Unity and Reconciliation in Rwanda

Samuel Cyuma

• Publisher: Regnum
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781912343898
• eBook ISBN: 9781913363000
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

This is an abridged version of Samuel Cyuma's Regnum book, Picking Up the Pieces and is a must for any group or individuals interested in learning from the experiences of attempts to construct sustainable peace in this part of Africa.

Part I

Theoretical Framework

Chapter 1
General Introduction

This book compares the experiences of South Africa during Apartheid with the Genocide in Rwanda. It assesses the South African process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and contrasts this with the prospects of resolving the situation in Rwanda. It stresses the role played by the churches in both contexts and proposes possible ways in which the churches can contribute to resolve the situation in Rwanda.

Setting the Scene

The transition to democratic rule in South Africa in the 1990s was a compromise between opposing forces, whereas in Rwanda negotiations were distorted and collapsed. Consequently, the Genocide occurred. Both the South African and Rwandan situations opened new avenues for research in the fields of conflict resolution. While there is a large body of literature on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, no work has impartially investigated the role played by the churches in Rwanda. South Africa opted for a peaceful compromise to end their longstanding hostilities, while Rwanda opted for prosecution and exclusion of the opponents. This book investigates whether a universal model of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation can be identified, and whether the South African experience could play an effective role in post-Genocide Rwanda.

Problem Statement

Antipathy between Hutu and Tutsi groups emerged long before western colonisation and before the entry of Christianity into Rwanda. The Tutsi kingship initiated ubuhake (servanthood), featuring practices of inequality, dependency and oppression that created hatred between the groups. Antipathy was increased by further exclusionary practices in the colonial era which spread to the churches and fuelled open violence in post-colonial Rwanda, leading to the 1994 Genocide. The conflicts in Rwanda have not been properly (objectively) investigated, particularly in recent years. This book takes lessons from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which could help to solve Rwanda’s post-conflict crisis. Rwanda has taken the course of retributive justice in response to the Genocide, but there are still possibilities for a better solution, although that would require a policy change by the Rwanda Patriotic Front and its sponsors, entailing a constructive combination of law and mercy. The former Hutu leadership and their sponsors also need to be challenged, to take a more constructive move and heed the voice of dialogue and reconciliation.

In South Africa, part of the root causes of Apartheid lay within the churches, mainly the Dutch Reformed Church, which provided a theological backing for exclusion, although people like Michael Cassidy and Desmond Tutu courageously remained faithful to the struggle against Apartheid. However, in the 1990s the churches in South Africa contributed positively to the processes of peacemaking, transition and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. So far, this central role of the churches has not been apparent in Rwanda.

During the 1990s, as South Africa was moving from hostilities to negotiations, the Rwandan opposition forces blocked any dialogue, and the war ended with a victorious side and a defeated side. The South African conflict was mostly an internal struggle, while the Rwandan conflict involved major international players.

So far, there has been no unbiased examination of the situation in Rwanda. Now, a very few objective researches on the Rwandan conflict are emerging. Sadly, they are not taken into consideration in political debates, nationally or internationally. The time which has now elapsed since the Genocide has offered some level of healing, and both Hutu and Tutsi civilians live together. But while the Tutsi Rwanda Patriotic Army controls the country, and the Tutsi mostly control the church, power-sharing would lessen hatred, speed up the reconstruction programme and avoid further loss of human life, especially the death of many who remain in prison.

The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and the former Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, acknowledged the failure of international intervention in the Rwandan Genocide. Today, Rwanda’s respective leaders still appear to serve their own interests. It is fitting to say that the Rwandan and South African churches are an integral part of society. Since many of the leaders and politicians are church members, the churches can either be active in the conflict, as well as effective in peacemaking as long as they act in a positive way.

Chapter 2
Conflict: Concepts and Theories

It is assumed that democratic societies deal with conflicts by seeking to bring grievances into the open, examine the cause, and take measures for their remedy. A multi-party system with free and fair elections is one option for finding a solution. Totalitarian systems provide no institutional way for resolving conflicts, and power struggles take place behind the scenes, leading to damaging and unexpected changes, often of a violent nature.

Sources of conflict include racism and ethnicity. Racism is a belief in the inherent superiority of some races over others, while the word ‘ethnicity’ derives from the Greek word’ έθνος (ethnos), meaning a nation or people that are culturally rather than physically distinctive.

If one ethnic group lives close to another – as in Rwanda – conflict is more likely to occur, although it would be less likely if national, regional or international authorities were strong enough to control the potentially opposing groups. With no such control, conflict can also occur if one group resorts to violence for personal reasons as with the invasion of the Tutsi group in 1990 in Rwanda.

Concepts and Perceptions of Conflict

Three main stages characterise conflict development. At the early stage, there is a disagreement that transforms itself into personal or group antagonism, and instead of focusing on the problem itself, one side views the other as the problem. Secondly, although the conflict initially resolves around a single issue, as it intensifies; other problems arise, with subsequent confusion and obstinacy. In the third phase, dialogue and contact decline, while emotions rise, and as the problems intensify, polarisation sets in. Individuals move into one or the other camp and it becomes difficult to find neutral ground. Moderate and stabilising people have less influence, extremism replaces moderation, antagonism replaces disagreement, assumptions and the attributing of motives replace dialogue and listening, and the original concerns are lost in the preoccupation with responding to the latest offence. When a large group of people organises itself to cause physical damage to life and the property of others, war occurs.

It is important to distinguish between civil wars and crime. Civil war is organised to challenge the government’s authority, and aims to overthrow or change the regime, whereas crime per se is not designed to initiate political change. Today’s conflicts often presuppose cultural influences, which often embody ideological and psychological as well as economic factors.

Conflict may be inherent, reactionary or coolly calculated. It is imperative to identify the root causes in order to understand how to tackle it. This process is important for situations such as in Rwanda and South Africa, where old, deep-seated hatred and abuses have been nourished by historical traditions, and distortions of the truth, and even a misunderstanding of theological truths.

Conflict dynamics

‘Conflict dynamics’ is the study of the identifiable patterns in conflict behaviour. If a potential conflict situation can be identified while it is latent and brought into the open, and if the parties to the dispute can be clearly identified, it will help in solving the problem. A conflict situation has got out of control when it results in direct violence. It is important to investigate which methods are best able to help reduce the conflict before it has reached this stage.

When crucial values are at stake and the time for reaching required decisions is too short, a crisis is likely to arise. Under such conditions, insecurity and tensions build up and individuals’ performance declines, due to the heavy workload and reduced sleep resulting in fatigue. Moments of conflict demonstrate which relationships are secure. Conflict enables parties to share their feelings of both love and anger, and in this way, they can measure the depth of their relationships. Conflicts are generally perceived negatively in society; however, they may bring positive results, creating, modifying or clarifying rules and institutions. An open conflict may trigger the opportunity for identifying setbacks and reconciling long-standing enmities, and a conflict that is resolved may offer opportunities for development and positive change.

Chapter 3
Methods of Reduction and Resolution of Conflicts

Conflict prevention refers to anything that may help to stop conflict from taking place or prevent future outbreaks. While the term ‘conflict resolution’ implies acts aimed at settling conflicts, ‘reconciliation’ implies the meeting of opponents and goes further, stressing understanding and healing, leading to forgiveness and the renewal of relationships. Another way of dealing with less violent conflict is ‘transformation’. This helps people to develop and understand that conflict is normal and can be potentially healthy, and seeks to transform the negative energy of conflict into positive social and political change.

In Africa, there are traditional mechanisms of handling conflict and reintegrating individuals into society. In Kinyarwanda – the mother tongue of Rwanda – the word kunga (reunite) has a twofold meaning: it means both to heal physical fractures and to reconcile. Ubwiyunge (in Kinyarwanda), ukubuyisana (in Zulu) and upatanisho – or better, usuluhisho (in Swahili) – render the full notion of reconciliation. The process seeks to locate and ascertain the degree of guilt, and in response performs a ritual signalling of repentance and forgiveness. These latter two responses seal the act of reconciliation.

Most resolutions require a meeting between conflicting sides, which may opt for negotiations and even concessions in order to find some middle ground or compromise that involves both parties in a give-and-take process. Although compromise puts conflicting sides on the same footing, it also leaves both sides unsatisfied. Therefore, the ‘Third Way’ is a step further: a new possibility which leaves both sides content with the outcome and all feeling that they have won. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa exemplified this step. Long-term solutions may require changes to fundamental structures and attitudes – for example, to eradicate inequalities in the system. Allowing multi-party, free and fair elections is an even further step for a nation. South Africa applied these measures; a similar trajectory is likely to help Rwanda.

Main Approaches to Conflict Resolution: Schools of Thought

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Content
• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV
• BCover