The Liberation War (1990–1994) and the downfall of the Second Republic

1Why this matters

Between 1990 and 1994 Rwanda moved from war to a peace agreement and then into the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This lesson follows the military and political events that brought the Second Republic down. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi itself is studied in the next unit.

2From Kagitumba to the mountains (1990)

• 1 October 1990: the RPF's army, the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA), crossed into Rwanda at Kagitumba.
• 2 October 1990: its commander, Fred Gisa Rwigema, was killed.
• France, Zaire and Belgium sent troops to help the government army (the FAR). The Belgians left within weeks; French support continued.
• Mid-October 1990: Paul Kagame returned from military training in the United States and took command. He withdrew the RPA to the Virunga (Birunga) volcanoes, reorganised it and began a guerrilla war.

3How the regime reacted

• On the night of 4–5 October 1990, heavy gunfire in Kigali was presented as an RPF attack. It was staged, and it was used to arrest more than 8,000 people, mostly Tutsi and government critics, labelled ibyitso ("accomplices").
• Local officials organised massacres of Tutsi: at Kibilira (October 1990), of the Bagogwe in the north-west (1991), and in Bugesera (March 1992). The organisers were not punished.

4War and negotiation (1991–1993)

• January 1991: the RPA raided the town of Ruhengeri and freed prisoners from its jail.
• 29 March 1991: a ceasefire was signed at N'Sele, in Zaire, though fighting continued.
• June 1991: a new constitution allowed several parties. The MDR, PSD, PL and PDC formed; in April 1992 an opposition politician became prime minister in a coalition government. The extremist CDR party was founded in 1992.
• 1992: peace talks began in Arusha, Tanzania.
• February 1993: after new massacres of Tutsi in the north-west, the RPA launched an offensive that came within about 30 km of Kigali, then stopped and returned to talks.

5The Arusha Peace Agreement (4 August 1993)

The agreement provided for a broad-based transitional government, the merger of the two armies into one national army, the return of refugees and the rule of law. In October 1993 the UN created a peacekeeping force, UNAMIR. In December 1993 an RPA battalion of about 600 soldiers arrived in Kigali and was based at the parliament building (the CND) to protect RPF politicians.

Extremists in the ruling circle rejected power-sharing. The CDR, a movement calling itself "Hutu Power", the Interahamwe militia and the radio station RTLM spread hatred of Tutsi, and the transitional government was never installed.

6The downfall of the Second Republic

On 6 April 1994 the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down over Kigali. From 7 April, extremists who took control of the state carried out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The RPA resumed the war to stop the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, took Kigali on 4 July 1994, and by 18 July the army and "interim government" of the former regime had fled into Zaire.

Reasons for the downfall:

• economic crisis and loss of legitimacy;
• military pressure from a disciplined RPA;
• pressure for multi-party politics from inside Rwanda and from donors;
• the extremists' rejection of the Arusha Agreement and their choice of genocide, which destroyed any claim to govern;
• defeat by the RPA in 1994.

Worked example: using a timeline

Question: Show that the regime was preparing violence against Tutsi while it was negotiating peace.

While talks were held in Arusha (from 1992), massacres of Tutsi were organised in Bugesera (March 1992) and the north-west (January 1993); the CDR was founded (1992); and RTLM began broadcasting (July 1993), just before the agreement was signed on 4 August 1993. Negotiation and preparation happened at the same time.

Practice

Solution. Paul Kagame, who returned from the United States in October 1990.

Solution. After a staged "attack" on Kigali on 4–5 October 1990, the regime arrested more than 8,000 people, mostly Tutsi and critics, calling them accomplices (ibyitso) of the RPF.

Solution. A broad-based transitional government; merging the two armies into one national army; the return of refugees; the rule of law.

Solution. Extremists in the regime rejected power-sharing and prepared violence instead, using the CDR, the Interahamwe and RTLM, and the transitional government was never installed.