacher had done, he ordered Niyitegeka’s home to be looted and destroyed.
“Life after the war was very tough. I tried to find a new way of life. I had nothing. I was given money by friends, but I didn’t return to Rubona. There were neighbours who wanted to kill me,” he said.
He is not alone. Tens of thousands of Tutsis are living among the men who murdered their families. Rwanda’s prisons may hold 130 000 men and women charged or convicted of genocide, but in almost every village there are murderers who escaped arrest. Sometimes they are known only to the survivors, which gives the killers an added incentive to dispose of a potential witness.
Other survivors returned to their villages after the genocide to discover their homes destroyed. Many have chosen to live among former killers in new homes built with cash from guilt-ridden foreign donors. The survivors find comfort and safety in being together.
Survivors suspect that Hutus regret the genocide only because their radical regime lost the war. And yet the extremist ideology has been eroded and, for many, discredited. There are Hutus who concede they were duped. Hysterical warnings that Tutsis planned to exterminate Hutus, or steal their land and enslave them, proved empty.
Last week Rwanda held its first elections since the genocide. The ballots for local councillors were not secret and candidates ran as individuals, not representatives of parties. But it was an important test for Hutus and Tutsis as a first step in building a system where extremism is not mainstream politics.
A truly representative government is a long way off. Although the administration denounces those who suggest it is controlled by Tutsis, the Hutus in the Cabinet hardly command the backing of the population. President Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, is a well-meaning man and not as powerless as some say. But he does not enjoy the army’s loyalty.
While Rwanda grapples with the future, foreigners are still examining its past. A report last week by the historian and human rights investigator Alison des Forges emphasised that the genocide was organised by a small group who saw their power threatened.
She laid bare the motives of foreign governments. “The Americans were interested in saving money, the Belgians were interested in saving face, and the French were interested in saving their ally, the genocidal government. All of that took priority over saving lives,” she said.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan now says there should be a full inquiry into the UN’s role during the genocide. Any investigation is progress, given that the United States, France, Belgium and Annan himself all bear responsibility for consigning hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths because they were not important enough to merit help.
Last year President Bill Clinton went to Rwanda to apologise for the US’s inaction, but buried in the apology was a lie. Clinton implied that the world did not understand the nature of the genocide until it was too late, rather than admitting that his administration blocked any UN action.
Perhaps the most overlooked foreign response to the genocide is the international tribunal for Rwanda. It has already jailed the former prime minister for life. The former army commander who plotted the extermination and several ministers are awaiting trial. If tried in Rwanda all would be facing a firing squad.