Until 1994 Rwanda – and its Bahutu and Batutsi people – was relatively unknown in international relations. The country is small, not endowed with resources, and until 1994, had no strategic value. It was first colonized briefly by Germany and after World War I and until 1962 – when it became independent – by Belgium under the United Nations trusteeship mandate. The ‘social revolution’ of 1959 resulted in Bahutu replacing Batutsi that had ruled the country since the 16th century. Batutsi went into exile in neighboring countries and immediately started an armed struggle – which intensified from 1990 with external support – to reestablish their hegemony over Bahutu who constitute up to 90 percent of the total population with 9 percent Batutsi and 1 percent Batwa.
In 1994 the shooting down of the presidential plane and the death of Bahutu presidents of Rwanda and Burundi set off the killing – by Bahutu extremists who feared losing power – of moderate Bahutu and Batutsi who opposed Habyarimana government in Rwanda. After hesitation the international community decided that these killings constituted genocide. The Bahutu government was replaced by Batutsi-led regime thereby restoring Batutsi minority hegemony over Bahutu majority in Rwanda.
Batutsi then began revenge massacres of Bahutu inside Rwanda – witness the Kibeho IDP (internally displaced persons) camp where up to 8,000 Bahutu were massacred – and outside Rwanda especially in eastern DRC.
The international community – which at times has been accused of practicing double standards – has refused to declare these revenge massacres as genocide although according to many commentators they qualify for such categorization. Efforts to determine how many Bahutu have been massacred in eastern DRC have been blocked starting with Kabila I regime. The publication of reports that have reported such massacres has been suppressed or information on these massacres has been deleted before reports are published. As an aside, the genocide of Bahutu in Burundi in 1972 committed by Batutsi was ignored by the international community including the then Organization of African Unity (OAU).
During a mission to Burundi, DRC and Rwanda in January/February 2010, I heard shocking stories – formally and informally – about the massacre of Rwandese and Congolese Bahutu people – children, women and men – in eastern DRC which according to these stories amount to genocide. Sadly these killings committed by Batutsi in eastern DRC and the suffering of Bahutu inside Rwanda have been covered up including by some embassies in Rwanda and DRC from countries that preach the virtues of human rights for every individual on earth.
The reason why Bahutu’s suffering – since 1994 or earlier when the rebels invaded Rwanda from Uganda – has received little attention springs from the fact that research in relations between Batutsi and Bahutu has concentrated on the events of 1994, concluding that Bahutu are barbarians, wild beasts or bad people that do not deserve consideration in the halls of civilized people. That is why they have suffered and continue to suffer inside and outside Rwanda. In Rwanda Bahutu have been pushed into subsistence agriculture on reduced land and plans are reported to be underway to keep Bahutu down indefinitely. Some have complained that birth control in Rwanda is designed to reduce Bahutu numbers.
The Rwanda Tutsi-led government is reported to have decided that all Bahutu are genocidaires – whether they participated, assisted or even opposed genocide or were born after 1994. Consequently, the government of Rwanda is not ready to discuss reconciliation with ‘genocidaires’. Bahutu inside the country have seen their land and property taken away but cannot complain lest they are accused of committing genocide and thrown into jail or worse.
The purpose of this article is to provide some historical highlights that might assist in understanding the relations between Bahutu and Batutsi since they met in the region in the 16th century.
It is well established that Bantu-speaking people including Bahutu arrived in the Great Lakes region from the Nigeria/Cameroon border some 3000 years ago. They brought with them short-horn cattle, goats and sheep and technology. The cleared the land, grew a wide range of food crops, herded livestock and supplemented diets with wild game meat, fruits and vegetables and wild fish. They also engaged in manufacturing activities based on local raw materials like iron ore, clay, timber and other vegetative materials that were used to make mats and cloth. They traded surplus foodstuffs and manufactured products and accumulated wealth. They developed kingdoms with title of Mwami (king). They had adequate governance systems that maintained law and order and settled disputes when they arose. They also had their traditional religions and spoke the Bantu language.
Bahutu were living in villages and enjoying relative peace with their neighbors when the Nilotic Luo-speaking people arrived from the north with their long-horn cattle. As cattle herders who often fight over pasture, water and cattle theft, they arrived in Rwanda with that experience. They defeated Bahutu people, took away their land and converted them into serfs. In fact the defeated Bantu were dubbed Bahutu – the equivalent of Bairu in Uganda – which means slaves. The long-horn cattle people assumed the name of Batutsi who are cousins of Bahima and Bahororo in Uganda and Banyamulenge in eastern DRC.
Batutsi occupied all Bahutu land including pasture and Bahutu cattle went out of existence. Since Batutsi do not like cultivation because it is considered below their dignity, they devised a division of labor whereby Batutsi owned virtually all cattle in Rwanda and Bahutu cultivated food much of it to feed Batutsi in return for protection during periods of conflicts. That is how the designations of Bahutu as agriculturalists and Batutsi as pastoralists came about and the categorization has been maintained although the situation on the ground is different since the 1960s.
Before Batutsi arrived as we saw above, Bahutu were engaged in a wide range of economic activities including crop cultivation, livestock herding and manufacturing enterprises. They ate balanced foodstuffs in quantity and quality, lived healthy, active and productive lives and were relatively wealthy. All this changed with the arrival of Batutsi. The king became owner of the land and Bahutu became slaves or serfs on land that was theirs.
During the harsh rule of King Kigeri Rwabugiri from 1860 to 1895, Bahutu suffered tremendously. The king introduced forced labor applicable only to Bahutu. Laws and other practices worked against Bahutu. A few examples will suffice. Bahutu men were executed for raping Batutsi women whereas compensation was negotiated when Batutsi men raped Bahutu women – and possibly without paying anything. Bahutu men carried Batutsi men and women in litters for nothing whenever they went out and Batutsi spit in the mouth of Bahutu. When conditions were tough like during famines which were frequent, Bahutu would beg Batutsi to be their ‘father’ and they his ‘sons’ in order to get something to eat and would promise to do anything for their ‘father’. Bahutu suffered great humiliation, marginalization and impoverishment. Often they put up resistance which Batutsi ruthlessly crushed.
By the time Europeans arrived at the turn of the 20th century Bahutu were so thoroughly subjugated that the situation was considered to be stable and peaceful and constituting good relations between Batutsi rulers and Bahutu subjects that should be maintained. On top of this layer of subjugation and exploitation, the Europeans added the racial dimension. The Germans and later Belgians identified with Batutsi people whom they regarded as white, very intelligent, born to rule and responsible for the civilizations they found in the area. Their sons and daughters were educated, got jobs in colonial and missionary administrations and grew rich. They became the European agents in the administration of Rwanda under the indirect rule model.
On the other hand, Bahutu were marginalized as black people without a history or civilization, short and ugly, unintelligent and without the capacity for leadership. Educating them was therefore considered a waste of time and resources. They were reduced to menial workers under forced labor conditions. They had no means to change the status quo. For over 60 years of colonial rule, Bahutu kept quiet, suffered humiliation, marginalization and impoverishment but harbored deep resentment.
Under pressure from the international community since the 1950s which called for independence, democracy and majority rule, the Belgian administration changed sides and supported Bahutu who constituted the majority. Bahutu wanted to find a formula to co-exist with minority Batutsi but the gesture was turned down. Batutsi wanted to continue ruling after independence under a model that was introduced in South Africa in 1910 when South Africa became independent with a minority government of whites over black majority.
In 1959 Batutsi youth attacked a Muhutu (singular for Bahutu) who had been appointed a chief. This action sparked a political struggle that resulted in the defeat of Batutsi and the abolition of the monarchy hence the ‘Social Revolution’ in Rwanda.
The return to power of Batutsi reminded Bahutu of the pre- and colonial days of suffering, humiliation and exploitation. Bahutu extremists took advantage of the invasion of Rwanda from Uganda and incited Bahutu to resist – hence the genocide against Bahutu and Batutsi that took place in 1994.
Batutsi recapture of political power in Rwanda by military means in 1994 has demonstrated that if political means do not work then resort to military means and get what you want regardless of how long it takes. It took Batutsi 35 years to retake Kigali.
While in DRC early this year I learned that Bahutu are now teaching their children that they must regain the power they lost in 1994. If this does not happen by political means, then Bahutu must not rule out the possibility of recapturing Kigali by force regardless of how long it lasts. They hope that the international environment might change in their favor as it did in the 1950s.
The above analysis leaves me with one recommendation. All peace loving people in the world must bring pressure on the government of Rwanda to open up political space for dialogue and free democracy to determine who governs that country. Continuing to label all Bahutu as genocidaires and shutting them out of the political process and the associated economic and social benefits and hoping that the international community will always side with Batutsi as is the case now is not only naïve but dangerous in the long term.