Rwanda genocide - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

30 years after genocide: Rwanda’s older generations fear a return of ethnic tensions, but youth feel more united

IT’S 30 years since a genocide ripped through Rwandan society, leaving up to a million Tutsi and non-extremist Hutu dead. Every year in early April, the country enters a 100-day period of commemoration during which Rwandans are asked to remember and reflect on historical divisions between the country’s main ethnic groups: Tutsi, Hutu and Twa. This is done under the banner of Ndi Umunyarwanda, loosely translated as “I am Rwandan”. This post-genocide unified ideology follows the governing Rwandan Patriotic Front’s interpretation of the country’s history. It views Tutsi, Hutu and Twa as a form of socio-economic division rather than being…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Rwanda genocide accused Félicien Kabuga is ruled unfit to stand trial: this will further erode trust in international justice

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals recently concluded a two-year court hearing on Félicien Kabuga. Kabuga is accused of crimes against humanity during the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The court ruled that he was not mentally fit for trial. Author JONATHAN BELOFF, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King's College London The court proposed that the tribunal judges find an “alternative procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible but without the possibility of a conviction”. What this “alternative procedure” will look like is still not fully known. Rwanda’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has suggested…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Soldier guilty in Rwanda’s genocide dies in Niger

NEWS

SONIA ROLLEY A former lieutenant colonel convicted of inciting genocide in Rwanda in 1994 has died in Niger after an appeal for medical assistance in Britain went unanswered, his lawyer said. Tharcisse Muvunyi was in the Rwandan army when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days. He was arrested in the United Kingdom, sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 and freed two years later after time served. "Yesterday afternoon Muvunyi was found dead in the shower by one of his housemates," Muvunyi's lawyer Abbe Jolles told Reuters. Muvunyi lived…

May

2023

By WENDELL ROELF

Fulgence Kayishema: Rwanda genocide suspect appears in South African court

NEWS

ONE of the Rwanda genocide's most wanted remaining suspects, accused of ordering the death of 2,000 people hiding in a church, denied any involvement though said he was "sorry" for the 1994 killings. On the run for two decades, Fulgence Kayishema was arrested on Wednesday under a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to a prosecutor, fellow refugees gave him up. Entering court for a first hearing with a bible and book emblazoned with "Jesus first," the 62-year-old was asked by a journalist if he had anything to say to victims. "What I can say? We are…

May

2023

By BART H. MEIJER and WENDELL ROELF

Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in South Africa, to face extradition hearing

NEWS

A Rwandan man accused of ordering the killing of some 2,000 Tutsis who were seeking refuge in a church during the 1994 genocide has been arrested in South Africa, a U.N. war crimes tribunal and South African police said. Former police officer Fulgence Kayishema had been on the run since 2001 when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide over his role in the destruction of the Nyange Catholic Church in Kibuye Prefecture. "His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes," said Serge Brammertz, prosecutor at the International Residual Mechanism for…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwandan genocide ‘kingpin’ Bagosora dies

NEWS

A former Rwandan army colonel who was accused of masterminding the slaughter of 800,000 people during the 1994 genocide has died in prison in Mali, Malian officials have announced. Theoneste Bagosora was serving a 35-year sentence after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by the then International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). His sentence had been reduced from life in prison. "It is confirmed. He was over 80 years old, he was seriously ill, with heart troubles. He was hospitalised several times and had three surgeries. He died today in a clinic," a source in Mali's prison administration who…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwanda genocide: Macron forgiveness plea resets historic ties

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FRENCH president Emmanuel Macron has just paid his first state visit to Rwanda. While many world leaders have visited the central African nation of 13 million, including past French presidents, such as President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, this trip was going to be different. JONATHAN BELOFF SOAS, University of London Sure enough president Macron would come the closest to apologising for France’s involvement during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. At the Kigali Genocide Memorial, Macron asked for forgiveness for France’s involvement in the genocide. He also expressed his desire to combat genocide ideology and denial in order to foster…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Macron seeks forgiveness over Rwanda genocide

NEWS

CLEMENT UWIRIGIYIMANA FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron said he recognised his country's role in the Rwandan genocide and hoped for forgiveness at a memorial in Kigali today, seeking to reset relations after years of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 atrocities. "Only those who went through that night can perhaps forgive, and in doing so give the gift of forgiveness," Macron said at the Gisozi genocide memorial, where more than 250,000 victims are buried. Rows of skulls lie there in a mass tomb and the names of the victims are inscribed on a black wall. "I hereby humbly…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

‘No grounds to pursue claims of French role in Rwanda genocide’

NEWS

THERE were no grounds to pursue legal claims that France bore responsibility for enabling the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the French prosecutor's department said yesterday. Rwanda last month published a report in which it said that France was aware that genocide was being prepared in Rwanda ahead of the killings. France's top prosecutor, Remy Heitz, said in a statement that investigations carried out by French authorities could not prove any complicity by French troops in the killings which were orchestrated by the Hutu-led government. Between April and July 1994, some 800,000 people were killed, most from the ethnic Tutsi minority…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwanda blames France for enabling 1994 genocide

NEWS

CLEMENT UWIRIGIYIMANA FRANCE was aware that a genocide was being prepared in Rwanda ahead of the 1994 killings and the French government bore a significant responsibility for enabling it, the Rwandan government said in a report published yesterday. Between April and July of 1994, some 800 000 people were slaughtered, mainly from the ethnic Tutsi minority but also some Hutus. "The message of the Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister today is a key step in getting our two countries closer," a French presidential advisor told reporters on Monday in response to the Rwandan report. Ever since the genocide, critics of France's…