Rwanda: A complex paradox

One of the most enriching and life-long learning experiences that happened to me was my trip to Rwanda at the beginning of this year. I went to Rwanda as a part of a small study group to learn about the genocide and see how the people and the country have done in terms of recovery. Marking twenty years since the genocide, it was a great timing to be there and start my journey of exploration. In the few lines below, I try to synthesis my experience with words hoping that they adequately convey the complexities of my experience and impressions.

Between April and July of 2014, a genocide swept Rwanda leaving about 800 000 men, women and children killed. Intense propaganda compelled the majority of the population to see their neighbors and family members as enemies. Extermination plans to kill 1.000 Tutsi every twenty minutes were put in place. Women were raped and killed; hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and others fled as refugees to neighboring countries. Their only fault was that they either belonged to the Tutsis, or that they were Hutus who tried to prevent the massacres from happening.

I listened to some of the stories of survivors of the genocide; one of them was separated from her children after her husband was killed. She explained:

“Tutsis were kicked out of their houses. Before they start their killings, Hutus would come, take the properties from our houses and evacuate us. When they had taken all the stuff from the houses, they would come the next day to kill Tutsis”. She added “if a Hutu hides a Tutsi, the two would be killed together. As a result, many moderate Hutus were killed as they rejected the violence and did not engage in the genocide”.

Another one added,

“We as Rwandese have been made to believe that we are divided into ethnicities even though we know we don't have that. We speak the same language and we share the same culture. Ethnicity has been politicized.”

The genocide was so brutal. The massacres occurred in broad daylight and the perpetrators of the genocide felt safe as the army and police were involved in it. The carnage continued unabated for three months while the international community stood still.

The genocide left the country shattered, survivors traumatized and the social fabric destroyed. Relationships that existed before the genocide between community members were eroded. Meaningful communication between conflicting parties was cut and the bonds of trust disappeared.

As per another survivor of the genocide:

“Before the genocide we lived a good life along with our neighbors. After some time, we noticed that people started changing their attitudes towards each other. They looked at each other with suspicion and distrust. They started classifying each other as Tutsi or Hutu and making distinctions among each other.”

When the genocide ended, the Rwandese government and the international community assumed responsibility of putting a government in place, promoting the rule of law and ensuring justice takes place. More importantly, they realized that to establish a just and sustainable peace, they need to develop and transform the relationships in the society. Hence, projects to reconcile societies and heal their traumas took place, and a relational and psychological process was developed to connect broken ties and make people feel comfortable together.

Both victims and perpetrators were included in trauma healing programs. They were people who lived next to each other. When perpetrators shared their traumas along with survivors, survivors got to know that perpetrators have their sufferings as well. This sharing helped the society come together. As they got together, perpetrators asked for forgiveness. If people can get together in one place without violence then there are roots of trust that need to be strengthened.

As one of the perpetrators explained,

“When I returned to the community, I was worried about the way people would conceive me. I learnt about the Gacaca and I went to confess and ask for forgiveness. I was living with the guilt of what I committed and I wanted to let it out. I served a term in prison and got to know that some people I harmed were still alive. I wrote to them asking for forgiveness. Some of them visited me in prison. We talked and they forgave me. I took me a long time to be able to live in peace with myself”.

The process of peacebuilding undertaken in Rwanda provides evidence that healing and reconciliation are possible but they are not a one day thing. Trauma healing and reconciliation is a process that needs support from the community. Trauma left unhealed can easily be transferred. In the process of reconciliation and trauma healing, justice in part was achieved. People were able to express their anger and know the truth behind what happen to them and talk together and forgive each other. While part of the work was done by the government, the other part was done by the people through talking together and forgiving each other.

Rwanda has gone through a devastating conflict. From the other side, it presents to the world a model of forgiveness, reconciliation and transitional justice. The ability of the Rwandese community to live together again gives us hope that people can destroy but also they can heal and construct. As any other model, it might not be perfect but the Rwandese have gone through a long way. They acknowledged their past and forgave each other, which is what is needed to build peace. They took the hard path of the journey of self-forgiveness and forgiving someone else.

To me, Rwanda is more than a case study. It is a model, an example of a country that was left torn apart after a devastating war, but at the same time a country that was determined to move forwards after the world turned a blind eye on it. Twenty years have passed since the genocide and Rwanda seems to be coming back to life. Nevertheless, some of the wounds remain unhealed. For the survivors, this month is painful because it brings the memory of those who died. Yet, Rwanda is a state on the road to recovery with significant progress made on the economic level and at the level of co-existence.

* Engy Said, M.A International Peace and Conflict Resolution. I am a researcher in the fields of peace, conflict transformation, identity conflicts and gender studies.

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