Role of Belgium in decades-long violence against Tutsi exposed as Rwanda marks Genocide

As Rwanda started marking the 31st commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Jean-Damascène Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, on Monday, April 7, reflected on the deep-rooted history of violence and discrimination that preceded the atrocities. ALSO READ: 31 years later, Rwanda remembers Speaking at Kigali Genocide Memorial, Bizimana traced the origins of genocidal acts back to the early 1960s, shedding light on a series of systematic killings, discriminatory policies, and the exclusion of the Tutsi from Rwanda's socio-political landscape—acts that laid the foundation for the horrors that would unfold decades later. ALSO READ: A historical timeline of Belgium's divisive politics in Rwanda In March 1962, Bizimana said, the government army committed killings in Byumba, claiming the lives of over 2,000 Tutsi, including a nurse named Claver Ndejuru. This tragedy was covered by international media at the time. He pointed out that in December 1963, the Rwandan army, led by some Belgian officers, killed more than 35,000 Tutsi across the country. Diplomats, missionaries, and researchers widely acknowledged these killings as genocide. On February 7, 1964, Belgium issued a communiqué stating that, in light of the accusations against the Rwandan government, it was time to instruct Belgian staff in Rwanda on how to conduct themselves amid the ongoing extermination of the Tutsi. Bizimana suggested that Belgian officials were attempting to protect their nation from being charged with involvement in the genocide. On July 1, 1962, Belgium granted Rwanda a sham independence. Later, on December 24, 1962, a new constitution was enacted, which declared that the country belonged to the Hutu. Laws followed that excluded the Tutsi from schools and employment. On January 17, 1967, he said, Rwanda's then Minister of International Affairs, Lazaro Mpakaniye, under instructions from President Gregoire Kayibanda, wrote to embassies and international organisations in Rwanda, prohibiting them from employing the Tutsi. After President Juvénal Habyarimana took power, Bizimana said, he introduced a new constitution on December 20, 1978, drafted by his Belgian advisor Filip Reyntjens. “This constitution reaffirmed the policy of excluding the Tutsi from all sectors,” Bizimana said. ALSO READ: Genocide Timeline April 7, 1994: The day Rwanda plunged into Genocide In 1982, Rwandan refugees were expelled by Uganda. When the refugees returned to Rwanda, the government sent them back to Uganda. “That injustice I’ve briefly talked about, led to the birth of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which started the country’s liberation struggle in October 1990,” he said. Bizimana stated that Belgium, France, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire, sent troops to support the Rwandan genocidal regime which was in fighting the RPF. Habyarimana also made public statements asserting that the Rwandan refugees would not return peacefully, suggesting they seek nationality in the hosting countries – Uganda or Zaire instead. Over the next four years, from 1990 to 1994, Habyarimana’s government incited hatred against the RPF, labelling it as enemies and more, he said. Bizimana pointed out that denying an ethnic group the right to live in its own country due to discrimination is a clear violation of human rights and constitutes a genocidal act.

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Role of Belgium in decades-long violence against Tutsi exposed as Rwanda marks Genocide