Conclusion

Today, I arrived back in the United States. As I reflect back on my month-long trip, I realize how much my perspective not only on Rwanda but even the entire world has changed.

Before visiting Rwanda, I - like most other people - expected a war-torn country, ridden with poverty. Even though I knew it was currently a safe place, I still remained apprehensive of visiting the country in which nearly 1 million people had been murdered within 100 days.

Yet, Rwanda is not a country filled with danger, not now at least. Rwanda, "the Land of 1000 Hills" actually has the most friendly population, not to mention the most beautiful landscape, I have ever seen. Every person, whether I knew them or not, shook hands with me and welcomed me to Rwanda. Friends - no matter what age or gender- walked through the streets holding hands, an action which I found very strange at first. Although I'd always associated Rwanda with genocide, visiting the country actually made such an association nearly impossible considering the country's friendly atmosphere. The question everyone asks after visiting this country makes much more sense to me now: how could such horrible acts happen in such a beautiful place?

Rwanda has remarkably progressed since the genocide, especially because of the government's effective policies which join the two goals of reconstruction and reconciliation. Through institutions such as the Gacaca courts, FARG, and National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, Rwanda has managed to address the roots of genocide which are division and inequality and replace them with unity and harmony. Politically, economically, and socially, the government has begun to try to equalize society by giving everyone, both Hutus and Tutsis (the ID cards which made these distinctions have been abolished), the same opportunities within government, business, school etc. Although it's true that Rwanda still has much progress to make in order to truly end discrimination and division, the potential and dedication of the country towards reconciliation are clearly great.

Many people wonder how I, as a 16-year-old, have been able to deal with the images and stories I've heard concerning the genocide. In the US, I'd always viewed the horror of the genocide as a figure, 800,000 deaths. But to go to Rwanda and hear of individual murders made the terror of the genocide much more difficult to handle, and much more difficult to comprehend. It's true that much of what I saw will forever be etched into my memory, but I also realize that only by seeing the images I saw and hearing the stories I heard can I now truly say that I understand what took place during the genocide. I recognize now the suppression that the Hutus suffered which allowed them to commit such evil acts and the true intensity of torture that the genocide victims suffered from 1959 until 2004.

If anything, I hope people especially students realize their ability to help the world just by educating themselves about issues and problems that go on. Many people still don't know what happened in Rwanda 12 years ago (I was one of those people until last year) and what's upsetting is that even after that atrocity, many people are unaware of the current genocide taking place today in Darfur, Sudan. Hopefully, Rwanda will one day serve as a warning for what can happen when the world fails to intervene and help, and also as a model of reconstruction and reconciliation for all of those conflict-ridden areas (i.e. Iraq and Sudan) in desperate need of harmony.

Because this is my last entry, I'd like to thank the Nyombayire family who hosted us during our stay in Rwanda, the Episcopal Academy and the Ben Read scholarship committee who sponsored my trip, the Philadelphia Inquirer which provided me with the opportunity to write about my experiences, my family who bravely accompanied me, and finally all of those who have taken the time to read this blog.

Hopefully, Rwanda's example will one day teach the world to carry out its promise of never again allowing genocide to take place.

National Liberation Day

On July 4, Rwanda celebrated National Liberation Day, which commemorates the RPF's takeover of Kigali in 1994 and symbolically (though not exactly on that day) the end of the genocide. At the Amahoro national stadium, the annual national celebration took place which included parades, traditional dances, speeches, and much pomp and ceremony. In his speech, President Paul Kagame stressed the importance of recognizing that liberation was not a one day battle but rather a long journey. As he addressed the Rwandan crowd, he stated that in order to be free, the people cannot depend or wait for others to put food on their plate. To be free means to be able to survive independently.

In reference to the genocide, he said that the fighting represented a war caused by bad governance. Now with good governance, the Rwandan people must put up a second fight, but this time a fight to truly be liberated. Liberation is not about asking for freedom, but realizing that freedom is owed to you. Thus, Kagame explained that Rwandans must not expect freedom to come but instead, they must demand that freedom through dedication, hard work, and the fight to be independent.

After the formal celebrations, we were invited to the reception at the presidential office where I had the honor of meeting President Kagame in person. He appeared to be a very humble man and was pleased to hear about my project and interest in Rwanda.

Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park, located on Rwanda's border with Tanzania, was used by the Rwandan government to provide returning Tutsi refugees from the first waves of genocide in 1959 with land to settle on. The park was approximately 2500 km squared, and has now been reduced to 1000 km squared. The difference has been given to the returning refugees (pic 2). As well, according to the High Court judge of the Eastern Region, if someone else has settled on the land of a refugee who fled years ago because of the genocide, that person must split their land with the refugee if he or she returns to claim it.

I have also just read a Swisspeace (NGO) working paper called A Thousand Hills for 9 million people, which underscores the importance of land in Rwanda's process of reconciliation. According to the author, there is a perception that land has not been fairly distributed which could adversely affect reconciliation between the two ethnic groups. This paper demonstrates that even while Rwanda's reconciliation process may be on the right track, obstacles remain and have the potential to reverse the country's progress.

Refugee camps near Tanzania

While driving to Akagera National Park which borders Tanzania, we passed the refugee camps which are constantly shown on the television here. These refugees, including Tutsis and Hutus, are Rwandans who fled during and after the '94 genocide to Tanzania. Because of the increased population pressure of these extra 25,000 - 50,000 (exact figure not known) and the belief that Rwanda is now a safe country, the Tanzanian government refuses to allow the Rwandan refugees to stay in its country and recently has begun to enforce its laws that place a deadline on the refugees for returning to Rwanda.

Coming to Rwanda

During lunch at the tea plantation, John Nyombayire (Stephanie's father) and my family were discussing current events, specifically those occurring in the Middle East. As they talked about the violent acts taking place throughout the region, especially in Israel and Palestine, my father asked my 8-year-old brother if he knew what was going on in that region. My brother, probably unaware of the specifics for this conflict, replied that every Arab country is full of fighting and violence is what happens in every country of the Middle East.

To show the importance of visiting a country before characterizing it by what is shown on media, Mr. Nyombayire turned to my brother and asked him what he thought of Rwanda before he had arrived to the country. My brother, having been told about the genocide, replied that he had expected the country to be "bad". Then Mr. Nyombayire asked him what he thought of Rwanda now, and my brother instantly replied "beautiful".

From that conversation, I realized how important it was for me to come to Rwanda and learn directly what had happened during the time of conflict and the reconstruction taking place now. I can admit that I had carried a few of the same preconceptions my brother had spoken of as I had always visualized Rwanda as a place of genocide. Even now, I am still surprised to be sitting in such a beautiful country, with images that starkly contrast to my preconceived ones of Rwanda.

It's difficult to imagine that two groups, the Tutsis and Hutus, that hated each other so much can now live together peacefully. It's true that there are still rare cases of violence and discrimination between the two groups, but only by coming to the country could I truly appreciate both groups' willingness and desire to come and live together side-by-side. From what I've seen, Rwanda's divisions are beginning to fade with the unifying governance of Kagame's administration. Some believe that this period is just the eye of the storm for Rwandans, a theory that may well be true if discriminatory and divisive policies are put in place leaving one group beneath the other. But if the Rwandan government and Rwandan people continue to work with the same willingness and desire towards reconciliation and unity, the genocide may very well remain, as it should, a part of Rwanda's past.

Sorwathe Tea Plantation

We visited Sorwathe tea plantation (tea and coffee are Rwanda's main exports), located about two hours from Kigali. The manager of the plantation showed us around the factory and later took us to the plantation’s guest house (pic 1) which used to serve as UN quarters before 1994. The UN- sponsored Arusha Accords – the initial peace treaty between the Rwandan Patriotic Front (the Tutsi rebel group) and the Hutu-dominated government - was signed quite close to this area.

From the guest house, there is a breath-taking view of the volcanoes, hills and tea plantations that cover the northern region of Rwanda. In his upcoming movie, Shaking Hands with the Devil, General Dallaire reflects that only when he sat outside the guest house (pic 2) and looked upon this view (pic 3) he really felt at peace.

Executive Secretary of Gacaca Jurisdictions

I interviewed Domitilla Mukantaganzwa, Executive Secretary of the National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions. According to her, the reason Rwanda chose the traditional community-conflict resolution system of Gacaca was that "there were too many crimes against humanity" to be tried by the classic justice system. Five years after the genocide, only 6000 out of 120,000 detainees had been tried and according to a gacaca pamphlet, "at this rate, it would take more than a century to try these detainees." The Gacaca system, established in 2002, plans to finish trying the prisoners by 2007.

As well, after analyzing the motives behind the genocide crimes, the government found that the best justice system should combine both justice and reconciliation. Families are split apart as husbands killed wives, sons killed mothers, fathers killed children, and neighbors killed neighbors. According to Ms. Mukantaganzwa, it is not constructive to keep these families apart by leaving a father in jail for example, and it is detrimental to the economy as each Rwandan that is in jail cannot function in the inter-dependant markets of Rwanda.

Because the process of Gacaca makes the citizens play each role of prosecutor, witness, and judge, the courts increase involvement of ordinary citizens and thus promote unity and reconciliation. People used to think that Gacaca represented a denial of genocide, for if perpetrators confessed to their crime, their sentencing would be reduced and some would be given amnesty. Also, Rwandans, especially perpetrators themselves who lived among citizens (and still do, because according to Ms. Mukantaganzwa, if a million people were killed, there are likely to be 1 million suspects of which about 900,000 still live among villagers), feared that these courts would lead to fatal waves of revenge.

Yet, because of information sessions led by the Gacaca administration and because survivors realized the benefit of no longer having to hide from perpetrators in fear, knowing the truth about relatives' deaths, being able to re-bury bodies in dignity, and finally having a forum in which to express their feelings, Rwandans are learning to forgive the perpetrators and very few vengeful acts take place.Gacaca also offers the perpetrators - who confess either because of guilt or because of a reduced penalty incentive -the opportunity to apologize to the survivors, an act that is essential for reconciliation.

The repetition of a community coming together once or twice a week clearly helps in reconciliation. As well, the only true reconciliation can come from the truth and the gacaca courts provide the space and environment for the truth to come out.

By now, the courts have finished the first stage of the justice process, which is the collection of information and by July 15, each jurisdiction should be ready to launch the trials.

Trauma - Counseling and Clinical Supervision

Although I'd already visited ARCT-Ruhuka trauma center, I returned to interview Chantal Kabasinga in charge of Counseling and Clinical Supervision. The vast majority of patients at the trauma center are genocide victims, and their age generally ranges from 12 to 27. These victims are traumatized by what they saw during the genocide, the inability to bury family members hidden in mass graves, and the poverty in which they live (i.e. a widow or orphan may repeatedly think of their husband/father who served as breadwinners). Generally, they express sadness, anger, fear, and psycho-somatic problems. When prisoners are let go or victims attend Gacaca courts, trauma crises increase. Yet, according to Ms. Kabasinga, each traumatized victim learns to forgive and accept the perpetrators who caused their trauma-crisis. As well, to prevent trauma for counselers speaking to victims, the center provides clinical supervision to all of its counselers, some gacaca judges, and other members of genocide-related institutions. Overall, Ms. Kabasinga stressed the fact that the treatment of trauma is absolutely essential for reconciliation within Rwanda.

World Food Program

Zakaria Ahmed is the Deputy Country Director of the United Nations World Food Program in Kigali. Originally from Canada, he has been stationed in some of the most conflict-ridden areas in the world including North Korea, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Although he has only been in Rwanda for a short while, of all developing countries he has either heard of or worked with, the Rwandan government is the most efficient in implementing necessary reforms. For instance, because of a recent drought that plagued a region of the country, the Rwandan government acquired $1.5 million (USD) grant and implemented a drought food program in which they bought 100 silos (grain reserves) from Israel, all within 8 months. As well, the country is heading very quickly towards self-sufficiency with 90% of the population involved in agriculture, and with the help of the World Bank debt relief plan as Rwanda was included in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

Also, according to Mr. Ahmed, Rwanda is the most honest government he has seen, with very little corruption. The government is trusted by other international groups and companies as well as by its own people. In fact, last year, the Rwandan government auctioned off almost all of the Ministry officials cars because according to the government, the country's leaders cannot afford to have such luxuries when citizens live in such great poverty. Even now, the money made from this auction is being used to implement programs across the country such as for irrigation projects.

Dance and Music Festival

As a nice (and necessary) break from talking about the genocide, I attended the Dance and Music Festival held in Kigali. The main attractions were the Intore dancers, the traditional dance group of Rwanda, and the attendance of the Minister of Youth.

Murambi

In Gikongoro, I visited the Murambi genocide memorial, recommended to me by the UN-ICTR officer Mr. Neupane. The site used to be a school, in which local officials lured 50,000 members of the village community to come and hide with the promise of safety from Hutu militas. They gathered the victims there, called in the militias who starved the refugees to prevent them from defending themselves, and then killed them. Only 10 survived.

The memorial site held 24 rooms filled with the bodies of those dug up from a mass grave. At first, I couldn’t even enter the rooms not only because of the stench, but also because of the bodies themselves. Holes from the machete wounds were still visible, the bodies of infants who either clung to their mother or were beheaded lay on tables, and some bodies still had hair and teeth.

The memorial’s guide was a genocide survivor who had fled to Burundi. The rest of his family - 4 sisters, a few brothers and his mother (his father had already been killed in the first waves of genocide) – were murdered in this school. When asked about the difficulty of walking around their bodies and site of their deaths, the guide replied that it helped him to be around his family even if they were dead.

National Museum of Rwanda

The National Museum of Rwanda in Butare holds detailed exhibits on Rwandan history and culture. What was more interesting to me than the museum itself, was what lay behind the museum. Inside a number of buildings outside were groups of children, sponsored by the museum and Rwandan government,who learned and practiced different indigenous arts to ensure that these art forms continue to be passed on to the next generation. These students are starving children collected off the street, most of whom were orphaned by the genocide. Their ages generally range from 15 to 20 years of age. Many also receive psychological help in order to deal with the trauma of the genocide, during which they saw people murder their family members, friends and more.

Rwandan Refugee

Edward, our guide in Nyungwe National Park, was born in a UN refugee camp in Uganda and grew up there after his family left in 1959, with the initial waves of genocide. He returned to Rwanda right after the genocide ended in 1994.

In his opinion, the Rwandan government is doing a very good job with reconciliation. The Gacaca Courts help citizens discover the truth about what happened to family members who were killed, forgive the citizens who commited the acts, and reconcile as a nation (for instance, in Edward's Gacaca court, a man who confessed to killing 10 infants and pleaded for forgiveness was let go and forgiven by the village community). When I asked Edward whether murderers ever tried to escape from Rwanda once they were exposed in Gacaca, he responded with "Who hasn't killed here?" According to him, around 90% of the population has either killed someone or been involved in a murder, a statistic which shows both the difficulty and necessity of forgiveness within the country.

Edward also mentioned that now, as opposed to genocide times (1959-1994), institutions such as schools no longer discriminate against Tutsis, but rather depend on merit. As well, he cited the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, established in 1999, which extends through every village of Rwanda in the form of civic clubs and community-based organizations. These clubs, headed by educators, local officials, and other community leaders, oversee debates about reconciliation and encourage Rwandan citizens to forget the ethnic divisions that divided the country.

The fact that Edward refused to use the words Hutu and Tutsi, instead classifying the two divisions as "one group and another group," demonstrates the nation's effort to erase any memory of the ethnic divisions that used to exist. According to Edward, in schools when students are taught about the genocide, they are not taught that Hutus killed Tutsis but rather that Rwandans killed Rwandans.

Nyungwe Forest

Nyungwe Forest National Park is known for holding both the source of Nile and also the border between Rwanda and Burundi. During the genocide, many Tutsis hid in the swamps within the forest. After the genocide, a number of killers fled to Burundi across the border and a small number still continue to hide in the Burundi side of this forest.

Kibuye

In Kibuye, a city in the western region of Rwanda, the worst slaughter during the genocide took place, where an estimated 9 out of every 10 Tutsis were killed. There, I visited a genocide memorial different from all the others I have visited around the country. It is an empty church that overlooks the only great lake in Rwanda, Lake Kivu. The beauty and silence of the church were just as striking as the other memorials filled with skulls and remnants of the genocide victims. The memorial manifested the question everyone asks about the genocide: how could such horrible acts happen in such a beautiful place?

International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR)

I interviewed Rajesh Neupane, one of the investigators or police officers working in the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR), sponsored by the UN. There are two offices for the ICTR: the headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania where genocide planners are being tried, and the investigation office in Kigali. I visited the latter, which gathers evidence for the prosecution.

This office works independently of the Rwandan government yet the government is obliged to give any information or evidence requested by the UN office. The investigators follow the normal techniques for gathering evidence including forensic, documentary and physical evidence. According to an example given by Mr. Neupane, if a small country with a small population imports over 2 million machetes within a small period, such evidence signifies some sort of slaughter is being planned.

Much of the prosecution's case depends on testimonies of genocide survivors. Survivors must be willing to go and testify at the Arusha tribunal. Mr. Neupane and other officers talk with survivors, who might fear their own safety or not wish to remember the past, in order to convince them that they ought to testify and speak the truth (while I was in his office, another investigator came in to inform Mr. Neupane that an important witness unwilling to speak before had called in and agreed to speak to them that Monday).

The environment in which these investigative officers have to work is very difficult. The victims they must speak to are traumatized and these officers must force them to relive their agony. Mr. Neupane pointed out that the investigators themselves are also traumatized, a fact that surprisingly caught me off guard. He had posted pictures of the Ntrama memorial in his office and when he pointed to these pictures to show what the investigators had to face every day, tears welled up in his eyes. His reaction to these photos shook me up and seeing him so affected by these images has made it even more difficult for me to visit the memorial sites.

When I asked Mr. Neupane if the people of Rwanda had a difficult time trusting UN officials, especially genocide survivors, he replied that certain people still didn't have "a very good feeling" towards the UN but the number of such Rwandans was rapidly decreasing. According to him, most Rwandans don't blame the UN - it was the fault of UNAMIR, the French government, the Belgian colonizers, and any other government which failed to intervene during the genocide. A problem that the UN faces is that the Rwandan government wants the rest of the prisoners at Arusha to be given over to Rwandan courts once the UN mandate finishes in 2008. Yet, because Rwanda believes in capital punishment, the UN refuses to do so.

ICTR is a type of justice system never attempted by anyone else. It is Nuremberg's successor, but an entirely different structure had and still continues to be made in order to identify the nature of war which sometimes, as in the case of Rwanda, should be classified as genocide. In fact, just a week ago, the ICTR officially recognized that Rwandan warfare before and during 1994 constituted genocide. Mr. Neupane stressed the importance of ICTR pioneering this new legislation for the UN courts which will serve as an example for future conflicts and future generations.