This writing only covers my visits to the Kigali Genocide Museum on Sunday, Jan 21 and the Campaign Against Genocide Museum at the Parliament building on Tuesday, Jan 22. (The rest comes later as Part 2.)
This is one person’s observations, perceptions, and feelings. This is me speaking my truth and being sensitive to my feelings.
In order to take you on this historical and emotional journey, I am going to start with initial feelings begore my trip to Rwanda. I will then weave this story thru the continuum of experiences that allowed me to feel at a depth I have not known before.
To begin, it is important for you to know that I was outraged and deeply offended and hurt by the president's insensitive remarks towards African nations. I wanted to go to the rooftops of the world and scream.
I love the countries and the people I have met on this continent. A huge piece of my heart belongs to Tanzania and always will. I spent only 3 days in Kigali, so would never claim to be an expert on anything Rwandan but I can speak to the impressions this country made on me and they are profound.
The Campaign Against Genocide (CAG) Museum provides details of General Paul Kagame and how he led his army on an offensive to defeat the genocide army, to rescue survivors, and to take back the country. Also highlighted are the stories of those who sacrificed their lives to save others plus the many rescue missions that were carried out. The Parliament building was rehabbed after the Genocide and now also houses the CAG Museum which was recently opened in Dec 2017. However, there are 2 areas where bullet-riddled outside walls were left intact.
A brief history does not do justice in portraying the complexities that led up to the genocide. But for the sake of space and time, I will provide highlights.
Germany colonized Rwanda in 1884 followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during World War I. Both the Germans and the Belgians promoted Tutsi supremacy, considering the Hutu and Tutsi different races. In the 1930’s, Belgium introduced identity cards labelling each individual. People who had 10 cows or more were called Hutus and those with less than 10 were classified as Tutsi’s. (Scholars disagree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi; some believe differences are derived from former social castes within a single people, while others believe the Hutu and Tutsi arrived in the country separately, and from different locations.) The genocide was not only an ethnic cleansing, but an economic cleansing.
Following a military coup in 1973, President Habyarimana established a one-party totalitarian dictatorship in Rwanda and ruled for the next 21 years. His Government and the media fed lies to the people instilling hate of the Tutsis. Years in the making, an intricate detailed genocide was planned by members of the core political elite, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. This plan named “Apocalypse II”, called for the mass elimination of the Tutsi and included lists of “traitors” targeted for killing.
There was a lot of unrest in the country prior to the genocide. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) had peacekeepers in Rwanda in October 1993, with a mandate to oversee the implementation of the Arusha Accords. President Habyarimana had no intention of following the accord and the extremists in his party did not want him to even sign it for fear he might weaken. On January 11, 1994, UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire sent his "Genocide Fax" to UN Headquarters informing them of the plans for the mass extermination of Tutsi plus the existence of secret weapons caches around the country.
On April 6, 1994, an airplane carrying President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down on its descent into Kigali. Within hours, the genocide began. Many cabinet members who had opposed the president’s plan were killed.
During the next 100 days, approximately 1,000,000 Tutsi (approximately 70% of their population) and politically moderate Hutu were brutally murdered. The commanders ordered troops and civilians to "begin your work" and to "spare no one", including babies. The Hutu had been trained and supplied with weapons in the preceding months. True to the Rwandan tradition of obedience to authority, they carried out the orders without question. It is estimated that during the first six weeks, up to 800,000 Rwandans may have been murdered.
Tutsi and Hutu lived side by side in their villages, and families all knew each other, making it easy for Hutu to identify and target their Tutsi neighbors. Villagers who refused to carry out orders to kill were themselves killed. The militia typically murdered victims with machetes, although some army units used rifles. The Hutu gangs searched out victims hiding in churches and school buildings, and massacred them. Over 5,000 people seeking refuge in Ntarama church were killed by grenade, machete, rifle, or burnt alive. People, including children, were forced to kill friends and family members. Neighbors, even relatives, turned on each other.
The killings were not simple in nature (if such a thing even exists) but brutal torture, rapes, mass graves. The following is from Wikipedia:
“Hutu extremists released hundreds of patients suffering from AIDS from hospitals, and formed them into "rape squads." The intent was to infect and cause a "slow, inexorable death" for their future Tutsi rape victims. It is estimated by some experts that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the genocide.”
I have been processing my feelings for days. How does this happen? I try to imagine a person's mental state when consumed with fear, chaos and the choice of survival or death. How does anyone know what they will do? I think about the dynamics of group mentality that had to contribute to the extreme brutality.
How is the human mind trained for implicit obedience to authority? I think about being raised in a home with strong religious beliefs and political ideologies. I also know that somewhere in my childhood the concepts of critical thinking entered in. I have always been a strong advocate for the teaching of critical, analytical thinking skills both in our schools and our homes. Now more than ever….
A section of the Kigali Genocide Museum displayed a sign, Graphic Content. A video presented clips of some of the injured survivors - wounds and deformities like I have never seen. Another room had cases filled with skulls, bones and artifacts (clothing, shoes, rosaries). One such artifact was a child's shoe; this picture has been burned into my memory.
If there is such a thing as emotional nausea that is how I felt. I wanted to walk away but was pulled back in. I felt “soft” and guilty. I was not brutally tortured to death. I was not raped. I was not thrown in a latrine pit and then stoned to death. I was not present in the stadium where 10,000 people were gunned down. I was not one of the 19 who survived in a mass grave of 5,000 dead bodies for days before being rescued.
How could I look away? Isn’t it, in part, people’s ignoring, not wanting to believe the truth, that led to this and all the atrocities of the world past and present. Within the international community there was a lack of intervention, and there were many missteps that might possibly have prevented or lessened the genocide.
The genocide and widespread slaughter of Rwandans ended when the Tutsi-backed and heavily armed Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by General Paul Kagame (current president) gained control of the whole country by mid-July. The Liberation Day for Rwanda would come to be marked as July 4 and is commemorated as a public holiday.
The human psyche fascinates me. A nation of people has transformed from brutally killing each other, to reconciliation and forgiveness, to working together to rebuild their country. Again, they are living side-by-side, communities made up of survivors and former soldiers. The resilience and strength of the Rwandans is beyond my comprehension. They have evolved from extreme division to unity and forgiveness. We should all aspire to be more like these people.
To say I was emotionally drained is a misnomer. It was not my emotions but the junk and clutter in my mind, the ego, even the sense of my physical body that were shed. I was reduced to raw, pure vulnerable emotion.
“I see this time as a moment that is calling each of us to heal, to claim our voices, and to awaken to the truth of Oneness so that we can help bring lasting transformation to our world and restoration to this precious Earth.” (Patricia Pearce)
We must be vigilant in our quest for social justice. Being inconvenienced occasionally in order to help another person, giving up a comfort to ensure someone else is cared for is not a lot to ask. We have a responsibility to see each other as humans first, put aside our conveniences and differences if it means we can make a difference in a person’s life or protect this planet we live on. Can we think first about what is in the highest good for the human race knowing we are all connected? We must come together. The Rwandans have set the standard. They are the model of how a nation can heal and transform.
I am not naive enough to think that everything is perfect because, as humans, we are all flawed. But to know that a nation could go thru what this country did and move to a place of harmony and peace is best summed up in this poster hanging at the entry of the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
This is one person’s observations, perceptions, and feelings. This is me speaking my truth and being sensitive to my feelings.
In order to take you on this historical and emotional journey, I am going to start with initial feelings begore my trip to Rwanda. I will then weave this story thru the continuum of experiences that allowed me to feel at a depth I have not known before.
To begin, it is important for you to know that I was outraged and deeply offended and hurt by the president's insensitive remarks towards African nations. I wanted to go to the rooftops of the world and scream.
I love the countries and the people I have met on this continent. A huge piece of my heart belongs to Tanzania and always will. I spent only 3 days in Kigali, so would never claim to be an expert on anything Rwandan but I can speak to the impressions this country made on me and they are profound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both museums we visited focus on the country’s history leading up to the genocide, the genocide itself, and those who played a significant role. The Kigali Genocide Memorial is also the final resting place for more than 259,000 victims of the Genocide. Every year, more people are brought to the memorial for a dignified burial as the remains of victims in unmarked graves continue to be uncovered around the country.The Campaign Against Genocide (CAG) Museum provides details of General Paul Kagame and how he led his army on an offensive to defeat the genocide army, to rescue survivors, and to take back the country. Also highlighted are the stories of those who sacrificed their lives to save others plus the many rescue missions that were carried out. The Parliament building was rehabbed after the Genocide and now also houses the CAG Museum which was recently opened in Dec 2017. However, there are 2 areas where bullet-riddled outside walls were left intact.
A brief history does not do justice in portraying the complexities that led up to the genocide. But for the sake of space and time, I will provide highlights.
Germany colonized Rwanda in 1884 followed by Belgium, which invaded in 1916 during World War I. Both the Germans and the Belgians promoted Tutsi supremacy, considering the Hutu and Tutsi different races. In the 1930’s, Belgium introduced identity cards labelling each individual. People who had 10 cows or more were called Hutus and those with less than 10 were classified as Tutsi’s. (Scholars disagree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi; some believe differences are derived from former social castes within a single people, while others believe the Hutu and Tutsi arrived in the country separately, and from different locations.) The genocide was not only an ethnic cleansing, but an economic cleansing.
Following a military coup in 1973, President Habyarimana established a one-party totalitarian dictatorship in Rwanda and ruled for the next 21 years. His Government and the media fed lies to the people instilling hate of the Tutsis. Years in the making, an intricate detailed genocide was planned by members of the core political elite, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. This plan named “Apocalypse II”, called for the mass elimination of the Tutsi and included lists of “traitors” targeted for killing.
There was a lot of unrest in the country prior to the genocide. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) had peacekeepers in Rwanda in October 1993, with a mandate to oversee the implementation of the Arusha Accords. President Habyarimana had no intention of following the accord and the extremists in his party did not want him to even sign it for fear he might weaken. On January 11, 1994, UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire sent his "Genocide Fax" to UN Headquarters informing them of the plans for the mass extermination of Tutsi plus the existence of secret weapons caches around the country.
On April 6, 1994, an airplane carrying President Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down on its descent into Kigali. Within hours, the genocide began. Many cabinet members who had opposed the president’s plan were killed.
During the next 100 days, approximately 1,000,000 Tutsi (approximately 70% of their population) and politically moderate Hutu were brutally murdered. The commanders ordered troops and civilians to "begin your work" and to "spare no one", including babies. The Hutu had been trained and supplied with weapons in the preceding months. True to the Rwandan tradition of obedience to authority, they carried out the orders without question. It is estimated that during the first six weeks, up to 800,000 Rwandans may have been murdered.
Tutsi and Hutu lived side by side in their villages, and families all knew each other, making it easy for Hutu to identify and target their Tutsi neighbors. Villagers who refused to carry out orders to kill were themselves killed. The militia typically murdered victims with machetes, although some army units used rifles. The Hutu gangs searched out victims hiding in churches and school buildings, and massacred them. Over 5,000 people seeking refuge in Ntarama church were killed by grenade, machete, rifle, or burnt alive. People, including children, were forced to kill friends and family members. Neighbors, even relatives, turned on each other.
The killings were not simple in nature (if such a thing even exists) but brutal torture, rapes, mass graves. The following is from Wikipedia:
“Hutu extremists released hundreds of patients suffering from AIDS from hospitals, and formed them into "rape squads." The intent was to infect and cause a "slow, inexorable death" for their future Tutsi rape victims. It is estimated by some experts that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the genocide.”
I have been processing my feelings for days. How does this happen? I try to imagine a person's mental state when consumed with fear, chaos and the choice of survival or death. How does anyone know what they will do? I think about the dynamics of group mentality that had to contribute to the extreme brutality.
How is the human mind trained for implicit obedience to authority? I think about being raised in a home with strong religious beliefs and political ideologies. I also know that somewhere in my childhood the concepts of critical thinking entered in. I have always been a strong advocate for the teaching of critical, analytical thinking skills both in our schools and our homes. Now more than ever….
A section of the Kigali Genocide Museum displayed a sign, Graphic Content. A video presented clips of some of the injured survivors - wounds and deformities like I have never seen. Another room had cases filled with skulls, bones and artifacts (clothing, shoes, rosaries). One such artifact was a child's shoe; this picture has been burned into my memory.
If there is such a thing as emotional nausea that is how I felt. I wanted to walk away but was pulled back in. I felt “soft” and guilty. I was not brutally tortured to death. I was not raped. I was not thrown in a latrine pit and then stoned to death. I was not present in the stadium where 10,000 people were gunned down. I was not one of the 19 who survived in a mass grave of 5,000 dead bodies for days before being rescued.
How could I look away? Isn’t it, in part, people’s ignoring, not wanting to believe the truth, that led to this and all the atrocities of the world past and present. Within the international community there was a lack of intervention, and there were many missteps that might possibly have prevented or lessened the genocide.
The genocide and widespread slaughter of Rwandans ended when the Tutsi-backed and heavily armed Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by General Paul Kagame (current president) gained control of the whole country by mid-July. The Liberation Day for Rwanda would come to be marked as July 4 and is commemorated as a public holiday.
To say I was emotionally drained is a misnomer. It was not my emotions but the junk and clutter in my mind, the ego, even the sense of my physical body that were shed. I was reduced to raw, pure vulnerable emotion.
“I see this time as a moment that is calling each of us to heal, to claim our voices, and to awaken to the truth of Oneness so that we can help bring lasting transformation to our world and restoration to this precious Earth.” (Patricia Pearce)
We must be vigilant in our quest for social justice. Being inconvenienced occasionally in order to help another person, giving up a comfort to ensure someone else is cared for is not a lot to ask. We have a responsibility to see each other as humans first, put aside our conveniences and differences if it means we can make a difference in a person’s life or protect this planet we live on. Can we think first about what is in the highest good for the human race knowing we are all connected? We must come together. The Rwandans have set the standard. They are the model of how a nation can heal and transform.
I am not naive enough to think that everything is perfect because, as humans, we are all flawed. But to know that a nation could go thru what this country did and move to a place of harmony and peace is best summed up in this poster hanging at the entry of the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
Thank you so much for sharing. I cannot imagine this experience. Beautifully written, dear Marian. Love you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. It took days to write and rewrite and process. Very grateful for the opportunity. Always have spiritual growth spurts when I am here.
Deleteluv u