Rwanda is a place with a severe history. There is no ignoring the tragedy that occurred here only 20 years ago. I went to a memorial of the genocide in Kigali; the capital of Rwanda. This memorial is the final resting ground for 250,000 victims of the genocide. I learned a little bit more of the events leading up to the genocide and the effect that it had on its people.
Genocide is usually the act of a government to destroy a part of the population under its control.
In 1932 Rwandans were classified into two groups called the Tutsi’s and Hutu’s. If you had at least 10 cows you were classified as a Tutsi and if you had less than 10 cows you were a Hutu. This classification applied to you as well as your descendants. In 1952-1973 there were 700,000 Tutsis exiled from Rwanda this was an attempt at an ethnic cleansing, in 1990 the Tutsi’s invaded Rwanda. The Hutus were forbidden to associate with the Tutsis or they were considered a traitor and were treated as a Tutsi which most likely meant death.
The French loaned 12 million dollars to Rwanda to purchase weapons. Many Hutu’s considered the French allies. One of the Rwandan generals came up with an extermination plan to kill 1000 people every 20 minutes. The genocide began in 1994 after the president’s plane was shot down. Road blocks were set up and shooting began within the hour. Death lists were prepared to begin the elimination of the Tutsis. House to house searches began and the people on the list were murdered, often times in front of their families.
Women were forced to murder their own children, children were forced to kill their friends and neighbors, women in mixed marriages were raped as punishment and their families were forced to watch. People were slaughtered with machetes, guns, and bombs. Over 1 million people died and over 300,000 children were orphaned. Thousands of the survivors were injured from attempted killings. Rwanda was dead.
RPF troops came to Rwanda’s aid. These troops were people from surrounding African countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, and the Congo. Many Hutus fled Rwanda to avoid revenge killings from the RPF. Over 2/3rds of Rwanda’s population was displaced with refugees fleeing from danger and Hutu’s fleeing to avoid conflict. Over 100,000 people were indicted for crimes of genocide.
The genocide lasted 100 days.
Although Rwanda is now a developing country the memories of this tragedy linger. Many people who survived have lost family members or are still suffering silently from the pain of the recent past.
Nyamata Church is another memorial which is a site where 6,000 people were hiding from the attacks of the genocide. All of those people died. I visited this church which is about 45 minutes outside of Kigali. The church is filled with clothes from the victims that never escaped those 4 walls. There are hundreds of bullet holes in the ceiling and walls, blood stains on the altar and the bricks. My throat was constricted, my heart was pounding, and I had difficulty breathing.
Even with all of the evidence surrounding me it was difficult to fully grasp all that occurred in the place that I was standing.
Outside the church there are mass graves that held thousands of the victims. I climbed down the stairs that led to the open mass grave. The bones and skulls of the victims were surrounding me on both sides. I could barely breath.
The man guiding us through the church is a survivor of the genocide. He was 11 at the time and both of his parents were killed. He is one of thousands with a similar story, living every day with the memories of this tragedy.
Posting pictures with this blog seemed inappropriate. The one thought I can leave you with is that God values every life that was ended during this genocide, He knows the names of every mother, baby, and father who were brutally killed and He cares about each person. Although justice may not be served here on this earth, God is just and the people who killed these innocent people will pay for what they did.
