GNP: 10.

02B in 2020
GDP: 10.33B in 2020
Imports: Image result for Rwanda's imports and exports Rwanda imports mainly food products,
machinery and equipment, construction materials, petroleum products, and fertilizers. The main import
partners are Kenya, Germany, Uganda, and Belgium.
Exports: Rwanda's top five merchandise exports are coffee, tea, mineral niobium, tin, and tungsten.
Moving to specialty markets has increased the value of Rwanda's exports, mainly tea.
President: Paul Kagame, the 4th and the active president of Rwanda, took office in 2000.
Major cities:
● Kigali - 1,132,686 population
● Gisenyi - 136,830 population
● Butare - 89,600 population
Life expectancy: 69.02 years (2019)
Religion and Culture: More than two-fifths of the country's population is Roman Catholic, more than
one-third is Protestant, and more than one-tenth is Adventist. Muslims, the nonreligious, and members
of Christian schismatic religious groups collectively account for less than one-tenth of the population.
Ethnic groups: The largest ethnic groups in Rwanda are the Hutus, which make up about 85% of
Rwanda's population; the Tutsis, which are 14%; and the Twa, which are around 1%.

Rwanda Genocide:

When: Occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War.
Civil War def: A war between citizens of the same country.
How long: 100 days
Short brief of what happened during the Rwanda Genocide:
The conflict started on April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a
Hutu, was shot down. Under the cover of war, Hutu extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire
Tutsi civilian population. Hutu extremists distributed propaganda suggesting that all Tutsi civilians were a
part of the military threat posed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. They secretly drew up lists of Tutsi and
moderate Hutu leaders to assassinate, armed, and trained youth militias and began small-scale
massacres.

Rwanda Textbook 1990-1998 (pg 13-24)

Key events and trends:

● 7th April 1994 killing began
● The massacre of civilians, men, women, and children had taken place in Cambodia in the 1970s,
and the slaughter of Bosnians in the 1990s.
● Was the fastest killing ever recorded (not the most though)
● The majority of the takeover happened between 1880 and the end of the century.
● In 1880, 10% of the landmass had been colonized in Africa
● By 1914, only 10% of the continent remained out of European control
● In the later half of the 19th century, instead of being primarily buyers of goods found overseas,
the industrializing nations were increasingly becoming sellers, in search of markets for their own
products.
● Belgium was a small kingdom that gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830.
● In 1876, Leopold founded the international African society and invited journalist Henry Morton
Stanley to help Leopold open up the continent and mapped the congo river.
● 10 November 1871 Livingstone and Stanley, one of greatest meetings.
● Leopold formed the international congo society in 1878 with the intent to exploit resources and
establish a number of trade stations along the congo river.
● In 1884, a number of European powers agreed to meet in Berlin to establish ground rules for the
exploitation of the continent. No African representative was invited.
● Next two decades the magnificent African cake was divided by a host of European powers each
getting their slice.
● Aside from Belgians, the Britts and french got a large amount of Africa as well compared to other
European countries.
● By the turn of the century, approximately 90% of Africa was under control by European
countries.
● The conference in berlin had far-reaching consequences in the creation of the Rwandan state
which later resulted in the instigation of an ethnic divide with tragic consequences for the
people of Rwanda.
● As a precursor to the Rwandan genocide, the germans conducted their own African genocide
between 1904 and 1907.
● This resulted in the deaths of up to 100,000 Herero inhabitants

Key people and what they did:

● King Leopold the 2nd who was the king of the Belgians.
 ● Henry Morton Stanley was a journalist and explorer who helped Leopold open up the continent
of Africa
● David Livingstone was a national hero in Britain and had been the first ever white man to cross
the continent of Africa from coast to coast.
● Joseph Conrad was a Polish novelist who published several stories and novels, many of the
connection to the sea, trade, and exploration. He was one of the greatest publishers of the 20th
century. His most famous book, the heart of darkness is about his personal experiences as it also
evokes controversies for its depiction of Africa and Africans.
● Herbert spencer was the father of social Darwinism who first used the phrase “survival for the
fittest”
● US President Roosevelt strongly advocated social Darwinism.
Impact of colonization on Africa:
● The Rwanda genocide was the result of a deliberate policy by an elite in the government to keep
itself in power.
● The scramble for Africa in the mid -1880s took place largely because of changes of power in
Europe
● The accession to the throne of Leopold the second in 1865 transformed the country into a
colonial power and his relations with the European powers as well as having a devastating
impact on central Africa.
● Created railways around as instructed by Leopold which ended up creating rivalries in trades
● Through the berlin conference, the slave trade was ended.

Rwanda Textbook 1884- 1962 (Page 25-32)

Rwanda post independence

Gregoire Kayibanda: President 1962-1973

- First President of Rwanda(Hutu)
- One of the founders and leader of the PARMEHUTU Party/Movement(Hutu Liberation)
- Led the ‘Hutu Revolution’ of 1959-61 in which the Hutu majority had an uprising against the
Tutsi Monarchy as well as the Belgians
- However, some observers actually refer to the Hutu Revolution as a GENOCIDE itself - as it is
estimated between 17,000-20,000 Tutsi’s were massacred during the event
- It is also significant that during this time - around 200,000 Tutsis fled to neighbouring countries
such as Uganda, and Burundi - many of whom would participate in the 1990 Civil War that
sparked the Genocide(Paul Kagame was born in Uganda!)
- Under Kayibanda there were various episodes of violence from the Hutu majority toward the
Tutsis
- Kayibanda ran an Authoritarian State under the PARMEHUTU party running several times
unopposed for President
- However, he was overthrown by Major General Habyarimana in 1973
 - He was reportedly starved to death in prison along with his wife and died in 1976(Not
confirmed)

Juvenal Habyarimana - President 1973-94

- Second President of Rwanda after taking power in a Coup in 1973
- Still a HUTU but actually outlawed the PARMEHUTU Party
- Ruled as a ONE PARTY/AUTHORITARIAN STATE under the NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
- Under his leadership Hutus remained in key positions of power - but their was relaxed violence
against Tutsis
- Would hold power until his assasination in 1994(Plane shot down)
- WHY IS HE SIGNIFICANT?
- Habyarimana was the last President of Rwanda before the Genocide
- Indeed, the shooting down of his plan in 1994 is generally seen as the beginning of the Genocide
- During Habyarimana’s rule, power was concentrated in the hands of an elite Hutu Clan/Clique -
from the North - known as the AKAZU(Little House)
- They were led mainly by Agatha(Habyarimana’s wife who is still alive in France today!) and her
friends and relatives(NEPOTISM)
- Many of the AKAZU would play leading roles in the Genocide and form the core of NETWORK
ZERO(Aim: Zero Tutsis!)

Who was responisble for the plane crash and the death of Habriaymare?

A now-declassified US Department of State intelligence report from 7 April reports an unidentified

source telling the US ambassador in Rwanda that "rogue Hutu elements of the military—possibly the
elite presidential guard—were responsible for shooting down the plane." This conclusion was supported
by other U.S. agencies, including the Defense Intelligence Agency,[49] which reported on 9 May that "It is
believed that the plane crash [...] was actually an assassination conducted by Hutu military
hardliners.".[50] Philip Gourevitch, in his 1998 book on the genocide, framed the thinking of the time:

Although Habyarimana's assassins have never been positively identified, suspicion has focused on the
extremists in his entourage—notably the semiretired Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, an intimate of
Madame Habyarimana, and a charter member of the akazu and its death squads, who said in January
1993 that he was preparing an apocalypse.[51]

The 1997 report of the Belgian Senate stated that there was not enough information to determine
specifics about the assassination.[52] A 1998 report by the National Assembly of France posited two
probable explanations. One is that the attack was carried out by groups of Hutu extremists, distressed by
the advancement of negotiations with the RPF, the political and military adversary of the current regime,
while the other is that it was the responsibility of the RPF, frustrated at the lack of progress in the Arusha
Accords. Among the other hypotheses that were examined is one that implicates the French military,
although there is no clear motive for a French attack on the Rwandan government. The 1998 French
report made no determination between the two dominant theories.[20] A 2000 report by the
Organisation of African Unity does not attempt to determine responsibility.[53]
A January 2000 article in the Canadian National Post reported that Louise Arbour, the chief prosecutor
for the ICTR, had terminated an investigation into the shootdown after three Tutsi informants came
forward in 1997 with detailed accusations against Paul Kagame and the RPF, claiming that they had been
members of an "elite strike team" responsible for the downing.[54] One of the three whistleblowers was
Jean-Pierre Mugabe, who issued a declaration on the shootdown in April 2000.[55][56] Following the
National Post's article, a three-page memorandum written by investigator Michael Hourigan was sent to
the ICTR where defense attorneys had requested it.[57][58][note 1] Hourigan later stated that investigation
into the shootdown had been clearly within his mandate and that he was "astounded" when Arbour
made an about-face and told him it was not.[61][59] This sequence of events was confirmed by Hourigan's
boss, Jim Lyons, a former FBI agent who headed the so-called National Investigative Team. Lyons believes
Arbour was acting on orders to shut down the investigation.[62] An investigation by Luc Reydams
concluded that there was no evidence of such orders. Reydams argued that the decision to shut down
the investigation was "based on an assessment of the concrete conditions at the time" and that "any
responsible Prosecutor would have concluded that pursuing the investigation would be futile and
dangerous."[63]

1.6- Textbook The genocide begins

1. Why did the Presidential Guards/Hutu forces kill their own Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana? What
can your answer/thoughts tell you about the nature of the genocide?

2. Shortly after the events of 7th April(Documented on Page 73) - Belgium decided to remove all their troops
from the UN peacekeeping forces. To what extent do you believe they were justified in doing so?

3. How reliable do you think the head of UNAMIR, Romeo Dallaire's description of Colonel Bagasora's
involvement in the genocide is?

1.7 - Textbook Response of international community:

- As killings progressed, calls for international help got louder
- The deaths of Belgian peacekeepers caused Belgium to withdraw their troops even though
Dallaire requested them to bring more
- This caused even more killings
- On 16th April, civilian and military leaders among Hutus decided to extend genocide for 2 weeks
which resulted in estimated 100,000 deaths
- Dallaire requested specifically an increase in the number of peacekeeping forces
- Instead, on April 20th peacekeeping forces withdrew and urged other countries to do the same
- Dellaire kept sending radio logs describing what was happening
- “They can not tell us or me that they didn’t know. They were told every day what was happening
there. So then don’t come back to me and tell me sorry, we didn’t know. Oh no. Everybody knew,
every day, every minute” - Philippe Galliard, head of red cross in Rwanda throughout genocide.
- Most people in Rwanda saw the killing as a genocide straight away
- “Ultimately, led by the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, this world body aided
and abetted genocide in Rwanda. No amount of cash and aid will ever wash its hands clean of
Rwanda blood.” Dallaire 2003
- Informer Jean-Pierre had revealed that the people behind the genocide were counting on the
fact that western nations would be unwilling to tolerate casualties and would pull out of the
mission id their peacekeepers were killed.
- Hutus are said to have studied and watched news and media very carefully knowing the
strengths and weaknesses of the UN better than they did themselves
- When the killings of peacekeepers happened, french and Belgium sent their people into Rwanda
to rescue their own citizens in only a few days.
- This rapid and successful mission shows that they had the capacity to intervene or even prevent
the genocide if they wanted to
- Most of the Belgian soldiers who were in Rwanda wanted to stay and fight the genocide but the
government took them back humiliating them.
- Belgium taking out troops was a death sentence for Tutsis
- Withdrawal was critical
- France openly supported the regime of Habriyamana against the RPF
- France encouraged the talks leading to the Arusha Accords while they also trained the Rwandan
army
- Frances sending of 600 elite french troops in October 1990 when the RPF invasion began
probably saved Kigali from any possible attack.
- The French were in Kigali near the airport as well when the plane was shot down
- Last weeks of the genocide in late June, french soldiers were deployed on the border of Rwanda
and zaire to set up a safe zone
- This did save a lot of Tutsis but also allowed a lot of Hutu killers to get into zaire
- PG 94 CONTINUE