Rwanda

—Rwandan, adj., n.

/rooh ahn"deuh/, n.

a republic in central Africa, E of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: formerly comprising the N part of the Belgian trust territory of Ruanda-Urundi; became independent 1962. 7,737,537; 10,169 sq. mi. (26,338 sq. km). Cap.: Kigali.

* * *

Rwanda

Introduction Rwanda -
Background: In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation. A series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years in the neighboring DROC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts. Geography Rwanda
Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates: 2 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 26,338 sq km water: 1,390 sq km land: 24,948 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries: total: 893 km border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible
Terrain: mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m
Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land
Land use: arable land: 32.43% permanent crops: 10.13% other: 57.44% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo Environment - current issues: deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching Environment - international party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural People Rwanda -
Population: 7,398,074 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,550,141; female 1,539,375) 15-64 years: 55.4% (male 2,039,573; female 2,057,059) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 84,030; female 127,896) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 33.28 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 21.39 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/ female total population: 0.99 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 117.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 38.66 years female: 39.2 years (2002 est.) male: 38.14 years
Total fertility rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 11.21% (1999 est.) HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 400,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 40,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan
Ethnic groups: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%
Religions: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)
Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 48% male: 52% female: 45% (1995 est.) Government Rwanda -
Country name: conventional long form: Rwandese Republic conventional short form: Rwanda local short form: Rwanda former: Ruanda local long form: Republika y'u Rwanda
Government type: republic; presidential, multiparty system
Capital: Kigali Administrative divisions: 12 prefectures (in French - prefectures, singular - prefecture; in Kinyarwanda - plural - NA, singular - prefegitura); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali Rurale, Kigali-ville, Umutara, Ruhengeri
Independence: 1 July 1962 (from Belgium- administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
Constitution: on 5 May 1995, the Transitional National Assembly adopted as Fundamental Law the constitution of 18 June 1991, provisions of the 1993 Arusha peace accord, the July 1994 Declaration by the Rwanda Patriotic Front, and the November 1994 multiparty protocol of understanding
Legal system: based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal adult
Executive branch: chief of state: President Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME (FPR) (since 22 April 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA (since 8 March 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: normally the president is elected by popular vote for a five- year term; special election for new president by deputies of the National Assembly and governmental ministers held 17 April 2000 (next national election to be held NA 2003); prime minister is appointed by the president election results: Paul KAGAME (FPR) elected president in a special parliamentary/ministerial ballot receiving 81 of a possible 86 votes
Legislative branch: unicameral Transitional National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale de Transition (a power-sharing body with 70 seats established on 12 December 1994 following a multiparty protocol of understanding; members were named by their parties, number of seats per party predetermined by the Arusha peace accord) note: four additional seats, two for women and two for youth, added in 2001 election results: seats by party under the Arusha peace accord - FPR 13, MDR 13, PSD 13, PL 13, PDC 6, RPA 6, PSR 2, PDI 2, UDPR 2; note - the distribution of seats was predetermined, four additional seats (two for women and two for youth) added in 2001 elections: the last national legislative elections were held 16 December 1988 for the National Development Council (the legislature prior to the advent of the Transitional National Assembly); no elections have been held for the Transitional National Assembly as the distribution of seats was predetermined by the Arusha peace accord
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; communal courts; appeals courts Political parties and leaders: Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Jean-Nipomuscene NAYINZIRA]; Democratic Socialist Party or PSD [leader NA]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [leader NA]; Democratic Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA]; Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Pie MUGABO]; Party for Democratic Renewal (officially banned) [Pasteur BIZIMURGI and Charilg NTAKIROTINKA]; Rwanda Patriotic Army or RPA [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander]; Rwanda Patriotic Front or FPR [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME]; Rwandan Socialist Party or PSR [leader NA] Political pressure groups and IBUKA - association of genocide
leaders: survivors International organization ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL,
participation: ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Richard SEZIBERA chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009 FAX: [1] [phone] telephone: [1] [phone] Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador
US: Margaret K. McMILLION since 13 December 2001 embassy: #337 Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali mailing address: B. P. 28, Kigali telephone: [250] 50 56 01 through 03 FAX: [250] 721 28
Flag description: three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width), yellow, and green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the blue band Economy Rwanda
Economy - overview: Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa; landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy. GDP has rebounded, and inflation has been curbed. Rwanda received approval for debt relief from the IMF in late 2000 and continued to make progress on inflation, privatization, and GDP growth in 2001. However, export earnings were hindered by low global coffee prices, depriving the country of much needed hard currency. President KAGAME is encouraging investors to take advantage of export opportunities in Rwanda based on its membership in the COMESA free trade area and its access to the US and the EU markets through preferential trade agreements.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.2 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 46% industry: 20% services: 34% (2000 est.) Population below poverty line: 70% (2000 est.) Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: 4.2%
percentage share: highest 10%: 24.2% (1983-85) Distribution of family income - Gini 28.9 (1983-85)
index: Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 3.6 million Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 90%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $199.3 million expenditures: $445 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2001 est.) Electricity - production: 113 million kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 2.65% hydro: 97.35% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% Electricity - consumption: 174.09 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 1 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 70 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock
Exports: $61 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: coffee, tea, hides, tin ore
Exports - partners: EU 56.9%, Pakistan 12.3%, US 9.2%, China 4.4% Malaysia 4.4% (2000 est.)
Imports: $248 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material
Imports - partners: Kenya 29.4%, EU 28%, US 10%, India 4.4%, Tanzania 2.2% (2000 est.)
Debt - external: $1.3 billion (2000 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $372.9 million (1999)
Currency: Rwandan franc (RWF)
Currency code: RWF
Exchange rates: Rwandan francs per US dollar - 456.81 (January 2002), 442.99 (2001), 389.70 (2000), 333.94 (1999) 312.31 (1998), 301.53 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Rwanda - Telephones - main lines in use: 11,000 (1999) Telephones - mobile cellular: 11,000 (1999) note: Rwanda has mobile cellular service between Kigali and several prefecture capitals (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment: telephone system primarily serves business and government domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay and, recently, by cellular telephone service; much of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone international: international connections employ microwave radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) in Kigali (includes telex and telefax service) Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 3 (two main FM programs are broadcast through a system of repeaters and the third FM program is a 24 hour BBC program), shortwave 1 (2002)
Radios: 601,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: NA; probably less than 1,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .rw Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 5,000 (2001) Transportation Rwanda -
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 12,000 km paved: 1,000 km unpaved: 11,000 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: note: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow- draft barges and native craft
Ports and harbors: Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye
Airports: 8 (2001) Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2001) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2001) Military Rwanda -
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,858,443 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 946,990 (2002 est.)
service: Military expenditures - dollar $58 million (FY01)
figure: Military expenditures - percent of 3.1% (FY01)
GDP: Transnational Issues Rwanda - Disputes - international: Tutsi, Hutu and other ethnic groups, political rebels, and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda

* * *

officially Republic of Rwanda

Country, east-central Africa.

Area: 9,757 sq mi (25,271 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 7,398,000. Capital: Kigali. The population is mostly Hutu, with a Tutsi minority. Languages: Rwanda, French, English (all official). Religions: Roman Catholicism, Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: Rwanda franc. Rwanda is a mountainous, landlocked country. Most of it lies at an elevation of more than 5,000 ft (1,500 m). There are bamboo forests, wooded regions, and grassy savannas with rich and varied wildlife. It is a developing country with a mainly free-enterprise economy based on agriculture. It is ruled by a transitional regime with one legislative body; its head of state and government is the president, in conjunction with the prime minister and vice president. Originally inhabited by the Twa, a Pygmy people, it became home to the Hutu, who were well established there when the Tutsi appeared in the 14th century. The Tutsi conquered the Hutu and in the 15th century founded a kingdom near Kigali. The kingdom expanded steadily, and by the early 20th century Rwanda was a unified state with a military structure. The Belgians occupied Rwanda in 1916, and the League of Nations created Ruanda-Urundi as a Belgian mandate in 1923. The Tutsi retained their dominance until shortly before Rwanda reached independence in 1962, when the Hutu took control of the government and stripped the Tutsi of much of their land. Many Tutsi fled Rwanda, and the Hutu dominated the country's political system, waging sporadic civil wars until mid 1994, when the death of the country's leader in a plane crash led to massive violence. The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took over the country by force after the massacre of almost 1,000,000 Tutsi and Tutsi sympathizers by the Hutu. Two million refugees, mostly Hutu, fled to neighboring Congo (Kinshasa) after the RPF's victory. At the beginning of the 21st century, trials to bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice started.

* * *

▪ 2009

Area:

26,379 sq km (10,185 sq mi)

Population

(2008 est.): 10,009,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      Rwanda made strides toward building political unity and reconstructing its economy in 2008. Pres. Paul Kagame took every opportunity to drive home the message of “one Rwanda, one people, one future.” A record 98.5% of the electorate participated in the September 15–18 general election, in which the Rwandan Patriotic Front-led coalition won a landslide victory, claiming 42 of the 53 directly contested seats in the 80-member Chamber of Deputies. A 2003 law mandated that the remaining 27 seats be indirectly elected and that, of these seats, 24 were to go to women and 3 to youth and the disabled. Women secured 45 parliamentary seats in all, which meant that the election produced the world's first national legislative body with a female majority. International observers agreed that the election was fair and well-organized.

      Significant progress was made in realizing a series of ambitious economic reforms. Government goals aimed to transform the landlocked country, which lacked oil and minerals, into a trade and technology centre. The EU, the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI), and various international agencies sponsored poverty-reduction and development programs in Rwanda. The CHDI launched a new fair-trade brand, Rwandan Farmers Coffee, which was produced by a cooperative of 8,700 farmers and marketed by the Sainsbury's grocery store chain in the U.K. Other advances included the establishment of a securities exchange in Kigali and a cell-phone assembly plant, the first of its kind in Africa.

      As economic and political conditions improved, the local gacacas (“traditional courts”), which had been convened in 2002 to help alleviate the backlog of cases involving Rwanda's 1994 genocide, worked toward concluding the genocide trials by year's end. By the beginning of 2008, some 1,000,000 people had gone before these courts, of whom 800,000 had been tried. On December 18 the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued its first convictions for the organization of the genocide. Former army colonel Théoneste Bagosora was sentenced to life imprisonment for having masterminded the killings. Two codefendants, former military commanders Anatole Nsengiyumva and Aloys Ntabukuze, also received life sentences. Altogether the ICTR had convicted 34 persons and acquitted 6; still awaiting trial were 9 detainees. Meanwhile, the UN extended the mandate of the ICTR to Dec. 31, 2009.

      In February, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush made Rwanda his third stop on his six-day Africa tour. In an emotional address, Bush compared the violence taking place in the Darfur region of The Sudan to the 1994 genocide. He promised $12 million in military assistance to train an additional 2,400 Rwandan peacekeeping troops to augment the already-existing force of 7,000 in Darfur. Bush also signed a bilateral investment treaty, pledged to help fight AIDS in Rwanda, and announced the return of an active Peace Corps program to the country.

LaRay Denzer

▪ 2008

Area:

26,379 sq km (10,185 sq mi)

Population

(2007 est.): 9,725,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

       Genocide and its aftermath continued to dominate Rwandan domestic and foreign policy in 2007. In February about 8,000 prisoners accused of war crimes, many of them sick or elderly, were released because of prison congestion. The government called for greater efforts toward reconciliation. Pres. Paul Kagame pardoned former president Pasteur Bizimungu (1994–2000), who had served just under 3 years of his 15-year prison sentence for setting up a militia, inciting ethnic violence, and committing financial fraud. After his resignation in 2000, Bizimungu had become a vocal critic of the Rwandan Patriotic Front-led government. In June the parliament abolished the death penalty (effective from the end of July), an important step in the country's efforts to extradite genocide suspects from European countries that had hitherto refused such requests because they objected to capital punishment.

 European diplomacy with Rwanda took distinctly different forms. In September the foreign ministers of France and Rwanda initiated steps to restore relations that had been broken off by Rwanda in 2006 after a French judge accused President Kagame of complicity in the 1994 assassination of Pres. Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu—the incident that had sparked the genocide. Rwandan efforts, however, to persuade French authorities to arrest and extradite Habyarimana's widow on charges of genocide conspiracy had been rebuffed. Many Rwandans believed that the French had helped to train and to arm those who carried out the genocide. By contrast, in July, after a Belgian court sentenced former Rwandan army major Bernard Ntuyahaga to 20 years in prison for having murdered 10 Belgian peacekeepers at the beginning of the 1994 genocide, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt acknowledged that these murders had led to the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission, which then provided the opportunity for genocide to commence. Many felt that his conciliatory statement was crafted to restore good relations with Rwanda. On a different note, also in July, the leader of the British Conservative Party, David Cameron, visited Rwanda, where he launched his party's global poverty report, pledging its commitment to international development and poverty alleviation as well as to rebuilding Rwanda's economy.

      In April local filmmakers staged a traveling film festival, nicknamed “Hillywood,” in Nyagatare, a small town in eastern Rwanda. Young filmmakers, who had gained experience working with the various international movie crews that produced films such as Hotel Rwanda, went on to make their own movies. The film Hey Mr. DJ!, about a young man's discovery that he is HIV-positive, reflected general community concerns.

LaRay Denzer

▪ 2007

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2006 est.): 8,771,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      In 2006 the Rwandan government instituted a major administrative reorganization designed to weaken ethnic conflict and promote power sharing. It replaced the previous 12 provinces with 5 larger, multiethnic zones: North, South, East, West, and Kigali provinces. Nationwide local elections were carried out in March without incident. Women candidates made a strong showing, winning 26% of the elective offices and taking 13 of 29 municipal seats in the capital. No woman was appointed governor, but Aisa Kirabo Kakira was elected mayor of Kigali.

      Progress continued toward political and economic recovery. The political parties united to form an umbrella organization intended to propagate a culture of tolerance. Most important, the World Bank granted the country 100% debt relief from July 1, an action that would promote development and alleviate poverty. In April negotiations began in Arusha, Tanz., toward Rwanda's integration into the East African Community.

      Reconciliation continued to be the dominant theme of domestic and international relations. On April 7 Pres. Paul Kagame addressed a massive crowd at Nyamasheke, Western province, at the beginning of Mourning Week, the commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the 1994 genocide. Noting the difficulties of conflict resolution, he called on the citizens to complete the recovery of corpses scattered throughout the countryside and give the dead honourable burials. That same month the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission released its annual report, which itemized 22 problems that hindered unity and reconciliatory justice, including disregard for the decisions of the provincial gacaca (genocide courts), lingering interethnic hostility, and clandestine groups that intimidated potential witnesses.

      Meanwhile, genocide trials dragged on within Rwanda, in Tanzania, and in Europe. A former senior Rwandan diplomat testified that French soldiers actively encouraged the 1994 genocide activities, and 25 tribunal witnesses gave evidence to support his claim; their testimonies were broadcast on local radio. In France a military court instituted an independent investigation of these charges. Because Germany, Norway, and other countries had repeatedly refused to extradite notorious perpetrators of genocide on the grounds that Rwanda still had the death penalty, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front drafted legislation to abolish capital punishment. Further, President Kagame castigated the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for its slow, expensive proceedings in Arusha that involved more than 1,000 employees from 85 countries and would cost an estimated $1 billion by the end of 2007. Since 1994 the tribunal had delivered fewer than 40 verdicts, including 11 sentences of death and 17 of life imprisonment.

LaRay Denzer

▪ 2006

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2005 est.): 8,574,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      Rwanda attained relative stability in 2005 under the regime of Pres. Paul Kagame and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), although the government had not yet shed its authoritarian rule. The country made steady progress in reconstructing its economy. The government set up a poverty-alleviation program designed to implement a system of sustainable development that met the requirements of the debt-relief program of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. To further Rwanda's case, President Kagame visited the United States from September 13 to 19 and addressed the UN General Assembly on the challenges of worldwide poverty and postconflict reconstruction.

      Throughout the year Rwanda sought to project a positive international image. In July, Finance Minister Donald Kaberuka was elected president of the African Development Bank, which signaled that the country was ready to take its place in pan-African policy making and diplomacy.

      Tense relations continued with neighbouring states in the Great Lakes region, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which accused Rwanda of backing rebel leaders in its eastern region in attacks against Hutu refugees who after the 1994 genocide had sought refuge there. In July UN peacekeepers destroyed the main Rwandan base in eastern Congo and warned the rebels to disarm and return to Rwanda. Rebel leaders, however, had resisted earlier attempts to push them back, declaring that they wanted a guarantee of amnesty. Elsewhere efforts to persuade refugees to return home achieved some success. In October a small group returned from Uganda. Still, an estimated 48,000 refugees remained scattered in 14 African countries.

      The 1994 genocide still preoccupied the nation. In March local courts called gacaca began the process of identifying the victims and perpetrators of massacres. This process reached deep into sociopolitical and religious hierarchies. Catholic leaders and priests were accused of having had close relations with extremist politicians prior to the genocide or even helped Hutu militias. In July, Archbishop Thaddée Ntihinyurwa, the head of the Roman Catholic Church of Rwanda, was summoned to testify before the Nyamasheke court about his role in the massacre of thousands of Tutsi in the district church. On September 19 the United Nations Appeals Chamber in The Hague upheld the life sentence of former Rwandan minister Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda. On September 23 it was announced that genocide suspect Joseph Serugendo had been extradited from Libreville, Gabon, to Arusha, Tanz., in order to stand trial before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; this brought the number of arrests by the court to 71.

LaRay Denzer

▪ 2005

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2004 est.): 8,380,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      The year 2004 marked the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda that killed nearly a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu. Solemn commemorations attended by Rwandans and African leaders, with Europe and the United States represented by junior officials, were held in locations throughout the country during April, the month in which the 100-day massacre began. The French junior foreign minister, Renaud Muselier, cut short his visit during commemorations after Pres. Paul Kagame accused France of complicity in the genocide. Former higher education minister Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda received a life sentence for genocide in January at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanz. Several high-profile genocide suspects were captured or sentenced during the year, including senior Interahamwe (Hutu terrorist militia) councillor Ephrem Nkezabera, who was arrested in June. Nine people were sentenced to death and one to life imprisonment for the killing of a genocide survivor who had been scheduled to testify at the ICTR.

      Thirty thousand accused prisoners were granted amnesty and freed in March after they confessed guilt and asked forgiveness for having committed acts of genocide. Rwandan prisons still held nearly 90,000 alleged genocidaires. Amnesties were not wholly supported by survivors, who believed that those who confessed were not genuinely sorry for what they had done but used the amnesty to escape justice. Many survivors were forced to live and work beside those whose acts they had witnessed during the genocide.

      Rwanda came close to war with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in June when Congolese rebels captured Bukavu, a DRC town near the Rwandan border. DRC Pres. Joseph Kabila accused Rwanda of backing the rebels, an accusation vigorously denied by the Rwandans. Tensions between the two countries had continued since 1998, when Rwanda's military occupied eastern Congo. British and American envoys were sent to the DRC in late June to quell violence and smooth relations between the two countries. A UN report later accused Rwanda of breaching an arms embargo and of supporting the rebels. Both Burundi and Rwanda threatened to invade the DRC to disarm rebels after the August massacre of ethnically Tutsi Congolese refugees by a DRC militia in a Burundi camp. The Kinshasa and Kigali governments attempted to repair relations by agreeing to disarm groups in both countries and to address border security during August and September, but these efforts were jeopardized late in September by renewed attacks in the eastern DRC allegedly carried out by a Rwandan Hutu extremist militia based in the area. In December Rwanda made several invasion threats amid reports that its soldiers had already entered the DRC. Rwanda denied troop involvement and later backed off its threats.

Mary F.E. Ebeling

▪ 2004

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2003 est.): 8,387,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      By early January 2003, most of the estimated 23,000 Rwandan refugees who had been living in camps in Tanzania had been repatriated. The U.S. Committee for Refugees reported that the repatriation effort was not well organized and that close to 3,000 refugees had fled from Tanzania to Uganda seeking asylum, which helped to deepen the mistrust between the Rwandan and Ugandan governments. Tensions between the two countries heightened in January when Jean Bosco Barihima, leader of a Congolese rebel force, alleged that the Ugandan government was allowing Hutu dissidents to use Ugandan-controlled parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to execute cross-border attacks on Rwanda. Uganda flatly denied the allegations. Relations cooled significantly in March when a series of accusations were lobbed between the two countries; each blamed the other for supporting rebels in Bunia, a town in the DRC. (Rwanda had pulled its troops out of the DRC in September 2002.) The crisis rose to a significant level at the end of the month when the Rwandan parliament voted to redeploy troops to the DRC and when former Rwandan defense minister Emmanuel Habyarimana, who had been accused of engaging in subversive activities and holding Hutu-extremist views, was granted temporary asylum by Uganda. A meeting in early May between Presidents Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, hosted in London by British cabinet minister Clare Short (see Biographies (Short, Clare )), eased tensions ahead of the installation of a transitional government in the DRC.

      In August, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), to step down amid complaints by the Rwandan government that she had not been spending enough time prosecuting cases of accused war criminals from the 1994 genocide and following tensions over the ICTR's attempt to prosecute crimes committed by Kagame's Rwanda Patriotic Front (FPR) in 1994, when it quelled the genocide. In September Gambian Hassan Jallow took over as the ICTR's chief prosecutor. Broadcaster Ferdinand Nahimana of radio station RTLM and Hassan Ngeze, editor of the newspaper Kangura, were sentenced to life imprisonment on December 3. A third person, also from RTLM, received a 35-year sentence. Both media outlets were accused of having encouraged the 1994 genocide by publicizing names of those to be killed.

      On August 25, in the first multiparty election held since the country gained independence from Belgium in 1962, Kagame won 95% of the vote. Although the election was deemed free and fair by independent international election observers, many campaign tactics were found to have been irregular, including harassment and intimidation of opposition party members and supporters. On October 10 the first democratically elected parliament was sworn into office, and the nine-year transitional government installed by the Tutsi-led FPR ended.

Mary F.E. Ebeling

▪ 2003

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2002 est.): 7,398,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      At the end of January 2002, the Rwandan government convened gacacas (“traditional courts”) to help alleviate the backlog of cases involving the 1994 genocide. Some 5,000 cases had been heard since the trials began in Arusha, Tanz., in 1996, but owing to the size of the caseload—there were 115,000 suspects awaiting trial in Rwandan prisons—it would take the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) 200 years to complete all the hearings. The gacaca system tried minor crimes, such as arson, as well as capital crimes. The 10,000 suspects accused of having orchestrated the genocide, however, would continue to be tried by the ICTR. In February a government report on the genocide revealed that the estimated number of victims—500,000–800,000—was low; a more accurate figure was estimated at more than one million. Four senior military officers accused of genocide, including Col. Theoneste Bagosora, boycotted their trial in early April claiming that their rights to a fair trial had been violated. The trial was postponed until September. The ICTR alleged that Bagosora had begun planning the genocide as early as 1992, and it also charged that all four had trained the militias that killed Tutsi and moderate Hutu. The four were considered responsible for the murders of 10 UN peacekeepers, as well as the murder of the prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, in 1994. In late September Tharcisse Renzaho, a leading suspect in the genocide and the former governor of Kigali, was arrested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

      The French UN envoy in the DRC told the UN in March that 10,000 Rwandan troops had launched an offensive in southeastern DRC, threatening fragile peace negotiations between the two countries. Rwanda flatly denied the allegations. A peace accord between Rwanda and the DRC was signed in July, four years after Rwandan troops had entered the country to track down militias accused of genocide. On September 17 Rwanda began withdrawing its troops from South Kivu province, and by mid-October 15,000 troops had been evacuated; the several thousand remaining troops were scheduled to leave by the end of the month. On October 18 the brokered peace was put in jeopardy when fighting erupted between a Congolese militia and rebels supported by Rwanda, who were left vulnerable when the troops withdrew.

Mary F.E. Ebeling

▪ 2002

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2001 est.): 7,313,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      On March 6, 2001, Rwandans participated in the country's first-ever local elections. Voters chose 2,765 district representatives, and an electoral college selected 106 mayors and 424 district executives. The vote was a step toward political decentralization and part of the country's postgenocide reconstruction plan. Observers reported that the voting was generally free from irregularities, and nearly 90% of those eligible voted. Opposition groups charged that the National Electoral Commission unfairly favoured candidates from the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front. During the year the government introduced a new flag and a new anthem that emphasized national unity.

      After a two-year peaceful interval, elements of the extremist Hutu Interahamwe militia launched attacks in May near Ruhengeri in the northwest of the country. The clashes continued, and the army reported 150 rebels killed in a June battle. Security forces scored a major victory in July when they captured Pierre Habimana, the Interahamwe's chief of staff. The Rwandan government charged that the rebels were operating from bases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Though Rwanda had begun to withdraw its troops from the DRC in late February, it halted the withdrawal in June and demanded that the DRC stop aiding Rwandan rebels. Some progress was made toward easing tensions in September when the DRC announced that it would hand over 3,000 Rwandan rebels to UN observers.

      Relations between Rwanda and Uganda soured in March when the Ugandan government listed its southern neighbour as a “hostile nation.” In July Pres. Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame met his Ugandan counterpart in an effort to mend relations. Though their meeting was described as cordial, tensions persisted over both countries' military involvement in the DRC.

      The government came under increased international criticism for suppressing political activity. In May former president Pasteur Bizimungu planned the creation of a new political party, the Democratic Party for Renewal. Security forces interrupted the party's launch and placed Bizimungu under house arrest. Though he was quickly released, the new party remained outlawed.

      In June the UN-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issued its first acquittal, finding Ignace Bagilishema, the former mayor of Mabanza, innocent of genocide and crimes against humanity. In an attempt to clear the backlog of 115,000 genocide suspects awaiting trial, the government announced plans to establish courts according to the traditional justice system. The move would create 11,000 courts that could handle some genocide suspects, though the most serious offenders would continue to be tried in higher courts. In June a Belgian court found four Rwandans, including two Roman Catholic nuns, guilty of having committed war crimes during the 1994 genocide. In December the government reported that over one million people had died during the genocide and other violence between 1991 and 1994.

Matthew A. Cenzer

▪ 2001

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(2000 est.): 7,229,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Pasteur Bizimungu, in conjunction with Vice President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame and Prime Ministers Pierre-Célestin Rwigema and, from March 8, Bernard Makuza; from March 24, President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame (acting until April 22), assisted by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza

      On March 23, 2000, Pres. Pasteur Bizimungu, a politically moderate Hutu, resigned. He had quarreled with the Tutsi-dominated ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, over several cabinet appointments. On April 22 the National Assembly confirmed Vice Pres. Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame as the new president. Some observers feared that the appointment of Kagame, a Tutsi, would weaken Rwanda's fragile ethnic power-sharing arrangement.

      Rwanda during the year continued its military involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Continuing a pattern begun in 1999, Rwandan and Ugandan troops clashed around the Congolese city of Kisangani in May and June. Both countries massed troops along their common border but pulled them back after a series of high-level meetings defused but did not resolve the crisis. Rwanda and Uganda supported different rebel groups fighting against Congo Pres. Laurent Kabila. In June the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding that both Rwanda and Uganda withdraw their forces.

      Trials of those allegedly involved in the 1994 genocide continued throughout the year, both in Rwandan courts and at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanz. In February the Rwandan government announced that it would resume cooperation with the UN court. Rwanda severed the relationship in 1999 over the release on procedural grounds of a prominent genocide suspect. In August the UN tribunal began hearing the case of three former Rwandan media officials. They were accused of having used newspapers and radio to incite ethnic hatred. A Rwandan court acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Augustin Misago of charges stemming from the genocide. His arrest in 1999 had strained Rwanda's relations with the Vatican. In late October former prime minister Jean Kambanda tried to revoke a guilty plea he had entered in 1998, but his motion was rejected by the UN tribunal.

      In a sign of their improving relationship, Rwanda concluded a number of financial agreements with the European Union. These included grants and loans valued at nearly €160 million (about $140 million) and targeted at infrastructure and poverty-reduction programs. In October the country became eligible for preferential trade relations with the U.S. under recently enacted Africa-trade legislation.

Matthew A. Cenzer

▪ 2000

Area:

26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

Population

(1999 est.): 8,155,000

Capital:

Kigali

Head of state and government:

President Pasteur Bizimungu, in conjunction with Vice President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame and Prime Minister Pierre-Célestin Rwigema

      The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo dominated Rwandan foreign affairs in 1999. Defense Minister and Vice President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame repeatedly accused Congo Pres. Laurent Kabila and his allies of supporting Rwanda's extremist Hutu militia. Kagame vowed that Rwandan troops would continue to fight alongside anti-Kabila rebels. In August Rwandan and Ugandan troops traded fire over the northeastern Congo city of Kisangani. Both countries had been united in a campaign to oust Kabila, but they backed different rebel factions. In September Rwanda pledged to abide by the Lusaka peace accord to end the Congo conflict. The Rwandan government demanded that Hutu fighters in Congo be returned for trial.

      Prosecutions for crimes committed during the 1994 genocide continued, both within Rwanda and at the UN-sponsored tribunal in Arusha, Tanz. In April, in an act that strained relations with the Vatican, Rwandan police arrested Roman Catholic Bishop Augustin Misago for alleged complicity in the killing of 20,000 people. In January Pres. Pasteur Bizimungu inaugurated Rwanda's official genocide memorial. The government also announced plans to change several national symbols, including the flag and national anthem, that were widely associated with extremist Hutu nationalism.

      In February Bizimungu announced a new Cabinet, increasing the number of ministries from 17 to 21. His intent was to promote national reconciliation and included the appointment of Ismael Amri Sued, a Hutu moderate, as minister of foreign affairs in the predominantly Tutsi government. The Ministry of Local Government, one of the new Cabinet positions, supervised local elections in March. The first direct local elections in Rwandan history, they garnered a voter turnout of around 90%. In June the government announced a four-year extension of the period of transitional rule. The current government of national unity planned to draft a new constitution and prepare for general elections during that time.

      In April the country received a $75 million World Bank loan and in May a $50 million European Union grant, both for infrastructure reconstruction and economic recovery. Both organizations had suspended aid because of Rwanda's involvement in the Congo conflict. Donors stipulated that no funds could support the military. The government also proceeded with an extensive privatization program.

Matthew A. Cenzer

▪ 1999

      Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

      Population (1998 est.): 7,956,000

      Capital: Kigali

      Head of state and government: President Pasteur Bizimungu, in conjunction with Vice President Paul Kagame and Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema

      Rwanda experienced insecurity throughout 1998 as the predominantly Hutu Interahamwe militia clashed with the Tutsi-dominated army. Hardest hit were the central and northwestern regions, where the rebel forces were strongest. Rebel militias targeted Tutsi and those Hutu who sought the protection of the army. In response the army attacked those thought to be aiding the rebels. Although exact figures were difficult to establish, civilian casualties were undoubtedly high. In March, for example, military sources claimed that more than 120 suspected rebels had been killed in Gitarama, southwest of Kigali. The same region witnessed over 100 casualties from rebel attacks the following month. In several incidents rebels stormed prisons and freed some of the approximately 130,000 suspects awaiting trial on charges related to the 1994 genocide.

      Rwandan courts continued to try those accused of committing crimes against humanity in 1994. Pleading guilty usually brought a life sentence, whereas conviction could bring the death penalty. The first death sentences were carried out on April 24, when 22 people convicted of genocide were publicly executed by police firing squads. They were among the first to be sentenced, and about 100 others awaited execution. After extensive administrative and logistic delays, the UN-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanz., completed its first cases. In May former Rwandan prime minister Jean Kambanda pleaded guilty to six charges of genocide and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He agreed to assist ICTR prosecutors and to testify against other defendants.

      In August Pres. Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo charged Rwanda and Uganda with supporting insurgents in the east of his country and of trying to establish a "Tutsi empire" in central Africa. The Rwandan government denied the allegations, and Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana charged Kabila with fomenting ethnic hatred to maintain his grip on power. Rwanda at first denied involvement, but on November 6, Vice Pres. Paul Kagame confirmed that Rwandan troops had been active in the Congo since August.

MATTHEW A. CENZER

▪ 1998

      Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi)

      Population (1997 est.): 7,738,000

      Capital: Kigali

      Head of state and government: President Pasteur Bizimungu in conjunction with Vice President Paul Kagame and Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema

      Another deeply troubled year for Rwanda was dominated by refugee problems, additional massacres, and a slow process of trials for genocidal acts. In August 1996 an agreement had been signed by Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigyema and his Zairean counterpart, Léon Kengo wa Dondo, for the return to Rwanda of 1.3 million refugees from more than 30 camps in eastern Zaire. The next month, however, tensions developed between the two countries following a number of border incidents. At the same time, 400,000 refugees were reported by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to have returned voluntarily to Rwanda.

      At the beginning of December 1996, the Tanzanian government ordered all Rwandan refugees to return home, and by the end of the month, some 700,000 were reported to have left Tanzania. Many thousands were thought to have abandoned the camps and headed into the countryside, however. On Jan. 3, 1997, a court in Kibungo sentenced two Hutu to death on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during 1994. Three others, also Hutu, were sentenced to death later in the month, and 90,000 people awaited trial in Rwandan prisons.

      Hutu extremists were reported to have been responsible for 60 deaths, including 3 Spanish aid workers, near Ruhengeri in January. Additional murders included some UN personnel in February, an estimated 424 Tutsi along the border with Zaire in March, and some 270 more Tutsi in December.

      In August the government appealed for emergency food aid to cope with the results of a poor harvest and the return of huge numbers of refugees. It estimated that 175,000 metric tons would be needed for the following six months.

GUY ARNOLD

      This article updates Rwanda, history of (Rwanda).

▪ 1997

      The landlocked republic of Rwanda is situated in central Africa. Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 6.9 million, including 1,650,000 refugees, of whom 1.1 million are in Zaire and more than 500,000 are in Tanzania. Cap.: Kigali. Monetary unit: Rwanda franc, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of RF 327.21 to U.S. $1 (RF 515.45 = £1 sterling). President in 1996, Pasteur Bizimungu; prime minister, Pierre Celestin Rwigema.

      Clashes between Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated army and the Burundian Hutu occurred in January 1996 and caused some 15,000 refugees to flee to Tanzania from camps in Burundi. In December 1995 Rwanda and Tanzania had agreed that 500,000 Rwandans would be repatriated from Tanzania and that refugees who obstructed this process were to be confined. In February Zaire announced plans to repatriate one million refugees; the Zaire government promised the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that there would be no forced repatriation but deployed troops around the Kibumba camp of 200,000 to “encourage” the refugees to return. The UNHCR, which faced dwindling funds and the reluctance of donors to provide more money, endorsed the Zaire action. In August the prime ministers of Zaire and Rwanda signed an agreement calling for the repatriation of a million refugees from over 30 camps in eastern Zaire. In mid-November hundreds of thousands of Rwandans began to leave Zaire voluntarily. The exodus surprised UN personnel who were organizing a humanitarian mission to avert starvation and death from deadly diseases. The whereabouts of hundreds of thousands of other refugees was unknown. Violence continued throughout the year, some carried out by government soldiers and some by Hutu extremists.

      On June 1 a communiqué was issued by a new group, People Bearing Arms to Liberate Rwanda (PALIR), which claimed to have established a base in Cyangugu in southwestern Rwanda, near Zaire. It was thought to support rebel Hutu actions in the region; the government insisted it was no threat to security. (GUY ARNOLD)

      This article updates Rwanda, history of (Rwanda).

▪ 1996

      The landlocked republic of Rwanda is situated in central Africa. Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 6.7 million, including 2 million refugees, of whom 1.1 million are in Zaire and 600,000 are in Tanzania. Cap.: Kigali. Monetary unit: Rwanda franc, with (Oct. 6, 1995) a free rate of RF 302.21 to U.S. $1 (RF 477.76 = £1 sterling). President in 1995, Pasteur Bizimungu; prime ministers, Faustin Twagiramungu and, from August 31, Pierre Celestin Rwigema.

      In January 1995, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) called for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to act to find those responsible for the massacres that had occurred during the Rwandan civil war. The group called upon other agencies to abandon the "aid only" approach and, instead, link aid to justice in Rwanda and elsewhere. On January 7 Pres. Pasteur Bizimungu met heads of state and senior ministers of Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, and Zambia in Nairobi, Kenya, in an attempt to reconcile supporters of the defeated Hutu regime with the new government, which was dominated by the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front. At the beginning of 1995, there were some 1.1 million refugees in Zaire and another 800,000 in Burundi and Tanzania. By the end of January, the UN had abandoned its attempt to create a peacekeeping force for the camps in Zaire; instead, it was obliged to place Zairean troops under UN auspices.

      Fresh evidence of massacres was uncovered in February when 4,500 bodies were unearthed on the grounds of the Kigali central hospital, including leading political figures identified by their identity cards. The UN Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 977, which named Arusha, Tanzania, as the venue for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. There was growing fear in the refugee camps that Interahamwe (the extremist Hutu group responsible for the massacres in Rwanda) was establishing its control. In April 2,000 Hutu refugees were massacred in the Kibeho camp inside Rwanda by elements of the Rwandan Patriotic Army. At the genocide trial beginning in April, one defendant admitted to having killed 900 people. A Human Rights Watch report claimed that Zaire, France, and South Africa were assisting the former Hutu government with arms and training. Meanwhile, Rwanda's prisons were overcrowded with vast numbers of people (47,000) accused of genocide and awaiting processing by the courts. Navanethem Pillay, a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, said in December that a lack of cooperation from African nations was delaying the work of the tribunal.

      At the end of August, the president dismissed Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, the most senior non-Tutsi in the government. The new government contained a number of Hutu, including Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema. At year's end fighting continued between Tutsi government forces and Hutu rebels. (GUY ARNOLD)

      This updates the article Rwanda, history of (Rwanda).

▪ 1995

      The landlocked republic of Rwanda is situated in central Africa. Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi). Pop. (late August 1994 est.): 6.5 million to 7.2 million, including 2 million to 2.5 million refugees, of whom 1.5 million to 2 million are in Zaire. Cap.: Kigali. Monetary unit: Rwanda franc, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of RF 135.93 to U.S. $1 (RF 216.20 = £ 1 sterling). Presidents in 1994, Maj. Gen. Juvénal Habyarimana to April 6, Theodore Sindikubwabo from April 9, and, from July 19, Pasteur Bizimungu; prime ministers, Agathe Uwilingiyimana until April 7, Jean Kambanda from April 9 to July 19, and, from July 19, Faustin Twagiramungu.

      The worst genocide and mass slaughter Africa had ever seen occurred in Rwanda from April to August 1994. The government had been stockpiling weapons for months and then passing them on to Hutu militias, and the uprising, despite the death in April of Pres. Juvénal Habyarimana that set it off, was not spontaneous but part of a planned massacre of the minority Tutsi. Moreover, those Hutu who favoured genuine democracy and were prepared to work with the Tutsi were targets of killer squads as much as were the Tutsi. Leaders of the opposition Social Democrat Party and Liberal Party were killed along with about 2,300 other people before the events of April 6. On that day Habyarimana and Burundi's Pres. Cyprien Ntaryarima were killed when the plane in which they were traveling was shot down near the Kigali airport (by Hutu extremists it seemed likely). The next day Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a moderate Hutu, was assassinated by Hutu soldiers. The months of horrific massacres that followed appeared to have had several objectives: to eliminate the Tutsi minority and opponents of the military regime established by Habyarimana and to ensure the absolute dominance of Hutu extremists.

      As the conflict intensified, Kigali collapsed into chaos, though a transitional government was established under the speaker of the National Development Council, Theodore Sindikubwabo. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR), which was dominated by Tutsi and had been fighting a civil war against the government since 1990, rejected his legitimacy and continued fighting; by April 12, FPR troops were invading the outskirts of Kigali. UN attempts to mediate a cease-fire were unsuccessful. On April 22, as the crisis deepened, the UN voted to reduce its presence in the country from 2,500 to 270. On May 17, however, the UN reversed its decision and voted to establish a force of 5,500 composed mainly of Africans (Europe and the U.S. refused to contribute troops). On June 23, with UN backing, France sent a military force into Rwanda to establish a safe zone; it was opposed by the FPR, which claimed that France had always supported the government and policies of President Habyarimana. By mid-August the French had withdrawn, but only a small number of African troops under UN auspices had arrived.

      During June and July the FPR continued to make gains on the battlefield, and by the end of August it had taken control of virtually all of Rwanda. One million or more were killed in the fighting from April to August. By September there were some 1.5 million to 2 million refugees, mostly Hutu, in camps in Zaire alone, and a virtual state of war existed between different groups there. An outbreak of cholera in the crowded camps killed thousands.

      A few refugees began returning to Rwanda as early as July, although some Hutu, especially in rural areas, were reportedly victims of reprisals by the Tutsi-led FPR regime. After some vacillation the UN High Commissioner for Refugees agreed in December to provide assistance to refugees who wished to return. On November 8 the Security Council approved the establishment of an international court to examine charges of genocide. (GUY ARNOLD)

      See also Sidebar (Rwanda's Complex Ethnic History ).

      This updates the article Rwanda, history of (Rwanda).

▪ 1994

      The landlocked republic of Rwanda is situated in central Africa. Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 7,584,000. Cap.: Kigali. Monetary unit: Rwanda franc, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a free rate of RF 143.89 to U.S. $1 (RF 218 = £ 1 sterling). President in 1993, Maj. Gen. Juvénal Habyarimana; prime ministers, Dismas Nsengiyaremye and, from July 18, Agathe Uwilingiyimana.

      Much of 1993 was spent attempting to end the civil war that had erupted in October 1990 when the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) launched an offensive against the government. In January, Pres. Juvénal Habyarimana repudiated a power-sharing agreement almost as soon as it had been signed, leading to continued ethnic clashes between the Hutu of the ruling National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRNDD) and the predominantly Tutsi FPR. Severe fighting in February affected one million people, a majority of whom fled toward the capital of Kigali from the north or into neighbouring Tanzania. France moved to protect some 400 French nationals living in Rwanda by reinforcing an existing garrison there. Another massacre by the FPR was reported in mid-November.

      Peace talks continued amid the fighting until August 4, when a peace accord was signed by President Habyarimana and Col. Alex Kanyarengwe of the FPR. The pact, which would be added to the constitution, called for a transitional government open to the FPR, elections in June 1995, and the repatriation of some 650,000 refugees. In November a UN peacekeeping force arrived to help oversee the implementation of the agreement.

      In July Habyarimana named Agathe Uwilingiyimana of the opposition Republican Democratic Movement (MDR) as the new prime minister. (GUY ARNOLD)

      This updates the article Rwanda, history of (Rwanda).

* * *

Introduction

also spelled  Ruanda , officially  Republic of Rwanda , French  République Rwandaise , Rwanda  Republika y'u Rwanda 

      landlocked republic lying south of the Equator in east-central Africa. It is bounded on the west by Congo (Kinshasa) and Lake Kivu, on the north by Uganda, on the east by Tanzania, and on the south by Burundi. The capital is Kigali. Like its neighbour to the south, Rwanda is a country of minute dimensions, grinding poverty, and high population density.

      Rwanda also shares with Burundi a long history of monarchical rule. Unlike what happened in Burundi, however, the demise of the Rwandan kingship came about through a grass-roots, Hutu-led upheaval that reached its denouement before the country became independent. In Rwanda the state was forged from the ground up, in the crucible of a peasant revolution. For this reason, if Rwanda is described as an ethnocracy, the term nonetheless carries a distinctly democratic connotation inasmuch as the Hutu represent the overwhelming majority of the population.

The land

Relief

 

      The landscape is reminiscent of a tropical Switzerland. Its dominant feature is a chain of mountains of rugged beauty that runs on a north-south axis and forms part of the Congo-Nile divide. From the volcanoes of the Virunga Mountains in the northwest—where the Karisimbi reaches 14,787 feet (4,507 metres)—the altitude drops to 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) in the swampy Kagera (Kagera River) (Akagera) River valley in the east. The interior highlands consist of rolling hills and valleys, yielding to a low-lying depression west of the Congo-Nile divide along the shores of Lake Kivu (Kivu, Lake).

Drainage

      Except for the Ruzizi, through which the waters of Lake Kivu empty into Lake Tanganyika, most of the country's rivers are found on the eastern side of the Congo-Nile divide, with the Kagera, the major eastern river, forming much of the boundary between Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.

Soils

      The best soils, formed from volcanic lavas and alluvium, are found, respectively, in the northwest and along the lower portions of the larger river valleys. Elsewhere the largely metamorphic bedrock has produced soils of generally poor quality. The combination of heavy rainfall and deforestation has set in motion a process of extreme soil erosion that requires a burdensome investment of time and energy to curtail.

Climate

      Elevation accounts for Rwanda's generally mild temperatures, which average 70° F (21° C) year-round at Kigali, for example, in the interior highlands. There are significant variations, however, between the region of the volcanoes in the northwest, where heavy rainfalls are accompanied by lower average temperatures, and the warmer and drier interior highlands. The average annual rainfall in the latter is about 45 inches (1,140 millimetres) and, except for a short summer dry season, is evenly distributed throughout the year.

Plant and animal life

      Only 3 percent of the country consists of natural forest vegetation. Reforestation programs have added eucalyptus trees to previously denuded hillsides and roadsides, though not on a scale sufficient to effectively counteract erosion. A lush, Mediterranean-type vegetation covers the shores of Lake Kivu, which stands in stark contrast to the papyrus swamps of the east and the thick bamboo forests of the Virungas. There, among the volcanoes, lives Rwanda's main tourist attraction, the mountain gorilla. For sheer diversity of animal life, however, no other region can match the resources of the Akagera National Park. Buffalo and zebras, antelope and warthogs, chimpanzees and lions, as well as many rare species—such as the giant pangolin, or anteater—are part of a fauna that also includes elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses.

Settlement patterns

 Despite a high population density, the dominant pattern is one of extreme dispersal. More than 90 percent of the population is rural and lives in nuclear family compounds scattered on hillsides. Kigali, the capital, was only a hamlet at the time of independence but has grown to become the largest city.

The people

Ethnic composition

      As in Burundi, the major ethnic groups are Hutu and Tutsi, respectively accounting for almost 90 percent and about 10 percent of the total population. To these must be added the Twa hunter-gatherers, who constitute less than 1 percent of the population. Other minorities include a small group of Europeans, mostly missionaries and aid officials, a small number of Asian merchants, and a sprinkling of Swahili-speaking Africans from Tanzania and Congo (Kinshasa).

      Though the Tutsi are generally taller and of lighter complexion than the Hutu, the physical stereotypes attributed to each group are greatly mitigated by intermarriage. Social differences between them, however, traditionally were profound, as shown by the system of patron-client ties (buhake, or “cattle contract”) through which the Tutsi gained social, economic, and political ascendancy over the Hutu agriculturalists. During the revolution some 300,000 Tutsi were forced out of the country, thus reducing the former ruling aristocracy to an even smaller minority.

Linguistic composition

      French and Rwanda (more properly, Kinyarwanda), a Bantu language closely related to Rundi, are the official languages of the country, but only a small fraction of the population speaks French. Swahili (Swahili language) is widely spoken in the towns and is still the principal means of communication with Africans from neighbouring territories.

Religion

      Nowhere in Africa has Christianity had a more decisive impact than in Rwanda. The Hutu revolution derived much of its egalitarian inspiration from the teachings of the European clergy, and Catholic seminaries served as recruiting grounds for Hutu leaders. Roman Catholicism claims the allegiance of about two-thirds of the population.

Demographic trends

      Rwanda's rate of population increase is one of the highest in central Africa and is far above the productive capacity of the environment. Family-planning programs are virtually nonexistent. Approximately half of the population is under age 16; infant and child mortality rates are among the highest in Africa. Adding to the growing population pressure on the land, some 60,000 Hutu refugees from Burundi live in Rwanda, most of them having fled their homeland during the 1972 holocaust, when an estimated 100,000–150,000 Hutu perished in interethnic violence.

The economy

      The country's economy is overwhelmingly agricultural, with coffee exports accounting for more than 70 percent of its foreign exchange and tea for more than 10 percent. An inadequate subsistence agriculture, however, is the dominant feature of the economy, with heavy infusions of foreign aid required to meet chronic food shortages. Rwanda is the largest per capita recipient of foreign aid in Africa. Mineral resources make up from 10 to 15 percent of total exports.

Resources

      Mineral resources include, in addition to tin and tungsten (wolfram), tantalite, columbite, and beryl. Methane gas from Lake Kivu is used as a nitrogen fertilizer and is also converted into compressed fuel for trucks. What little gold Rwanda produces is smuggled out of the country. The Mukungwa hydroelectric power installation, the country's major source of electricity, meets only a portion of the country's energy needs, and much of the remainder must be imported from Congo (Kinshasa).

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

      Intensive cultivation is practiced throughout the country, resulting in a large diversification of food crops. To the main indigenous crops—sorghum and eleusine—must be added corn (maize), potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava (manioc), dry beans, and plantains. While eleusine is harvested in May and sorghum in July, bananas and plantains can be grown throughout the year. Arabica coffee (first introduced by European missionaries), tea, tobacco, and pyrethrum are the principal cash crops, with coffee constituting the prime export. Most of what is left of the small amount of natural forest is found on the slopes of the Virunga Mountains in the northwest. Fishing is widespread in Lake Kivu as well as in the smaller lakes of the interior, most notably Lake Muhazi and Lake Mugesera.

Industry

      Aside from small-scale mining operations and limited consumer manufactures (such as textiles, cement, paint, some pharmaceuticals, soap, matches, and furniture), for the most part industrial activities involve the processing of coffee, tea, and other agricultural commodities. Most of the country's industries are located in Kigali.

Finance and trade

      Fluctuations in the prices of primary commodities, especially coffee and tea, have had a catastrophic effect on Rwanda's balance of trade, and the country runs large annual trade deficits. In addition, Rwanda must import large quantities of food. Investment programs are almost entirely covered by external sources of financing. Some efforts have been made at promoting closer economic links between Rwanda and its neighbours through such organizations as the Economic Community of Great Lakes Countries and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Transportation

      Rwanda claims one of the densest road networks on the continent, though less than 10 percent of it is paved. From Kigali to Ruhengeri and thence to Gisenyi, roads that were once impassable in the rainy season can now be used throughout the year.

Administration and social conditions

Government

      The constitution promulgated in 1978 established a presidential form of government. The president at the time, Juvénal Habyarimana, combined the roles of head of state and head of government with that of president of what was then the single ruling party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development. He was returned to office by referenda in 1983 and 1988. A revised constitution was enacted in 1991 that allowed for multiparty participation in government. In 1994, however, after Habyarimana's death, the country slipped into chaos before elections could be held. The legislative body under the 1978 constitution, the unicameral National Development Council, was replaced by the Transitional National Assembly in 1994, which enacted another constitution in 1995.

Education

      About three-fifths of the population is literate. In the early 1990s more than two-thirds of the primary-school-age population was enrolled, but the civil strife that began in 1994 severely disrupted the school system. Even prior to 1994, few Rwandans attended secondary schools, as those had space for only 10 percent of the primary school graduates. The National University of Rwanda (1963) has campuses in Butare and Ruhengeri.

Health and welfare

      Health conditions in Rwanda are poor. The country has one of the highest percentages of AIDS carriers in Africa. Nutritional deficiencies present an even greater threat to the population, however, along with malaria and tuberculosis. Health facilities are still grossly inadequate, consisting for the most part of poorly equipped health centres and dispensaries. Welfare activities are primarily organized under the auspices of missionary societies.

Cultural life

The arts

      Much of Rwanda's traditional cultural heritage revolved around dances, praise songs, and dynastic poems designed to enhance the legitimacy of the Tutsi kingship. Since independence in 1962 another set of traditions has emerged, emphasizing a different cultural stream, identified with a Hutu heritage. Regional dances, including the celebrated hoe dance of the north, are given pride of place in the country's cultural repertoire. Traditional crafts such as basketry, ceramics, and ironworks provide another element of continuity with the past.

Cultural institutions

      Rwanda's National Ballet and the Impala Orchestra add considerable lustre to the country's cultural life, the former through a choreography leaning heavily on traditional folk dances and the latter through a distinctly modern musical repertoire. The Association des Écrivains du Rwanda (AER) keeps alive the best of Rwanda's literary traditions, while the bimonthly review Dialogue provides a forum for a vigorous intellectual exchange on a wide range of social and cultural issues.

Press and broadcasting

      The absence of stringent government censorship makes for a lively press. In addition to the weekly Imvaho (published in Kinyarwanda) and the monthly La Relève (published in French), the biweekly economic paper Kinyamateka (also in French) deserves mention. Radiodiffusion de la République Rwandaise is the state-run radio broadcaster.

René Lemarchand

History

      This discussion focuses on Rwanda from the 16th century. For a treatment of earlier periods and of the country in its regional context, see Central Africa, history of (Central Africa).

Pre-colonial Rwanda

      The area that is now Rwanda is believed to have been initially settled by the Twa, who were closely followed by the Hutu, probably sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries, and then by the Tutsi beginning in the 14th century. Tutsi traditions trace the birth of the Rwanda kingdom to the miraculous feats of its founding hero, Gihanga, whose coming to Rwanda is said to coincide with the advent of civilization. A more historical appraisal, however, would emphasize a long process of Tutsi migrations from the north, culminating in the 16th century with the emergence of a small nuclear kingdom in the central region, ruled by the Tutsi minority, that persisted until the arrival of Europeans in the 19th century. Because of this, Rwanda differs from most countries in sub-Saharan Africa in that its general boundaries were not drawn by European powers but reflect the fully established nation-state that existed until the introduction of German rule.

Rwanda under German and Belgian control

 From 1894 to 1918, Rwanda, along with Burundi, was part of German East Africa. After Belgium became the administering authority under the mandates system of the League of Nations (Nations, League of), Rwanda and Burundi formed a single administrative entity; they continued to be jointly administered as the Territory of Ruanda-Urundi until the end of the Belgian trusteeship in 1962. By then, however, the two states had evolved radically different political systems. Rwanda had declared itself a republic in January 1961 and forced its monarch (mwami), Kigeri, into exile. Burundi, on the other hand, retained the formal trappings of a constitutional monarchy until 1966.

      The Rwanda revolution was rooted partly in a traditional system of stratification based on an all-embracing “premise of inequality” and partly in a colonial heritage that greatly increased the oppressiveness of the few over the many. Tutsi hegemony was unquestionably more burdensome under Belgian rule than at any time prior to European colonization. By the end of World War II, a growing number of colonial civil servants and missionaries had come to recognize the legitimacy of Hutu claims against the ruling Tutsi minority. The proclamation of the republic a year and a half before the country acceded to independence testifies to the substantial support extended by the trusteeship authorities to the revolution.

Independence and the 1960s

      What began as a peasant revolt in November 1959 eventually transformed itself into an organized political movement aimed at the overthrow of the monarchy and the vesting of full political power in Hutu hands. Under the leadership of Grégoire Kayibanda, Rwanda's first president, the Party for Hutu Emancipation (Parti du Mouvement de l'Emancipation du Peuple Hutu) emerged as the spearhead of the revolution. Communal elections were held in 1960, resulting in a massive transfer of power to Hutu elements at the local level. And in the wake of the coup (January 1961) in Gitarama in central Rwanda, which was carried off with the tacit approval of the Belgian authorities, an all-Hutu provisional government came into being. Therefore, by the time that independence was proclaimed in July 1962, the revolution had already run its course. Thousands of Tutsi began fleeing Rwanda, and by early 1964—following a failed Tutsi raid from Burundi—at least 150,000 were in neighbouring countries.

The Habyarimana era

      With the elimination of Tutsi elements from the political arena, north-south regional competition among Hutu politicians arose, reflecting the comparatively privileged position of those from the central and southern regions within the party, the government, and the administration. Regional tensions came to a head in July 1973, when a group of army officers from the north overthrew the Kayibanda regime in a bloodless coup and installed a northerner, Maj. Gen. Juvénal Habyarimana. Habyarimana gave a distinctly regional coloration to the institutions of the state during his 21 years in power.

      North-south polarities eventually gave way to subregional factions within the northern establishment. By 1980 the principal factions were the Bashiru and Bagoyi elements, respectively identified with the Bushiru and Bugoyi subregions. Habyarimana sided with the Bashiru faction and was the target of an abortive, Bagoyi-inspired coup in April 1980. Thereafter Habyarimana remained in power by holding referenda in 1983 and 1988, thus circumventing the stipulation in the 1978 constitution that the president serve only a single five-year term.

      Tension between the Hutu and Tutsi flared in 1990, when the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (Front Patriotique Rwandais; FPR) rebels invaded from Uganda. A cease-fire was negotiated in early 1991, and negotiations between the FPR and the government began in 1992. In the meantime, revisions were made to the 1978 constitution, and the new document, allowing multiparty participation in the government, was promulgated in June 1991. An agreement between the government and the FPR was signed in August 1993 at Arusha, Tanz., that called for the creation of a broad-based transition government that would include the FPR; Hutu extremists were strongly opposed to this plan.

genocide and aftermath

      On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi Pres. Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali; the ensuing crash killed everyone on board. Although the identity of the person or group who fired upon the plane has never been conclusively determined, Hutu extremists were originally thought to have been responsible; later there were allegations that FPR leaders were responsible. The next day Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a moderate Hutu, was assassinated. Her murder was part of a campaign to eliminate moderate Hutu or Tutsi politicians, with the goal of creating a political vacuum and thus allowing for the formation of the interim government of Hutu extremists that was inaugurated on April 9. Over the next several months the wave of anarchy and mass killings continued, in which the army and Hutu militia groups known as the Interahamwe (“Those Who Attack Together”) and Impuzamugambi (“Those Who Have the Same Goal”) played a central role. The Tutsi-led FPR responded by resuming their fight and were successful in securing most of the country by early July. Later that month a transitional government was established, with Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, as president and Paul Kagame (Kagame, Paul), a Tutsi, as vice president.

 During the genocide more than 800,000 civilians, primarily Tutsi, were killed. As many as 2,000,000 Rwandans, both Hutu and Tutsi, fled, most of them into eastern Zaire (after 1997 called the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo)); the great majority returned to Rwanda in late 1996 and early 1997. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), established by the United Nations Security Council (United Nations) to try the tens of thousands (mostly Hutu) who had committed acts of genocide in 1994, began trying its first cases in 1995. The tremendous number of people to be tried resulted in an inability to proceed in a timely manner, and in 2000 tens of thousands of prisoners continued to await trial. In 2001 the government proposed trying the majority of cases through the traditional gacaca legal system; the gacaca courts were inaugurated in 2002 and began operating in phases over the next several years. The government also periodically granted mass amnesty to prisoners accused of lesser crimes.

Regional conflict

      Meanwhile, in late 1996 Rwanda's military forces entered neighbouring Zaire to expel Hutu extremists, who had fled there after the genocide and were using that country as a base for launching attacks on Rwanda. Frustrated by the lack of support from Zairean president Mobutu Sese Seko regarding these efforts, Rwanda's troops also intervened in the rebellion taking place in that country: along with Ugandan troops, they lent crucial support to rebel Laurent Kabila (Kabila, Laurent), to whom Mobutu eventually relinquished power in 1997. Little more than a year after Kabila became president of what was by then known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda again cited frustration with that country's government over the issue of Hutu extremists and lent support to rebel factions attempting to overthrow Kabila. Because of the number of African countries that intervened in Congo's civil war to support either Kabila or the rebels, the conflict was referred to as Africa's “first world war.” Rwanda faced much international criticism over its involvement in the war, including a suspension of foreign aid. After many attempts at resolution, a peace agreement was reached in 2002 that provided for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congo in exchange for the disarmament and repatriation of Hutu extremist rebels in Congo.

Moving forward

      Although Hutu insurgencies continued to occupy Rwanda's government, a new constitution aimed at preventing further ethnic strife in the country was promulgated in 2003. Later that year the first multiparty democratic elections in Rwanda since independence were held; Kagame, who had ascended to the presidency after Bizimungu resigned in 2000, was victorious in securing another term. In 2006 the Rwandan government implemented a significant administrative reorganization, replacing the previous 12 prefectures with 5 larger multiethnic provinces intended to promote power sharing and reduce ethnic conflict. The country's economy, adversely affected by the conflict of the early 1990s, continued to recover gradually. Recovery efforts were aided in 2006, when significant debt relief was granted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and in 2007, when Rwanda joined the East African Community, a regional trade and development bloc.

      In the early 21st century the events of 1994 still weighed heavily in Rwanda. In 2004 Kagame came under fire after a newspaper leaked the findings of a report commissioned by French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, including allegations that Kagame and other FPR leaders ordered the rocket attack that caused the 1994 plane crash that killed Habyarimana and triggered the genocide (echoing the claims of some Rwandan dissidents); Kagame vehemently denied the allegations. Rwanda severed relations with France in 2006 when Bruguière—claiming jurisdiction because the flight crew members that perished in the crash were French—signed international arrest warrants for several of Kagame's close associates for their alleged roles in the plane crash and requested that Kagame stand trial at the ICTR. As before, Kagame denied having anything to do with the crash and countered by alleging that the French government armed and advised the rebels responsible for the genocide. Later that year Rwanda established a commission to investigate France's role in the genocide. In October 2007 the Rwandan government launched a formal investigation into the 1994 plane crash.

René Lemarchand Ed.

Additional Reading

J.F. Gotanegre, Christian Prioul, and Pierre Sirven, Géographie du Rwanda (1974); and Christian Prioul and Pierre Sirven (eds.), Atlas du Rwanda (1981), provide introductions. The standard work on history is Jan Vansina, L'Évolution du royaume du Rwanda des origines à 1900 (1962). For insights into the rituals and traditions of the monarchy, see Marcel D'Hertefelt and André Coupez (eds.), La Royauté sacrée de l'ancien Rwanda (1964). For a detailed analysis of the dynamics of ethnicity in prerevolutionary Rwanda, Catharine Newbury, The Cohesion of Oppression (1988), remains unsurpassed. The role of the church prior to and during the revolution is analyzed in Ian Linden and Jane Linden, Church and Revolution in Rwanda (1977). Jean-Paul Harroy, Rwanda (1984), is a general survey of the transition to independence, by a former high-ranking colonial civil servant. The country's recent political history is discussed at length in René Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi (1970); and Filip Reyntjens, Pouvoir et droit au Rwanda (1985).René Lemarchand

* * *