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In the 25 years since the Rwandan genocide, the country has become one of Africa's success stories. His remarkable recovery stems from efforts to build the nation. But some critics argue that this attempt at ethnic reconciliation is far from over. This week, as part of Spotlight on Africa, RFI's Christina Okello travels to Kigali to explore how Rwanda has handled the trauma of its past.
Nestled in a courtyard away from the main commercial area of Kigali, lies a small memorial dominated by an imposing red brick building and white panels. The building is the Holy Family Church, the largest Catholic Church in Rwanda. It is also there that more than 2,000 people were mbadacred during the 1994 genocide.
"We still remember the people who were killed, who call themselves Abatutsi [or Tutsi] people, "says Nadine Ouwiduhaye, 19, with the names of the victims engraved on a black marble wall.
When the violence erupted on April 7 after the badbadination of President Juvenal Habyarimana, many residents of troubled Kigali neighborhoods fled to the Holy Family Church to seek refuge, before being handed over to the Hutu militias by the responsible priest.
"I'm just looking at these people; They're too many. It's something like inhumanity. How can people take something like a knife and put themselves on others' necks, how can they kill their people, kill their children, how can people kill their mother? Just too many questions, "Ouwiduhaye told RFI.
Does God listen?
Nearly one million Tutsis and Hutus were killed in a brutal 100-day mbadacre that led some to question whether God exists. In his commemoration speech of 25th anniversary of badbadinations, President Paul Kagame reiterated the poem of a girl who once said, "Where was God in those dark nights of genocide?
"People say that he was away, no he was not," replies Ouwiduhaye.
"Something bad has happened, it does not mean that God has forgotten us. He tries to teach us how we can treat ourselves, how we can be together. Before, they did not have unity, they just had something like Tutsi, Hutu, Twa. But for the moment, we are only Rwandan, we are all Rwandan, "she said.
A RWANDA
Today, ethnic labels in Rwanda have been erased and most children like Ouwiduhaye grew up with the idea of "Rwandan", which was instilled into them in educational camps. ingando who try to minimize ethnic differences.
"Many people do not understand how we did this reconciliation," said Rwandan author Jean-Marie Vianney Rurangwa, invited to discuss his work for the preservation of the memory of the genocide.
Author of four books on the subject, including At the Exit From Hell, Rurangwa explains how writing about genocide can "teach young people all these atrocities so that they can not be repeated."
GENOCIDE ROOTS
Explaining the racist ideology that has sown the roots of hatred between Hutus and Tutsis is a start. Traditionally, Hutus were people who cultivated crops, while a Tutsi minority formed the livestock aristocracy of Rwanda. Since cattle were worth more than crops, the Tutsi minority became the local elite. Gradually, these clbad divisions became ethnic distinctions, which were then exploited by the German and Belgian colonizers. When in 1959 a Hutu elite overthrew the Tutsi royal family, the regime that followed took a bitter nationalist turn, forcing thousands of Tutsis to flee.
"The genocide did not start in 1994," Rurangwa said. "There were episodes of violence even in 1961", after the Hutu majority won the first elections in the country; and "until 1990," he said.
"Forgetting would be a mistake," he adds, explaining how writing about his experience and the identity battle he has been facing since is "cathartic" not only for him but for others. "Sharing the pain can be a kind of healing."
GENOCIDE DENIAL CHARGES
Yet officials blame detractors for trying to create an alternative truth. People like Victoire Ingabire, leader of the Hutu opposition, are in the line of fire. The government has long accused it of inciting "divisionist" rebellion (ie, Hutu against Tutsi), an allegation that it has always denied.
Last September, Ingabire was released from prison after eight years in prison, following a decision by Kagame to grant his pardon to more than 2,000 inmates. She continues to campaign for what she believes to be the truth.
"I demand justice for all Rwandans, that does not mean that I downplay the importance of the Tutsi genocide," she told RFI.
By everyone, Ingabire means the thousands of Hutu civilians who were killed by the forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) of Kagame while they were tracking down those who had committed genocide in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, who were Is then transformed into calamitous regional wars.
"The crimes committed by some members of the RPF are never mentioned. We are not allowed to discuss it. So, how can we talk about reconciliation? "
Still together
Yet, everywhere, the state recites reconciliation and unity. When we speak at the 25thth In commemoration of the genocide, Paul Kagame vowed never to allow such large-scale violence to happen again.
And indeed, there was none. Dissent was also carefully suppressed during the RPF 's ruling period, much to the chagrin of human rights groups.
In addition, government indicators such as the Rwanda Reconciliation Barometer, an opinion survey conducted every five years, regularly report that over 90% of Rwandans believe that their communities have fully reconciled.
This reconciliation builds on a collective memory of the past to build a post-ethnic national identity.
The goal is to get people "out of their traumatic memories and conflicting identities to become a nation," says Eric Ndushabandi, director of the Institute for Research and Dialogue for Peace.
The political choice is to say "You have learned this, you have read it, but the truth is this," he told RFI.
Deal with trauma
Common experiences often allow individuals to cope when memories are particularly traumatic. But some Rwandans just want to forget.
"There are traumatic wounds coming back," says Ndushabandi, who runs community dialogue sessions between survivors and aggressors in the villages. "People look at their traumatic scars and memories and they say, oh, that closeness and that reciprocal relationship; it's always very problematic.
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Research Chair in Historic Trauma and Transformation at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, believes that the promotion of a Rwandan identity could be "an escape route for those who have to badume responsibility for their actions ". participated in activities during the 25th commemoration of the genocide.
Although building a nation is "a great idea that we South Africans can learn from, the problem is that people immediately replace the idea of being" I am a Rwanda, "without taking responsibility and recognizing what they did. I think that's where the slip lies, "she told RFI.
WILL PASS
The trauma of the genocide remains endemic throughout the population and particularly affects young people, even though many of them were born after the mbadacres.
"I can not say that it did not affect me [the genocide]because my parents, my grandparents are affected, "said Deborah Chisozo, a student at the University of Rwanda.
"It's a difficult time for everyone because they tell us stories about this story, it was a very dark time here in our country," she told RFI, as the country observes a period of 100 days of mourning for 800,000 Tutsis and 30,000 moderate Hutus who were killed.
"I feel bad, some of my friends have trauma because of that time. But we will adopt it and hope to have a beautiful country. "
There are "encouraging signs" coming from youth, says Vincent Sezibera, professor of psychology at the University of Rwanda.
"Wherever you go, you have youth clubs," made up of "children from survivors and children from abusers, working together," he told RFI.
Young people have been the centerpiece of the tribute made this year. "They send a clear message that a child born to an abuser is not necessarily an aggressor. They continue even stating that the author of yesterday is not necessarily the author of tomorrow, "Sezibera adds.
These youth clubs have taken names such as Ikisere, which means hope in Kinyarwanda, the official language. "I am surprised by their resistance but also by the creativity of the younger generation. And yes, it gives me hope, "he said.
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