Bugesera invasion: Difference between revisions

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Shortly after the invasion, the Rwandan regime moved to purge moderate Hutu and leading Tutsi politicians. About 20 opposition leaders from UNAR and the Rassemblement Démocratique du Rwanda were accused of collaborating with the rebels, arrested, and executed in [[Ruhengeri]]. Kayibanda assigned ministers in his government to each of the country's ten prefectures—dubbed "emergency regions"—and granted them emergency powers to defend them, including the responsibility of organising Hutu "self-defence" militias. The militias conducted systematic reprisals against Tutsis, with the most intense violence occurring in the [[Gikongoro Province|prefecture of Gikongoro]]. Killings lasted into January 1964, with estimates of the death toll reaching as high as 20,000 Tutsi killed. Thousands more fled the country. The massacres provoked international outcry and accusations of [[genocide]], which were denied by the Rwandan government. The invasion and subsequent reprisals left UNAR's domestic bases of support destroyed and resulted in Rwanda becoming a ''de facto'' one-party PARMEHUTU state, while the status of the GNR was also improved. Inyenzi attacks persisted for several years but were easily repulsed. There remains disagreement over whether the reprisal killings of Tutsis constituted genocide.

=== Rwandan Revolution ===

{{main|Rwandan Revolution}}

Following the end of [[World War I]] in 1918, the victorious states partitioned the colonies of the defeated [[German Empire]]. Belgium was awarded the [[League of Nations mandate|mandate]] of [[Ruanda-Urundi]]—two conjoined territories in East Africa—under the auspices of the [[League of Nations]].{{sfn|Stapleton|2017|p=34}} In Ruanda, the Belgian colonial administration undermined the traditional monarchy, promoted [[Christianity]], and centralised governance under their direct rule.{{sfn|Stapleton|2017|pp=34–35}} As part of this, the Belgians institutionalised a racial hierarchy which favoured the [[Tutsi]] ethnic minority at the expense of the [[Hutu]] majority. The Belgians supported racial theories which held the Tutsis to be of superior, non-African origin and entrusted them with privileged access to education and administrative positions, while most Hutus were relegated to economic subservience to help Belgian businesses.{{sfn|Stapleton|2017|pp=35–36}}

 

 

=== Inyenzi and GNR ===

Early UNAR Tutsi insurgent activity was confined to acts of terrorism against specific individuals and families. As more Tutsi refugees fled Rwanda, UNAR's exile ranks grew, and more systematic attempts were made to raise bands of combatants to launch raids on targeted areas. Violence in Rwanda dramatically increased as Tutsis fled ''en masse'' in early 1960; the first acts of violence were retaliatory attacks by Tutsis against Hutu officials who had mistreated them, but by early 1962 planned raids had become predominant. These were intended to inflict maximum damage to the Hutu-dominated administration and were generally conducted without consideration for government reprisals on local Tutsis.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=217}} By 1963, about 60,000 Tutsi refugees were living in the [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Republic of the Congo]], 48,000 in Uganda, 25,000 in Burundi, and 16,000 in [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]].<ref name = nyt/> As the insurgents were known to attack at night, they were called Inyenzi, meaning "cockroaches". It is unknown whether the rebels themselves or officials of the Kayibanda regime coined the term. While later used in a derogatory sense against Tutsis generally, most contemporary sources refer to the exile rebels with the term in a non-pejorative fashion.{{sfn|Straus|2013|p=184}} Alternatively, the rebels called themselves Inkotanyi ("fighters/warriors"). As a result of the rivalries among the UNAR exile leadership and their geographic division, the insurgents were never able to adopt a cohesive strategy or unified command structure.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|loc=UNAR insurgency}} The [[People's Republic of China]] also provided the guerillas with training opportunities and financial support.{{sfn|Stapleton|2017|pp=39–40}}{{efn|The People's Republic of China reportedly chose to support the rebels as a response to Kayibanda's denunciations of communism and his recognition of [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Taiwan|rival Chinese government]].<ref>{{cite news| last = Sulzberger| first = C. L.| title = Foreign Affairs: Prince Charlie and the Cockroaches| newspaper = The New York Times| page = 30| date = 6 April 1964}}</ref> The People's Republic of China reportedly provided US$ 120,000 to Kigeli and offered to train 10 Inyenzi in revolutionary tactics.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|loc=UNAR insurgency}} }} The Tutsi rebels reportedly also enlisted some defectors of the [[Armée Nationale Congolaise]] (National Congolese Army),<ref name = nyt/> and were known to cooperate with [[Lumumbism|Lumumbist]] factions in the Congo in the hopes of achieving future assistance against the Rwandan government.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=214}}{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|loc=UNAR insurgency}} However, the Congolese, Ugandan, and Tanganyikan governments were opposed to the radicalisation of the refugees, and tried to curb Inyenzi activity on their soil.{{sfn|Onoma|2013|p=204}} In February and March 1962 Inyenzi conducted two raids in the prefecture of Biumba, killing several Hutu policemen and civil servants. From 26 to 27 March the Hutu population of the prefecture retaliated by killing 1,000–2,000 Tutsi civilians, burning their homes, and looting their property.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|pp=217, 219}}

 

 

== Prelude ==

The decision to mount a large attack against Rwanda in late 1963 was made by UNAR leaders in Burundi that November.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=219}} In August communal elections had been held throughout Rwanda. PARMEHUTU won an overwhelming majority of the offices,<ref name= emmanuel/> but the campaign revealed significant internal disagreements in the party which allowed UNAR to consolidate its domestic support.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=219}} In October 1963 Kigeli gave $23,000—a portion of the money he had received from the Chinese government—to Papias Gatwa, his personal secretary, with instructions to pass it on to Rukeba, who was in the Congo at that moment.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=206}} This money enabled UNAR's exiled leaders to buy arms and ammunition.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=219}} There were rumours that Gatwa and Rukeba had actually embezzled the money given to them by Kigeli, and that Rukeba had ordered the subsequent attacks into Rwanda to "justify" the use of the funds.{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=206}} According to journalist [[Linda Melvern]], the Inyenzi in Burundi also acquired arms with funds garnered by selling food provided by relief organisations to refugees.{{sfn|Melvern|2000|p=17}} The Inyenzi could rely upon a large amount of small arms seized from a police armoury in [[Ngara]], Tanganyika earlier in the year. By November, Rukeba's headquarters in Bujumbura had been able to establish effective communications between Tutsi refugee centres in Burundi and Tanzania. Academic [[René Lemarchand]] concluded, "if anyone can be said to bear responsibility for the raids that were launched from Burundi, it was Rukeba."{{sfn|Lemarchand|1970|p=219}} Cooper and Fontanellaz argued that the decision for a large invasion, designed to win the conflict in one fell swoop, was motivated by the capture and execution of several rebel leaders in late 1963.{{sfn|Cooper|Fontanellaz|2015|loc=UNAR insurgency}}

 

[[Category:Massacres in Rwanda]]

[[Category:20th-century mass murder in Africa]]