Post-genocide Rwanda

Rwanda-the land of a thousand hills is known for its extensive biodiversity, volcanoes, lush green jungles and the infamous golden monkeys and gorillas native to the land. The country boasts beautiful sceneries, a rich culture and an emerging prosperous economy. Despite being a small and landlocked country, Rwanda stands out among its sister countries on the African continent as a developing tourist spot. But behind this state of Rwanda becoming a beacon of hope for its sister countries, is a dark war-torn past, the kind the neighboring countries have suffered from both openly and some low key, which makes this country all the more appealing. Its strength and struggle to bring an entire country out of the darkness and develop among many others its tourism industry is commendable. Rwanda consists of many vastly spread grasslands, rivers and volcanic jungles which are known to house large biodiverse species of birds, animals, and fish. Since the colonial era, the African grasslands have perhaps witnessed the most massive amount of trophy hunting and poaching. Despite antipoaching and hunting organizations actively campaigning to prevent such activities, they continue to happen from time to time. We had witnessed the extinction of the Northern white rhino when the last male of the species died on March 2018 in Kenya. This calls out the need to ensure responsible tourism which is the concept where negative social, economic and environmental impacts on the locals is minimized, and all aspects of their wellbeing are safeguarded. How this relates to Rwanda and its tourism? Well, Rwanda is famous for its species of gorillas, golden monkeys and elephants mainly along with many other species that have been a victim of poaching and mass trophy hunting. The more hype they receive, the more demand for poached goods in the international black-market increases. It's a vicious cycle that's hard to contain but recently, with the help of various foundations, NGOs and the people of the state, a self-proclaimed revolution has brought forth progressive changes. Responsible tourism is one of them. In the sentiment of further ensuring this trend, we have compiled a few activities that a tourist can choose from as a tailor-made tour other than just the safari, gorilla trekking and interacting with the local wildlife.

The dramatic genocide that plagued Rwanda back in 1994 is tragically known. It constituted a despicable unprecedented event that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions.. Albeit in grief and bereaved, the Rwandans weathered and overcame this tragedy by creating a unique model for achieving peace, security, reconciliation, and development. Par excellence, the Rwandan experience is of great importance for the analysis and study of disasters and crises. The lessons learned from the Rwandan experience can provide all the people concerned ample opportunity to better anticipate and forecast possible scenarios and prevent such disasters from repeating themselves in the future. It is interesting to note that relevant studies focus on a descriptive approach. It is also important to stress that most applied studies seminal to policy-making approval as well as post-assessment studies on relief and development aid programs do not pay attention to the theoretical and interpretive dimension that unravel the ambiguities in which a disaster was shrouded before, during, and after it has come true. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze and explain the root causes of Rwanda’s disaster and the causes that contributed to the the current degree of recovery and development that Rwanda has achieved so far. To achieve this goal, the researcher will use the Conflicted Rules Theory (CRT) that was published in April of 2018 in the Nile Valley Journal, Cairo University. The study revealed that ethnic conflict was triggered by the Tutsi elite group before the colonial era, gaining more impetus and intensity over the years. Against a backdrop of the then unrest, modern religious and cultural norms failed to play a vital role in mitigating such rampant conflicts as they were biased in favor of the Tutsi group. Following Rwanda’s independence, the roles changed in favor of the Hutu group which gained more power, while the Tutsi group was subjected to discrimination until this disaster unfolded. A new pattern of social transformation was emerged, forming a real break from the past, due to the association of common sense with the wise authoritarian action through integrated relationships supported by the positive effect of a charismatic leadership.

Mageza-Barthel provides a context sensitive analysis of how Rwanda's women's movement used the United Nations (UN) gender norms in its efforts to insert gender-specific demands in the post-genocide period. The overall goal of these women - and their supporters - has been to further gender equality and equity in Rwanda. This study details which political processes could be engendered. It further illustrates why certain gender norms were adopted and adapted, whereas others were not. The study addresses issues of global governance in gender politics through such international frameworks as CEDAW, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as Resolution 1325. These instruments have been brought forth by a transnational women’s movement to benefit women and women’s rights across the globe. It shows how these gender norms were introduced, adapted and contested locally at a crucial time of the transformation process underway. Concerned with the interplay of domestic and international politics, it also alludes to the unique circumstances in Rwanda that have led to unprecedented levels of women’s political representation. Which tools have been the most significant in women’s mobilisation and how these relate to precedents set within international relations is of interest to a wide community of scholars and policy-makers alike.

(co-edited with Rangira Béa Gallimore) What is the role of aesthetic expression in responding to discrimination, tragedy, violence, even genocide? How does gender shape responses to both literal and structural violence, including implicit linguistic, familial, and cultural violence? How might writing or other works of art contribute to healing? Art from Trauma: Genocide and Healing beyond Rwanda explores the possibility of art as therapeutic, capable of implementation by mental health practitioners crafting mental health policy in Rwanda. This anthology of scholarly, personal, and hybrid essays was inspired by scholar and activist Chantal Kalisa (1965–2015). At the commemoration of the nineteenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, organized by the Rwandan Embassy in Washington DC, Kalisa gave a presentation, “Who Speaks for the Survivors of the Genocide against Tutsi?” Kalisa devoted her energy to giving expression to those whose voices had been distorted or silenced. The essays in this anthology address how the production and experience of visual, dramatic, cinematic, and musical arts, in addition to literary arts, contribute to healing from the trauma of mass violence, offering preliminary responses to questions like Kalisa’s and honoring her by continuing the dialogue in which she participated with such passion, sharing the work of scholars and colleagues in genocide studies, gender studies, and francophone literatures.

Whilst there are still a number of key gaps within our wider understanding of Rwandese political history, there remains in particular an urgent need for further research into the politicization of ideas about gender in modern Rwanda. A large number of Rwandan genocide research projects have taken the important topic of the politicization of gender ideas and its relationship to the violence of 1994 into consideration. By failing to adequately expand the frame of reference beyond the period of 1990-1994, many mainstream accounts neglect other extremely interesting examples of the politicization of gender ideas evident in Rwanda’s modern history.

This dissertation traces the politicization of gender and its effects within Rwanda during three key, distinctive political periods: the Second Republic (1973-1990); the lead-up to and enactment of the genocide (1990-1994); and under the RPF-led government (1994-2014). These three distinct periods have not, to my knowledge, been examined together before within the secondary literature on modern Rwandese political history. The research is accordingly divided into three chapters to delimit analysis according to this periodisation.

The principal aim of this project is, therefore, to outline a more substantive understanding of gender and its politicization by Rwandan state powerholders that looks beyond just the immediate context of the 1994 genocide, and instead situates discussion within a longer term historical and political perspective.

The study focused on exploring trends of social factors influencing adolescents' substance abuse as they relate to drug policies in member states of the East African Community i.e.
Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda. A  comprehensive literature search was conducted on Academic Search Premier (Cinahl, ERIC, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, SocIndex), International Theses & Dissertations (ProQuest), ScienceDirect, Emerald, SAePublications,
SabinetOnline, JSTOR, Google Scholar, Scopus, and RefWorks.
In terms of social factors, the study reveals that loss of parents, forced career choice, low level of education, unemployment, idleness, poverty, life stress, peer influence, curiosity, and
dysfunctional family state contribute to drug abuse among EAC adolescents. Drug abuse is linked to national insecurity, specifically among Internally Displaced People in the region. The EAC countries have ratified the World's Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961; all shares the protocol on combating drug trafficking in African Region and that of EAC of 2001. The link between drug policies and drug abuse prevalence was established in this study. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have drug control Acts which Rwanda and Burundi do not have. Kenya and Uganda have  independent control commissions to control drug abuse, which Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania are lacking.

This essay discusses '100 Days in the Land of the Thousand Hills', a graphic novel portraying the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In many respects, 100 Days is a unique publication: it was produced and published by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; its target audience is children and youth; and it attempts not only to portray the events of the genocide but also to promote genocide prevention. In this essay, I explore how effectively 100 Days has met these ambitious goals. I argue that while the publication has prudently presented many complex aspects of the genocide, its presentation of the role of the United Nations and international community during the genocide is highly selective. The manner in which the events of the genocide are presented creates great empathy for the victims, but learning opportunities to promote genocide prevention are sometimes missed. While the graphic novel adopts a journalistic style, it is perhaps best characterised as a cultural representation of the genocide.

This article traces the historical development of the term “genocide” and discusses how it evolved from a post-World War II concept into a key component of international criminal law. Dr. O’Brien outlines some of the legal challenges that attend several of the key terms in the generally accepted definition of genocide: ‘destroy’, ‘in part’, ‘groups’, ‘intent’, and so on. She then concludes with an important and politically nuanced point essential to understanding the politics and afterlife of the Rwanda genocide – the weight of the “g” word.

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and its aftermath led to large-scale individual traumatization, disruption of family structures, shifts in gender roles, and tensions in communities, which are all ongoing. Previous research around the world has demonstrated the transgenerational effects of mass violence on individuals, families and communities. In Rwanda, in light of recurrent episodes of violence in the past, attention to the potential 'cycle of violence' is warranted. The assumption that violence is passed from generation to generation was first formulated in research on domestic violence and child abuse, but is receiving increasing attention in conflict-affected societies. However, the mechanisms behind intergenerational transmission are still poorly understood. Based on qualitative research with 41 mothers and their adolescent children, we investigated how legacies of the 1994 genocide and its aftermath are transmitted to the next generation through processes in the family environment in Rwanda. Our findings reveal direct and indirect pathways of transmission. We also argue that intergenerational effects might best be described as heterotypic: genocide and its aftermath lead to multiple challenges in the children's lives, but do not necessarily translate into new physical violence. Further research is needed on how children actively engage with conflict legacies of the past.

This chapter undertakes a process-oriented study of genocide to consider how the gendered nature of genocide continues to influence security policies in postconflict Rwanda, and informs Rwandan women’s motives for joining state security organs. I argue that while the RDF’s gender program supports once shared national policy goals to mainstream gender equality across politics, economy, and culture, the program has been designed to help improve the reputation of the national armed forces, and in doing so, sets out to strengthen the legitimacy of the authoritarian state. This is achieved in three ways: by supporting the implementation of internal security policy goals; by attempting to improve civil-military relations; and, by transforming societal perceptions of military women.

African states have been seen to struggle with the implementation of democracy, both before and after they adopted multiparty electoral systems, from the 1990s onwards. Many states continued to be dominated by a single party and opposition parties have found it difficult to establish themselves as regime parties dominate the political competition. The neo-patrimonial literature, as the most widely used framework for analysing African politics, explains this in terms of a misuse of state power and corrupt electoral practises favouring the ruling parties. This thesis argues that African politics cannot be adequately understood using a neo-patrimonial framework, because this framework discounts the possibility of African political thought and the development of a political organisation in Africa as a basis for democracy and public good politics. In the case of Tanzania it is argued that the continued electoral success of CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) cannot be explained either by the misuse of state power or corrupt election practices, and that the explanation lies in the capacity of CCM to use a legitimacy narrative to build a political organisation and the continued mobilisation of the party and the electorate on the basis of ‘public good politics’ founded on the ideas of the independence movement. It analyses the way in which the regime built legitimacy and popular support between 1961 and 1985 and how the regime party used this legacy of legitimacy to control the transition to a multi party system. It demonstrates that the continued high levels of electoral support for the regime party CCM rested on a successful legitimacy narrative developed during the multi-party era and linked to the ideology of the independence movement rather than the factors indicated by the Neo-patrimonial literature. Contrary to the argument of neo-patrimonial approaches, which posits a pessimistic view of the capacity of African states to evolve into democracies, this thesis argues that the case of Tanzania indicates that a form of African public good politics and the building of a political community can be a foundation for the development of democratic government.

Theatre in Rwanda is a tool for nation building in the aftermath of genocide. The narrative of a re-imagined identity for the country is performed on a national level through government sanctioned theatre companies and what I refer to as the rewriting history project, and on a community level through grassroots associations. I will explore the performance of nation
building in three arenas including legendary theatre, the rewriting history project, and grassroots associations.In its most altruistic form, theatre provides a space for perpetrators and survivors to weave new relationships. For example, in an interview with members of the grassroots association
Umuhanzi w’u Rwanda (The Poetry of Rwanda), a survivor of the genocide held a baby who suckled her breast. Indicating the man sitting next to her, she said, “When I do theatre, I forget that this brother here killed my five children” (2005). While grassroots theatre may bring together perpetrators and survivors, it can also be used to perform nationalism. Grassroots
theatre embodies nationalist slogans of reconciliation through text, song, and dance proclaiming that Rwanda is one culture with the same language.Although the use of theatre contributes toindividual cases of reconciliation, it can also create dilemmas that impede large-scale or general reconciliation. There are two dynamics at play: reconciliation for its own sake, and a nationalist reconciliation promoting the government’s concept of unity—with the latter not necessarily wholly altruistic.

The dominant narrative of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is one that labels Hutu as the 'other.' This stigma has had an impact both on the space for dialogue and on the process of meaning making for diaspora communities. This article draws on an in-depth study of Hutu diaspora communities in Belgium that involved 46 individual interviews and a survey of 149 respondents. The study explored the impact of the Rwandan government's​ one-sided, dominant narrative of the genocide on efforts to deal with this legacy by different generations. This insight into marginalized voices is critical in framing opportunities for more inclusive processes of reconstructing memory and identity.

In this chapter, I review the dual role of the media in Rwanda prior to 1994, looking into the key part that certain sectors of the press played in promoting moderate, pro-democratic, political reform in the country and also the contribution that a small number of extremist publications and radio broadcasts made in setting the stage for the genocide. Then I consider the trials of some media members who were prosecuted for their involvement in the genocide, as well as the debate among analysts over how much direct responsibility for the genocide can be attributed to the media. Although the media clearly helped to make genocide possible and radio broadcasts in particular actively sought to fan the flames of violence, evidence suggests that the direct impact of the hate media during the genocide was more limited than the usual narratives of the genocide suggest, including that put forth in both Rwandan and international courts.
Next I explore the media landscape in postgenocide Rwanda. In the aftermath of the genocide, the media sector has been quite weak, largely because of tight government restrictions on freedoms of speech and the press. Despite this impairment, the international community and the Rwandan government have both sought to use the media to promote reconciliation—through media-based reconciliation programs, such as radio soap operas designed to promote conflict resolution, and through the media-based promotion of other reconciliation programs, like gacaca trials. Research I conducted in 2004–5 to evaluate a particular media program demonstrated that the media could indeed have a major effect on popular attitudes toward transitional justice processes. Yet the restrictions on press freedom and the government’s extensive attempts to use radio and print press for its own political purposes have undermined the media’s credibility and limited its ability to promote reconciliation. Like people everywhere, Rwandans are not merely passive recipients of media messages but are discerning consumers, and the obvious bias and politicization of Rwanda’s postgenocide media have made the public skeptical of any ideas that the media hopes to promote, including ideas about justice and reconciliation.

« Il n’y a que le foot qui pouvait nous réunir. Pas pour oublier, ça non, mais pour nous rapprocher ! » L’oreille toujours collée à ses trois téléphones, Jean-Pierre savoure le succès d’un événement qu’il organise depuis plusieurs mois. Malgré les torrents de pluie qui se déversent sur le stade de Berchem Saint Agathe, une petite commune de la banlieue de Bruxelles, les Rwandais sont venus en nombre. Après tout, l’affiche est alléchante : les anciennes gloires du Rayon Sports et de Kiyovu Sport, les deux grands rivaux historiques du championnat rwandais, sont réunies pour la première fois sur un terrain afin de rejouer le derby le plus enflammé du Rwanda. S’il avait pu, Jean-Pierre, le président du fan club du Rayon Sports en Europe, aurait été le premier à rechausser les crampons pour battre Kiyovu. Vingt ans plus tôt, pendant le génocide, une rafale de mitraillette a brisé brutalement sa carrière de footballeur et ses rêves de gloire. Pour montrer l’exemple, il n’a pas hésité à convier aujourd’hui ceux qui l’ont condamné à l’époque à la chaise roulante. Jean-Pierre les connaît depuis son enfance, au Rwanda, où ils ont évolué ensemble au sein des Juniors de Rayon Sports. Aujourd’hui, ils se croisent souvent dans les rues de Matongé, le quartier africain de Bruxelles, mais veillent à ne pas fréquenter les mêmes cabarets. S’ils sont toujours voisins, les occasions de se retrouver sont rares. La communauté rwandaise de Belgique a beau être la plus importante de la diaspora, les tensions sont encore vives entre les rescapés du génocide et les extrémistes, militaires ou notables de l’ancien régime qui ont trouvé refuge sur le sol de l’ancienne puissance coloniale.

Depuis qu'il a pris le pouvoir, en mettant fin au génocide, le Front patriotique rwandais a lancé le projet de construire une nouvelle nation dé-ethnicisée et moderne, qui, néanmoins, reste ancrée dans ses racines culturelles. Cet article examine la revitalisation actuelle des danses dites traditionnelles à Kigali, en explicitant la manière dont ces pratiques contribuent à donner corps au dessein de la nouvelle identité rwandaise et en détaillant les transformations qu'elles connaissent sous l'influence de l'idéologie étatique post-génocidaire. Pour ce faire, il s'appuie sur une étude de cas portant sur la troupe Inganzo Ngari, qui, de nos jours, fait figure de modèle pour les autres troupes qui foisonnent dans la capitale, et est très régulièrement invitée par des instances gouvernementales.

Bogos Nubaryan 1918-1922 yılları arasında Ermeni tezlerini tanıtmak için Ermeni Patrikliğince görevli olarak Avrupa'ya gönderilmiştir. Bu yıllar arasında Ermenilerin Anadolu'da yaptıklarını ve Avrupa'da yapılan karalama propagandalarını düzenli olarak Ermeni Patriğine gönderdiği raporlar ve yaşadığı hayal kırıklıkları, büyük Ermenistan hayalinin sona ermesini anlattığı belgelere dayalı değerli bir eser

In the 1980s and 1990s, a group of Marxist leaning rebels waged armed struggle and captured power in Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and went on to win warm accolades in the West as prominent darlings of the capitalist donor community. Over the last two decades, scholars and policy-makers have been divided over the performance of this new generation of African leaders—generally praised for bringing about stability and economic growth, yet blamed for their political repression, predatory behavior and involvement in proxy wars of plunder. This Chapter focuses on Museveni’s Uganda and Kagame’s Rwanda to empirically document and critically explain the real politics behind these paradoxical qualities. Findings underscore this new brand of leaders’ remarkable ability to conduct militaro-political business as in a market. On their roads to power, they used the basic market laws of supply and demand to build complex networks of support within the Marxist- Capitalist ideological spectrum. Once in power, they hijacked the donor-driven enterprise of “democratic peace” to boost their hold on power. The result is a growing gap between the promises of democratic change and economic prosperity and the reality of state capture and mercantile militarism.

En vingt ans, le Rwanda est passé d'une relative invisibilité à une véritable surreprésentation médiatique. Depuis 1994, la mémoire du génocide perpétré contre les Tutsi du Rwanda se partage en effet sous de multiples formes intellectuelles et artistiques. Elles contribuent à recomposer le regard porté sur ce petit pays de l'Afrique des Grands Lacs et à restructurer les liens symboliques d'un imaginaire déstructuré par la tragédie. Les tiers, qui s'engagent à transmettre l'océan de souffrances des survivants, jouent un rôle primordial dans cette quête de sens. Leur importance n'apparaît pas moins paradoxal, tant les cent jours du génocide ont cristallisé leur impuissance et leur démission. Dès lors se pose la question de leur légitimité et des enjeux de leur regard dans le partage de cette mémoire. Parmi ce flot d'images, plus d'une centaine de documentaires ont été produits. Les premiers films, réalisés dès 1995, s'inscrivaient dans une posture morale de dénonciation, d'abord de l'attitude passive des grandes puissances occidentales, puis de la faillite collective des médias, qui n'ont pas su informer, alerter et mobiliser l'opinion publique internationale sur la réalité des massacres qui ont plongé le Rwanda dans l'abîme. Cette mauvaise conscience occidentale explique en partie les raisons qui exhortent les cinéastes à faire oeuvre de réparation, en tentant de remédier à l'oubli et à l'invisibilité des victimes. Si leurs approches varient, tous sont confrontés à des choix esthétiques et éthiques, non seulement dans leur rapport au témoin et au témoignage, mais aussi vis à vis du spectateur et de la représentation de l'événement. Quel regard porter sur l'autre ? Comment donner à voir ? Est-il possible de parler au nom des survivants ? Quelles sont les potentialités et les limites du dispositif documentaire ? Retour sur les enjeux qui se tissent au sein de cet espace filmique où se crée le lien du tiers.

Among the abundance of artistic works which since twenty years construct the memory of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda, numerous filmmakers have taken up the challenge of fiction. More than a dozen feature-length films have seen the day, concurrently with the time of reconstruction and justice, most of them made by Western filmmakers. The view they put forth with their creative approach and lift onto the screen raises several historical, ethical and aesthetic issues, as much in regard to a truth that is still being written as to the memory of the victims. How can one get closer to the event when transgressing, by essence, what is real? How can one reveal the horror of the hundred days without lapsing into sensationalism, voyeurism or visual trauma? What narrative strategies may be used to narrate the inexpressible story of the victims? How can one suggest, through fiction, the very nature of the crime, namely the planned and systematic extermination of more the 800 000 Tutsi in Rwanda? This article shows how, in the name of realism and “plausibility”, the films which deal head on with the genocide portray both the potential and the limits of representation. It also emphasizes issues relating to cinematic space in which is developed, for the outsider in the same way as for the survivor, the language of a memory that remains to be rewritten.

Résumé :
Les massacres génocidaires qui se sont déroulés au Rwanda en 1994 ont suscité après coup une abondante production d’ouvrages imprimés (analyses, témoignages, mais aussi fictions, poèmes, bande dessinée, albums de photographie) ou audio-visuels (documentaires, reportages), mais aussi d’œuvres et d’événements artistiques (théâtre, expositions). Après avoir rappelé le contexte historique des évènements, on s’interroge sur les contraintes qui président à l’énonciation mémorielle, celle du rescapé et du témoin, ou celle de l’écrivain et de l’artiste. Divers phénomènes de concurrence sont perceptibles entre les producteurs, mais la contradiction travaille aussi l’énonciation (qui parle ?), le support (verbal / iconique) et le mode (moral / monumental).  Tutsis’ genocide in Rwanda made in 94 about one million deads. It didn’t inspire any real act to prevent it, but it later aroused interest : a wealth of books and papers (analysis, stories and accounts, but also novels, poetry, comics, photograph albums), broadcasting works and documentaries, but artitistic works and events too, as theatre and exhibitions. The killings’ socio-historical context is first reminded. Various constraints weigh heavily on the remembering utterances of the survivor and the witness, or of the writer and the artist. Some forms of competition appear between producers (NGA, authors, publishers, areas), but it is also to be asked who really has the right to speak and to be an author, which are the medium’s effects (as language or image) and what the price to be paid for a beautiful memorial’s building, in place of a more ethical purpose.

Christian churches were deeply implicated in the 1994 genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda because of their close relationship with the state and historic engagement in ethnic politics. In the aftermath of the genocide, the religious landscape has changed rapidly, as many people have left their churches and many new churches, particularly Pentecostal, have emerged. Churches have been involved in numerous programs to promote reconciliation, but at the same time, they have once again developed a close relationship with the state that has hindered their ability to speak independently.

Import substitution has been marginalised from development policy discourse since the 1970s. This paper examines the Rwandan government’s recent attempt at reintroducing industrial policy with some attention devoted to ‘recapturing the domestic market’ – a term used to replace the ignominy associated with ‘import substitution.’ The paper examines two cases – cement and textiles – where such
policies have been recently established in Rwanda.
The paper argues that any attempt at recapturing the domestic market will require a strategy close to the policies of East Asian developmental states in terms of ‘picking winners.’ However, strategically maintaining reciprocity through state-business relationships is only part of the challenge. Though foreign investors have been leant on initially, actions must be put in place to develop local capitalist partners who may step in if foreign investors leave once incentives are reduced. This is further
complicated by the government’s failure to develop partnerships with existing local capitalist partners. The Rwandan government is also constrained by a small market size. Any attempt at import substitution must occur in the context of accessing larger markets through the East African Community (EAC). This paper demonstrates that
such regional trade agreements constitute a much greater constraint on the use of industrial policy than multilateral trade agreements or bilateral trade agreements with the United States of America or European countries (although pressure from donors may also contribute to reducing policy space). Such challenges showcase how the
Rwandan government has sought to build reciprocal control mechanisms while attempting to access large markets through regional integration. Though the Rwandan government has made some progress recently, state intervention is required to reintroduce import substitution in the 21st century and must be balanced by the need to meet domestic and international political constraints.

Rwanda’s present politics are shaped by representations of the past as much as (if not more than) projections of the future. In April 2012, the theme selected for the commemoration of Genocide against the Tutsi perpetrated in 1994 proclaimed explicitly: ‘Twigire ku mateka twubaka ejo hazaza’ or ‘Let us learn from our history to build a bright future’. But what history? one is tempted to ask. This Master thesis explores the politics of history enunciation in contemporary Rwanda through the prism of formal education. Building on a three-month long field research realized in three different Secondary schools of Rwanda during which sixty-seven students were individually interviewed, this work outlines how incomplete and selective the history taught in school is nowadays in Rwanda and how history lessons fail to trigger an inclusive participation and a real interest among the youngsters. The management of occasionally conflicting narratives over the past is never taking place in public, something which hampers the prospect of conflict transformation and reconciliation in a society permeated with a history of violent conflicts and a series of transgenerationally-transmitted diverging interpretations over the latter. In a conclusive appendix, several pedagogical options for future history education in Rwanda are listed which could the youth to elaborate one common historical discourse over the past. To this end, the strictly Government-controlled sphere of public deliberation shall be liberalized; a profound change of political paradigm in Rwanda must ensure that a real pluralism of historicities, historical (com)memorations and storytelling has the right to be.

This research fills a gap in the existing literature on the First Congo War by adding a micro-perspective to the debate on the 1994-1996 refugee crisis in Eastern-Zaïre and the subsequent AFDL campaign against the Rwandan Hutu refugees. It tries to come to the nature of this history of refugees and conflict by both distilling concrete structures and patterns within the acts of the different local actors involved and by analysing the mentalities that lay behind these acts. It argues that the refugee camps in Eastern-Zaïre between July 1994 and November 1996 were imported cities from Rwanda, wherein the refugees lived under the same military and governmental authority as in Rwanda but wherein they were also trapped in the same thoughts. Furthermore, this study argues that the AFDL attacks against refugees followed a clear pattern and structure, although it also distinguishes a process of radicalisation within these attacks. With regards to the mentality of the AFDL leadership and its regular soldiers, this study concludes that the AFDL gave no value to the life of the refugees and framed all killings into the military narrative of the fight against the dreaded génocidaires.

Over a million people were killed in 1994 during Rwanda's genocide and war, with many women compelled to 'offer' sex, raped, held in collective or individual sexual slavery and mutilated. An estimated 250 000 to 500 000 women still alive were raped between 1990 and 1994, 30 000 pregnancies resulted from rape and the 67% of survivors considered HIV positive continue to suffer the consequences of wartime sexual violence (Wells, 2004-2005). Countless women now live with serious illnesses, pain or injury, unable to provide for families. The level of trauma is severe, compounded by shame, exclusion, stigma, survivor's guilt and contested feelings towards the children of bad memories born of rape and as many perpetrators were neighbours who often live nearby. Despite commitment to the rights of women and recognition of the prevalence of rape during the genocide, the Rwandese government has been slow to offer legal redress, medical treatment and counselling and has not prioritized prosecution and punishment. Conviction rates are low. Reparations are not forthcoming. Neither the national courts nor the gacaca, have investigated and prosecuted these cases in a fitting manner. Although attention has been paid to sexual violence, defects in the drafting of statutory law and its implementation discourage reporting, investigation and prosecution. Recent procedural revisions dismiss very real fears around fair trial, public ridicule, and increased trauma. Difficulties in addressing the legacies and widespread nature of sexual violence are being overlooked as the government prioritizes the construction of a sense of nationhood and continuation of its own power over the needs of survivors. The result is that many women, infected with HIV or with other serious illnesses, are slowly dying without reparation, healthcare, counselling or seeing perpetrators brought to justice.

The Rwandese conflict (1990-2012) started by an ethnic latent conflict that generated deep feeling of grievance in the Rwandese population from both ethnic groups – Tutsis and Hutus. From 1962 until 1994, the Rwandese government was pre-dominantly Hutu. During that period, Tutsi were discriminated, attacked and victims by the new political regime. This has led thousands of them to become refugees in the neighbouring countries. Therefore, oneside violence was occurring until 1988. At that time, Tutsi refugees in Uganda formed the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), key actor of the conflict. On October 1 1990, the conflict broke out by the deterrence attack against the Rwandan government from the RPF coming from Uganda. Weeks later, both parties started efforts to end the conflict peacefully. Due to
the ethnic characteristic of the pre-conflict, negotiations were in vain: ceasefire agreements were broken nearly immediately as both parties distrusted each other’s. On this point Barbara
Walter states «civil war negotiations rarely end in successful peace settlements because credible guarantees on the terms of the settlement are almost impossible to arrange by the combatants themselves »(Walter, 1997: 335). Also, the two parties had for leaders “extremists” Hutu or Tutsi that tend to go back to earlier struggles and confrontations as well as insist on their positions. Mediation was then engaged to end the conflict notably because of the important repercussions on the Great Lakes region.The conflict has had two phases: the first one being the civil war in Rwandese borders (1990-1994) and the second one that occurred in DRC (1994-2012). This paper will only look at the efforts to prevent violence in Rwanda (1990-1994) and the efforts for peace building (1994-2012).

L’objectif de cet article est de proposer une analyse des stratégies diplomatiques du pouvoir rwandais et des différents aspects de la politique étrangère rwandaise. Il est donc d’appréhender les motivations qui ont à la fois jalonné le processus de reconstruction du pays et déterminé les positions de Kigali sur le plan externe.
Nous allons étudier les principales orientations stratégiques du Rwanda au regard d’un contexte régional marqué par le maintien au pouvoir des chefs d’Etats d’Afrique centrale, notamment par la réélection de Kagamé, couplée à son élection à la présidence de l’Union Africaine en janvier2018.
Depuis l’avènement du FPR au pouvoir en 1994, le pays affiche une politique étrangère active. Il a franchi une nouvelle étape dans le système des relations internationales. Cette période a connu un renouveau et un tournant décisif de sa politique extérieure, où il met l’accent sur le développement économique en encourageant l’investissement étranger, mais essaie également d’établir des alliances et de nouveaux liens avec des pays émergents pour affirmer son leadership régional.
L’intérêt que Kagame porte à la sous-région découle du fait qu’il veut y être un acteur central et y jouer un rôle hégémonique. Il a ainsi réussi à affirmer son leadership régional en présidant l’Union africaine. Il conviendra de se demander si le régime du FPR cherche à imposer sa vision de la paix et de la sécurité pour stabiliser la région, ou s’il se sert du prestige entourant le prestige de l’Union Africaine (UA) pour promouvoir l'image d'un pays fort et internationalement actif.
L’article met en lumière la nature des relations qu’entretient le pouvoir rwandais sur la scène internationale et étudie les ambitions de Paul Kagame à l’échelle régionale et continentale. Il se veut donc une contribution à la compréhension des stratégies diplomatiques du Rwanda dans la perspective d’une stabilisation de la région des Grands Lacs. En particulier, quelle est l’incidence d’une présidence rwandaise de l’UA sur cette région ?

Many countries are facing repeated cycles of violence (World Bank, 2011; Walter, 2010), with more than 68 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. In a quest for sustainable peace, a growing interest can be observed regarding how civil society and business can bring about peace. Cooperatives blend association and enterprise with significant potential for peace (MacPherson and Paz 2015; Joy and MacPherson 2007). As bottom-up initiatives, they provide solutions focused at the local level offering learning and practicing nonviolent interaction (Wanyama 2014; Sentama 2009; Havers 2007) and providing decent jobs and livelihoods (Date-Bah ed. 2003). The key word being supply, they are mainly seen as post-conflict community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide for basic human needs, gather labour, demobilize soldiers, and restart agriculture and services. Field observations, however, lend to a broader idea of how cooperatives contribute to positive peacebuilding by increasing trust and agency, raising empowerment, equality and empathy, while managing resources through a renewed notion of the commons (Ostrom 1990), even though challenges come as development takes place. Food security linked to SDG 2 can and need to be enhanced on this basis. The sample of visited cooperatives calls for further research. Paper based on 2018 field research.
Links: https://easychair.org/publications/preprint/W3mT

Twenty years after the end of the Rwandan genocide, knowledge production on the small country of a thousand hills remains a clamorous battle ground of post- and decolonial power and influence. This essay critically engages with the knowledge production on Rwanda in the West by conceptualizing it as a Wilsonian intervention in the post-colony: paternalistically well-intended at the service of the peace, democracy and free trade liberal triad, while at the same time silencing, self-contradictory and potentially counterproductive. The Wilsonian interventionist form of knowledge production is coated in a language of critical engagement and care. At the same time it is and allows for a continuous external engagement in view of this Wilsonian triad—a highly particularist view on the good life, cast in universal terms. As a former journalist and a researcher from the Belgian Rwandan diaspora and building on a decolonial research strategy, in this essay I reflect on potentially different avenues to produce and consume knowledge on the country. I do this by discussing the challenges and creative opportunities of a recently started research project on Agaciro (self-worth): a philosophy and public policy in post-genocide Rwanda rooted in its precolonial past, centred on the ideals of self-determination, dignity and self-reliance. Rather than inscribing itself firmly into the canon that aims at informing on Rwanda, this research project seeks to contribute to a different mode of imagining, studying and enacting sovereignty in today’s academic and political world, both permeated by the hegemonic principle of the responsibility to protect (R2P).

تمثل كارثة الإبادة الجماعية التي جرت في رواندا عام 1994 حدثا مأساوياً ليس له نظير. خلفت مئات الآلآف من القتلى وشردت الملايين، وقد تمكن الشعب الرواندي من تجاوز هذه المأساة، وتحقيق نموذج فريد في تحقيق السلام والأمن والتصالح والتنمية. لذلك فإن التجربة الرواندية تكتسب أهمية بالغة في تحليل ودراسة الكوارث والأزمات، ما يتيح لكافة المعنيين فرصة التنبؤ والإستباق للحيلولة دون وقوع مثل هذه الكوارث مستقبلا. 
ومن الملفت أن الدراسات وثيقة الصلة، تركز على البعد الوصفي، والدراسات التطبيقية المفيدة في إقرار السياسات، أو الدراسات التقويمية البَعْدِية لبرامج المساعدات الاغاثية والتنموية، ولا تهتم غالب هذه الدراسات بالبعد النظري والتفسيري الذي يكشف غموض ما قبل وأثناء وبعد الكارثة. وعليه فإن هذه الدراسة تسعى إلى تحليل وتفسير أسباب وقوع الكارثة، وأسباب التعافي والتنمية التي تشهدها رواندا الآن. مستخدمين نظرية القواعد المتصارعة التي نشرت في ابريل 2018، بمجلة وادي النيل- جامعة القاهرة.

وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى أن الصراع العرقي نشأ على يد النخبة التوتسية قبل الحقبة الاستعمارية وزادت حدته خلالها، ولم تحقق القواعد الدينية والثقافية الحديثة دورا في تخفيف الصراعات بسبب تحيزها لجماعة التوتسي. وتبدلت الأدوار بعد الاستقلال بحيازة الهوتو للسلطة، فتعرض التوتسي للتمييز إلى أن وقعت الكارثة، فأعقبها نمط جديد للتحول الاجتماعي، يمثل قطيعة حقيقية مع الماضي، بسبب ارتباط الحس المشترك مع االفعل السلطوي التقدمي بعلاقات تكامل معززة  بتأثير ايجابي للقيادة الكاريزمية.

الكلمات المفتاحية: الإبادة الجماعية، التمييز العنصري، محاكم الجاكاكا، المصالحة، الاندماج الاجتماعي.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide is often discussed as an extreme case of ethnic and political conflict between Hutus and Tutsis, but another lens through which the event can be viewed is that of intra-ecclesial strife—violence perpetrated by Catholics against other Catholics. How can a church that has lost must of its moral credibility through the actions of its people, lay and ordained, continue to be a source of healing for the wounded—victims and perpetrators alike—to themselves, their neighbors, and God? This essay details two responses to this question that have arisen in Rwanda drawn from ethnographic research. The first employs popular piety to create a devotional-liturgical space of healing, while the second deploys creative rituals alongside catechetical instruction to facilitate social repair.