Sunday, March 14, 2010

Rhetoric and the politics of genocide

It has again been a very intense few weeks in Rwandan politics. I have been on the road for various speaking and research engagements and have had little time to reflect on all that is going on, and what has been published.

One piece that I wanted to recommend is Geoffrey York's piece in Canada's Globe and Mail. He writes about the political manipulation of Rwanda's blood soaked history. His article is exceptionally well done as it strikes to the politics of manipulation of the history of the genocide and the ideology of genocide that characterises RPF rule at the moment. It is also critically important because York responds to the government's claim that democracy leads to genocide. Presidential advisor Jean-Paul Kimonyo is the mouthpiece for this line of thinking and is what I want to respond to in this post. Kimonyo writes in The Huffington Post in a fashion that is typical of the PR machine of the current regime.

A few points of context and analysis bear comment:

First, Kimonyo's assertion that the 1994 genocide is in part a product of "long-term economic, social and political bankruptcy" is nothing more than political rhetoric designed to justify and legitimise the oppressive rule of the RPF. Analysts and observers who understand that the genocide is not the starting point (either forward to current forms of repression or backward to explaining events in 1959) to understand contemporary Rwanda. The mechanisms of power of the RPF are virtually identical to the forms of power that pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial government's have used to control the Rwandan political landscape. There is little "new" about the new Rwanda (meaning Rwanda under RPF rule).

Kimonyo situates the backward policies of the previous regime to imply that these unequal policies had a role in precipitating the genocide. I don't think this is an accurate depiction of the root causes of the genocide. The RPF government itself lacks the rural legitimacy (which makes up almost 90% of the population) that the Habyarimana government enjoyed. That rural legitimacy meant that when the order to commit acts of genocide came down from the highest levels of the Hutu Power state in 1994, it found resonance in the hearts and minds of ordinary Hutu. They understood that this was a kill or be killed situation Many chose to kill, some because of hatred, others because of fear, some for score-settling... Kagame does not enjoy this rural legitimacy, and that means he cannot accurately predict that Rwandans will voluntarily consent to policies. This explains in part his great nervousness about the presence of opposition politician Victoire Ingabire in the country. Kagame needs to eliminate her as a political opponent lest rural and urban ordinary Rwandan vote for her as a vote against Kagame himself.

Second, Kimonyo writes that the RPF has allowed for consensus democracy. This is misleading to the average reader because the RPF has not allowed for any form of plural politics. Instead, Rwandan 'democracy' operates at the behest of President Kagame, and is subject to his personal whims. True political power exists in the hands of a few elite politicians who are loyal to Kagame. He rules with an iron-fist and is allergic to criticism. Political allies and opponents alike, journalist and human rights activists who question or challenge Kagame's rhetoric are dealt with harshly. The most recent example is Godwin Agaba. See also York's article on Didas Gasana and the stresses and strains of independent reporting in contemporary Rwanda.

We also need to hear more about the possible arrests of senior military officers, including General Karenzi Karake, General Nzaramba and Col. Zigira. Kagame is systemically removing any possible, real or perceived, threat to his authoritarian rule. Political opponents continue to be harassed and intimidated. The most recent example is the case of Deogratias Mushayidi who was brought into policy custody on 5 March. As far as I know, he is being detained without charge. This is not, as Kimonyo asserts, the basis for a consensual democracy.

When the RPF government can possibly eliminate political opponents from within its own military and harangue opposition politicians, this sends a message to the population that fear and insecurity is the order of the day. This has been reinforced with recent bombings in Kigali. The available evidence points to the RPF as the organisers of these attacks. Such incidences of insecurity feed into the rhetoric of senior RPF officials and President Kagame himself that the country is not ready for democracy.

Indeed, it may not be. But not because of Rwandans are not ready to engage pluralist politics (evidenced, according to Kimonyo, in mass political violence and genocide when the country seeks democracy) but because elites (whether Hutu or Tutsi) manipulate the local population to engage in violence as the sole option as power politics (and elite claims to political power) shape their everyday lives.

10 comments:

  1. Just a tiny correction the lat name of the journalist is Didas not Didier

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  2. Great analysis Susan!

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  3. Susan, if that's you really name. You are obviously delusional in your knowledge of Rwanda's history. I think it would best serve you to educate yourself first before you start making such frivolous, Vexatious propaganda.

    Jean-Pierre

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  4. Jean-Pierre, obviously you are either incredibly ignorant or linked tightly to the ruling RPF. The RPF has hunted down hutu's in Congo for more then a decade. Hutu's, both from Rwanda and Burundi, singled out for their ethnicity and their language. The only way to survive was to pretend to be Congolese. Those who continue to deny this, like some US military at the pentagon, are spreading falsehoods and halftruths, blinded by their zeal for those who supposedly stopped a genocide. Blinded also by the military victories of conquering Rwanda and Congo as a "freedom fighter", as a blogger at westpoint called Kagame recently. A regime that has demonstrated willingness to ignore human rights on such a massive scale in the past is certainly capable of supressing unarmed democratic opposition today.

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  5. Jean Pierre,

    If you had read Ms. Thomson's earlier posts, especially her experience with the Ingando, you'd understand why she write what she write. She writes what she sees, and it is ok if you don't like what you're seeing

    Bottom line: We, Rwandans, are desperate for the democratic journey to begin.

    Blessings,

    Nkunda

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  6. yes, Didas, Thanks for pointing that out.

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  7. "Jean-Pierre, obviously you are either incredibly ignorant or linked tightly to the ruling RPF. The RPF has hunted down hutu's in Congo for more then a decade. THOSE HUTUS WHO FLED INTO THE DRC AND ATTACKED TUTSI IN THE DRC AND IN RWANDA WERE A THREAT TO RWANDA'S SECURITY AND THE SAFETY OF ITS PEOPLE. WERE KIGALI SUPPOSED TO JUST SIT BACK AND LET IT HAPPEN? WOULD YOU? Hutu's, both from Rwanda and Burundi, singled out for their ethnicity and their language. THERE IS NO LANGUAGE DIFFERENCE. AND HUTU AND TUTSI ARE NOT PROPER ETHNIC GROUPS. The only way to survive was to pretend to be Congolese. Those who continue to deny this, like some US military at the pentagon, are spreading falsehoods and halftruths, blinded by their zeal for those who supposedly stopped a genocide. THE RPF DID NOT "SUPPOSEDLY" STOP THE GENOCIDE THEY DID STOP IT. Blinded also by the military victories of conquering Rwanda and Congo as a "freedom fighter", as a blogger at westpoint called Kagame recently. A regime that has demonstrated willingness to ignore human rights on such a massive scale in the past is certainly capable of supressing unarmed democratic opposition today. I KNOW AMERICANS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO IRONY BUT TO ACCUSE THE RPF WHO STOPPED A GENOCIDE - AND SIGNIFICANTLY WITHOUT WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF THE DEFEATED AFTERWARDS - OF DISREGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON A MASSIVE SCALE IS RIDICULOUS. IT STOPPED DISREGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON A MASSIVE SCALE IN STOPPING THE GENOCIDE."

    IGNORANCE? SPREADING FALSEHOODS? BLINDED? THAT COLORED OPINIONS LOOKS MORE LIKE YOU.

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  8. Those RPF butchers who did the dirty work inside Congo and committed crimes against humanity and acts of genocide will one day have to face justice, count on that. The rest of your answer is not worth answering.

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  9. Genocide Ideology exist and is preached by somme rwandans and foreigners! RPF human right abuse is real and day by day is getting worse. To tell one and not the other is to play the devil game. But Rwanda is not yet at the critical point as it was in 94 but the last events seems to tell that the worse is coming.

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