Academic literature on the topic 'Ethnicité – Rwanda'

Following the 1994 genocide, the government of Rwanda embarked on a “deethnicization” campaign to outlaw Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa labels and replace them with a pan-Rwandan national identity. Since then, to use ethnic labels means risking accusations of “divisionism” or perpetuating ethnic schisms. Based on one year of ethnographic fieldwork in the university town of Butare, I argue that the absence of ethnic labels produces practical interpretive problems for Rwandans because of the excess of possible ways of interpreting what people mean when they evaluate each other's conduct in everyday talk. I trace the historical entanglement of ethnicity with class, rural/urban, occupational, and moral distinctions such that the content of ethnic stereotypes can be evoked even without ethnic labels. In so doing, I aim to enrich understandings of both the power and danger inherent in the ambiguous place of ethnicity in Rwanda's “postethnic” moment.

This article discusses ethnicity and refugee status among Rwandan refugees self-settled in Nairobi, Kenya. It addresses conflation of Hutu fugitives who participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and refugees, and critiques perception of Hutu and Tutsi as mutually exclusive ethnicities with no points of intersection. Framed within the social constructivist approach to identity, the article problematizes ethnic essentialism and wholesale criminalization and stigmatization of Rwandan refugees and, in particular, Hutu ethnicity in ways that silence individual viewpoints emanating from personal experience. Conversely, the article highlights how Rwandan refugees deflect collective guilt and legitimize their refugee status under the shadow of the genocide which was committed by extremist Hutu on Tutsi and moderate Hutu. The refugees’ reaction to association with the genocide confounds theoretically irreconcilable extremes through self-representations centred on experiences that muddle the simplistic perpetrator – victim and guilty – innocent binary. The refugees’ narratives portray victimhood in Rwanda as complex, cyclical and heterogeneous.

Discrimination is prohibited in different provisions of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda (the Constitution), in different pieces of legislation and in international and regional human rights treaties ratified by Rwanda. According to the 2003 Constitution, one of the fundamental principles which have to be upheld by the State is the ‘eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or on any other ground as well as promotion of national unity’. Article 15 of the Constitution provides for equality before the law and Article 16 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination and it provides for the grounds on which a person shall not be discriminated against. Rwanda is also one of the very few African countries whose constitutions criminalise discrimination and different laws have been enacted to deal with the offence of discrimination. The Supreme Court of Rwanda, the highest court in the country, has handed down decisions on Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The purpose of this article is to analyse these decisions and illustrate how the Supreme Court has dealt with the issues such as the definition of discrimination and the difference between discrimination and differentiation. The author also discusses the issues that the Rwandan judiciary and prosecutors are likely to face when dealing with the offence of discrimination.

<p>O presente artigo visa refletir acerca do modo com que a etnicidade de hutus e tutsi é vivenciada e problematizada na turbulenta década de 1950 de Ruanda, principalmente devido ao processo de independência frente a Bélgica, que foi concretizado em 1962. O foco principal está na maneira que o chamado “Manifesto hutu”, de 1957, compreende e divulga múltiplas faces acerca da etnicidade de hutus e tutsis, envolvendo a relação construída entre os dois grupos e o seu sentimento de pertencimento. O movimento emancipatório de Ruanda possibilita novas reflexões acerca da unidade nacional ruandesa e do pertencimento étnico que os hutus constroem acerca de si mesmos e acerca dos tutsis, em um movimento que funde elementos tradicionais e modernos a partir dos costumes locais e da inserção de instituições ocidentais no país. Tais elementos são centrais para a construção da Revolução hutu de 1959, que rompe com a dominação aristocrática dos tutsis e traz cicatrizes históricas profundas que são reabertas em diferentes momentos da história ruandesa, inclusive no próprio genocídio ocorrido em 1994.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>This article aims to reflect on the way the Hutu and Tutsi ethnicity is touched upon and problematized in the turbulent 1950s in Rwanda, mainly due independence process in front of Belgium, that was implemented in 1962. The main focus is on so that the called "Hutu Manifest" of 1957 comprises and discloses multiple faces on the ethnicity of Hutus and Tutsis, involving the relationship built between the two groups and their sense of belonging. The emancipatory movement of Rwanda provides new insights about the Rwandan national unity and ethnic belonging that Hutus build about themselves and about the Tutsis, in a move that merge traditional and modern elements from the local customs and the inclusion of estern institutions in the country. These elements are central to Hutu revolution of 1959 building that breaks with the aristocratic domination of Tutsis and back deep historical scars that are reopened at different times of Rwandan history, including genocide occurred in 1994.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>:<strong> </strong>Ethnicity. Hutus. Tutsis. Rwanda. Hutu Manifest.</p>

Genocide in Rwanda: missiological notes The recent tragic events in Rwanda, a country generally regarded as “Christian”, put the accomplishments of the church in its mission under question. Why didn't the church and the millions of Christians make a difference? Or did they? An introspective missiological analysis is done. What are the things that Christians elsewhere can learn from Rwanda? Aspects which are discussed are: the gospel and ethnicity; the gospel and revival; the gospel and ethics; the gospel and culture; the gospel and politics; the gospel and socio-economic development; and the gospel and land.

The phenomenon of ethnicity is being declared by many to be the cause of all the problems of Africa, especially those of violent conflict. Some salient examples are Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya. While in many cases ethnicity and ethnic-based antagonisms have indeed been a factor in conflicts and have often been suppressed within the structures of the post-colonial states (with their seemingly sacrosanct boundaries), the political relevance of the phenomenon has varied widely. In the political system and the laws of an African country, however, ethnicity seldom received official recognition.

Ce travail qui est une recherche qualitative sur l'ethnicité au Rwanda nous a montré que les critères d'autodéfinition, d'auto-attribution ou d'attribution par les autres à une catégorie ethnique ainsi que la dichotomisation « nous » versus « eux » font que les Hutu, les Twa et les Tutsi sont groupes ethniques distincts malgré la communauté de culture et d'espace géographique. La recherche nous a montré ensuite que les drames répétitifs (pogromes, exils, génocide) qui ont endeuillé le peuple rwandais pendant plusieurs décennies ne sont pas dus à une haine atavique ou viscérale entre les Hutu et les Tutsi mais à une idéologie raciste dont les origines remontent aux temps de la colonisation. La recherche nous a montré enfin que le problème ethnique se pose chaque fois que le pouvoir monopolisé par une poignée de politiciens (Hutu ou Tutsi suivant les époques), commence à être mis en cause. In this work I use qualitative documentary research to explore the problem of ethnicity in Rwanda. I find out that self-definition, self-attribution, and attribution by others, as well as the dichotomization of “us versus them” are sufficient criteria f categorize the Hutus, Tutsis, and Twas as distinct ethnic groups in spite of the community of culture (language, custom, and religion) and of geographic space.My research also shows that the continual conflicts (pogroms, exile, and genocide) that have plagued Rwandan people for several decades are not due to an atavistic or visceral hatred between Hutus and Tutsis, but rather the result of a racist ideology whose roots lie deep in the colonial period. This work has allowed me to confirm the thesis of my research, that the “problem of ethnicity in Rwanda is stoked by an elite (whether Tutsi or Hutu depending on the era) who set their sights on seizing and maintaining power”.

Comment peut-on en arriver à vouloir exterminer une partie de ceux que l’on a connus, y compris ses plus proches ?À l’exemple significatif entre tous de cette femme dans le camp de réfugiés de Ravucindu « hutue mariée chez les tutsis » qui pose son enfant et part, « laissant là mourir de faim son fils, parce que son père, seulement, est tutsi » ; à l’exemple encore de ce prêtre de père hutu, aujourd’hui emprisonné à Muhanga, et qui torture sa mère tutsie tous les jours, jusqu’à ce qu’elle se suicide ; ou ce jeune milicien qui attaque à l’épée un stade où se sont réfugiés des milliers de personnes puis retrouve par terre la carte d’identité de son oncle maternel et se demande en haussant les épaules : « Est-ce moi qui l’ai tué, celui-là ? ». Comment est-il possible de rompre de façon aussi massive des liens qui semblent indestructibles ? Car qui peut honnêtement dire qu’il pourrait un jour oublier ses amis, sa mère, son frère ou sa famille ?L’objet de cette thèse est d’essayer de comprendre le mécanisme des ruptures de liens sociaux et familiaux et leur rôle dans le cas du génocide des Tutsis du Rwanda de 1994. Un génocide qui fit près d’un million de morts en cent jours et dont 60% des victimes auraient été tuées par des personnes qu’elles connaissaient là où elles habitaient.Dominé par le souci de chercher une explication qui ait quelque portée générale, ce travail propose, à partir de données empiriques obtenues presque exclusivement de première main (par plusieurs enquêtes successives de terrain au Rwanda, au Bénin et en Afrique du Sud entre 2014 et 2017 ), un cadre d’analyse des ruptures de liens sociaux et familiaux qui peuvent rendre possibles des massacres perpétrés dans la sphère intime au sein d’un projet d’extermination totale d’un groupe par un autre groupe.À la question : « Comment une telle rupture de liens sociaux et familiaux a-t-elle été possible ? », cette thèse répond en mettant en évidence l’importance cruciale d’un processus de double identification. Elle ne nie pour autant nullement le rôle des divers avantages (matériels ou symboliques) dont ont pu bénéficier les génocidaires par leurs crimes dans un tel contexte, mais montre que ces identifications-mêmes ont pu jouer un rôle dans ce calcul coûts/avantages
How can we reach the point where we exterminate some of those we have known, including our loved ones?Like the significant example of this hutu woman, married to a tutsi, from the refugees camp in Raducindu, who left her child lying on the floor, letting him to starve to death, only because his father is a tutsi ; such as that priest, born from a hutu father, and now jailed, who tortured daily his mother, a tutsi, until she committed suicide; or like this young militiaman who slaughtered a crowd with a sword in a stadium where thousands of people had taken refuge and then found on the ground the ID card of his uncle, had a look at it, shrugged his shoulders and wondered "did I kill this one?": how conceivable is this massive severing of ties which seemed otherwise indestructible? Who can expect he would be able one day to forget his friends, his mother, his brother or his family?This dissertation examines the mechanism leading to the collapse of social and family ties and its role in the case of the genocide against Tutsis in 1994 in Rwanda. Close to 1 million Rwandan Tutsis were exterminated over a period of 100 days. It is estimated that 60% of these victims were killed by people they knew.The present work tries to offer an explanation of some general scope by building an analytical apparatus based almost exclusively on empirical data gathered during field research in Rwanda, Benin, and South Africa between 2014 and 2017. This analytical apparatus examines how -within a crisis context - ties can break and lead to massacres in the intimate space of social and family relationships.To the question: "how can such destruction of social and family ties be possible ? ", this dissertation responds by highlighting the pivotal importance of a dual identification process. By doing so, it does not exclude the role played by the various advantages (material or symbolic) which benefited those who committed the genocide, but it demonstrates that these identifications themselves may have weighed strongly in this cost/benefit calculation

Les conflits violents sont des objets centraux des disciplines comme la science politique et les relations internationales. Partant de quelques exemples, établir des généralisations explicatives sur leurs causes, nature et impact a toujours constitué un enjeu majeur pour la recherche. Comme le soulignait Ted Robert Gurr, «Dans les étapes précoces des sciences sociales les académiciens offraient un peu plus que les opinions apprises. Les sciences sociales n 'avaient que très peu ou pas du tout de bases pour prétendre que leurs explications aient une validité générale. La science politique était essentiellement une combinaison d'interprétation historique descriptive et de discours philosophique sur la destinée humaine. Nous avons avancé au moins à l'étape de prévisions météorologiques c'est-à-dire, nous pouvons affirmer avec certaine plausibilité que certaines conditions et actions mènent à certains résultats probables. Sur ce point, T. R. Gurr semble ne pas se tromper. Depuis les années 1950, la connaissance scientifique sur la question s'est développée de manière proportionnelle à l'augmentation du nombre des conflits ethniques, cet accroissement étant d'ailleurs probablement plus sensible que dans n'importe quel autre champ de la recherche. La politique comparée et les relations internationales ayant progressivement trouvé des bases communes pour mieux comprendre les raisons de telles explosions de violence en dehors du contexte de guerre inter-étatique déclarée.

La désignation des identités Muhutu, Mututsi ou Mutwa au Rwanda selon une terminologie raciale a débouché sur des interprétations raciales de la société rwandaise depuis la fin du 19 siècle. Ces dernières ont inspiré une option politique et socio-économique de la société rwandaise. En vue de la conservation du pouvoir d'Etat, une propagande raciste postcoloniale déboucha sur le génocide perpétré contre les Batutsi en 1994
The identification of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa of Rwanda as races had conducted to racial interpretations of those identities, since the end of 19th century. A racist propaganda during the postcolonial period conducted to genocide against Tutsi in 1994

This thesis explores the question of what factors shaped Rwandan ethnicity in the late 1950s and early 1960s; in particular, how and why was ethnicity transformed into ‘political tribalism’ in decolonising Rwanda? The Rwandan genocide in 1994 and the subsequent post-genocide peace-building have drawn our attention to the problems of ethnicity and nationalism. While ethnicity and nationalism in Africa have been a matter of debate amongst the primordialist, instrumentalist and constructivist schools, it has become more or less accepted knowledge that ethnicity in Africa was constructed by dynamic interactions between Europeans and Africans in particular colonial contexts. This constructivist approach may have advanced our understanding of ethnicity in pre-colonial and colonial Rwanda, but our perception of Rwandan ethnicity in the 1950s and 1960s has not benefited from this academic trend. Instead, the literature on this issue, most of which was written several decades ago, tends to take a primordialist approach towards the Rwandan Revolution and the ethnic conflict that emerged at the end of colonial period. By theoretically adhering to a constructivist approach, and relying on John Lonsdale’s ‘political tribalism’ model in particular, the thesis argues that to take a nuanced hybrid-constructivist approach is essential, because primordial ethnic conflict was not the cause of the Revolution and other historical events, but the other way round. Ethnicity in Rwanda was not simply invented by the Europeans during the colonial period, nor was it so primordial that the conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu was inevitable; in fact, several conflicts (and not always along ethnic boundaries) existed, and even some alternatives were suggested for ethnic cooperation. Ethnicity went through a dynamic transformation into ‘political tribalism’ through interactions between Rwandans and non-Rwandans, as well as through relationships amongst different groups of Rwandans. Various domestic factors – including intra-Tutsi leadership rivalry, the alliance among the political parties and the inter-ethnic power struggle – affected the process of the Revolution, and politicised ethnicity. External factors, such as factions within the Belgian administrations as well as the heated debates in the Cold War-era United Nations, also provided opportunities for Rwandan ethnicity to become politicised. Contingency, the mass movement of people, violence and the processes of revolution and decolonisation had a synergistic impact on the spread of ‘political tribalism’ over Rwanda. Primordial perceptions on ethnicity, as well as interpretations of the past, and visions for the future held by each actor, were factors that shaped ethnicity and forced the ethnic split into the foreground. In this sense, Rwandan ethnicity cannot simply be understood through the dichotomised debate of primordialists and constructivists. Rather, it was a more dynamic process of ethnic transformation with unaccomplished alternatives and inter/intra-group relationships, strongly bound by the historical and political contexts of the time. ‘Political tribalism’ and interpretations of the past have influenced and, even today, continue to influence post-colonial Rwandan politics.

Thesis (LLD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Human rights denials have more characterised Rwandan history than their promotion and protection. When the Rwandan State emerged from Tutsi domination and colonialism, many Rwandans hoped that the era of liberty had at least dawned. But the reality has been a total disappointment and replicas of earlier abuses have emerged, despite the ratification by Rwanda of most international human rights instruments. This dissertation is premised on the assumption that Rwanda has failed as a democratic constitutional State, and the whole socio-economic-political system has gone wrong. Chapter one argues that disequilibrium was built into the Rwandan system before colonisation and evangelisation. There was a 'consensus' that Tutsis were a superior minority race, able to govern and dominate, well organised and accepted by their Hutu subjects. The colonists and the Catholic Church exploited this injustice for their indirect rule. In a world evolving towards the international human rights system, this had a very precarious foundation in Rwanda. Indeed, poor management of changes due to evangelisation, education and market economy led to the denial of human dignity. It exacerbated division in favour of Hutus rather than reinforcing national unity. Chapter two considers the Hutu regime as a failure of a democratic constitutional State in the postcolonial era, despite the promise to serve the interests of all Rwandans through democracy and respect for human rights. In a one-party State, a handful of Hutus have monopolised power and resources. The institutional infrastructure for the management of the State and protection of human rights was set up to safeguard the interests of the ruling group only and oppress the rest of the population. The Hutu government, particularly, took revenge on Tutsis that they killed, forced into exile and denied access to public affairs. Hutu opponents, real or imaginary, and people from other regions than that of the President were also denied such access. Separation of powers was purposely just a theory, whence a non-independent judiciary, interference of the executive in the functioning of other branches of government and abuse of legislative power became the reality. In order to perpetuate the ruling group's hegemony, civil society was hindered, while states of emergency were used to deny the right to life, liberty and the security of the person. Many other rights were also denied regardless of whether the denial was a legacy of the past or just a result of the undemocratic nature of the State and the underdevelopment of the country. The Hutu regime's failure to promote national unity resulted in a genocide which took the lives of many Tutsis and Hutus. Whereas the current Tutsi government presented itself as committed to democracy and human rights, Chapter three argues that it was a mutatis mutandis replica of the Hutu rule. Indeed, the State system and resources have been captured by a group of Tutsis while other Tutsis have been left without hope and Hutus have become second-class citizens, whence justice and national unity are in jeopardy. By avoiding to tackle the fundamental issue of nation-statehood, the United Nations have failed to maintain peace and security. The failure to condemn Ugandan aggression against Rwanda, the forced repatriation of refugees, and the non-prosecution of Tutsis involved in crimes against humanity have proved the demise of international law and the maintenance of the culture of impunity in Rwanda. The author nonetheless argues that respect for human rights and establishment of the rule of law are still possible through a process of reconciliation and reconstruction.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die geskiedenis van Rwanda word meer deur die miskenning van menseregte as erkenning en beskerming daarvan gekenmerk. Toe die Rwandese Staat onder Tutsi oorheersing en kolonialisme uit verrys, het baie Rwandese gehoop dat die tydperk van vryheid ten minste aangebreek het, maar die werklikheid was algeheel teleurstellend en weergawes van vroeëre misbruike het weer tevore getree, ten spyte daarvan dat Rwanda die meeste internasionale werktuie vir menseregte bekragtig het. Hierdie verhandeling berus op die aanname dat Rwanda as 'n demokratiese grondwetlike staat misluk het en dat die sosio-ekonomies-politieke stelsel geheel-en-al verkeerd geloop het. Hoofstuk een argumenteer dat 'n wanbalans voor die kolonisasie en evangelisasie van die land reeds in die Rwandese stelsel ingebou is. Daar was 'konsensus' waarvolgens Tutsis beskou is as 'n superieure minderheidsras wat in staat was om te regeer en te oorheers, wat goed georganiseer was en deur hul Hutu onderdane aanvaar is. Die koloniste en die Katolieke Kerk het hierdie onreg ten voordeel van hul indirekte heerskappy uitgebuit. In 'n wêreld wat op pad was na 'n internasionale menseregtestelsel was die grondslag wat hiervoor in Rwanda gelê is uiters onseker. Swak bestuur van veranderinge wat deur evangelisasie, opvoeding en 'n mark-ekonomie teweeggebring is, het in werklikheid tot miskenning van menseregte gelei. Dit het skeiding tot voordeel van die Hutus vererger, eerder as om nasionale eenheid te versterk. Hoofstuk twee kyk na die Hutu regime as 'n mislukte demokratiese konstitusionele staat in die postkoloniale era, ten spyte van die belofte om die belange van alle Rwandese deur demokrasie en eerbied vir menseregte te dien. In die eenpartystaat het 'n handjievol Hutus die mag en hulpbronne gemonopoliseer. Die institusionele infrastruktuur vir die bestuur van die Staat is opgestel om die belange van die heersersgroep te beveilig en die res van die bevolking te onderdruk. Die Hutu regering het hul veralop Tutsis gewreek deur hulle te vermoor, tot ballingskap te dryf en hul toegang tot openbare sake te weier. Hutu teenstanders, werklik of vermeend, en mense vanaf ander streke as die waarvan die President afkomstig was, is ook van sodanige toegang weerhou. Die verspreiding van mag was doelbewus niks meer as teoreties nie, vandaar die nie-onafhanklikheid van die regbank, inmenging by die funksionering van ander vertakkings van die regering deur die uitvoerende gesag en die misbruik van die wetgewende gesag. In die poging om die regerende groep se hegemonie te bestendig, is die burgerlike samelewing belemmer en is daar van noodtoestande gebruik gemaak om die reg tot lewe, vryheid en die veiligheid van die persoon aan te tas. Baie ander regte is ook geweier, ongeag of die weiering daarvan as gevolg van die nalatenskap van die verlede of die ondemokratiese aard van die Staat en die onderontwikkeldheid van die land moontlik was. Die feit dat die Hutu regering ten opsigte van die bevordering van nasionale eenheid misluk het, het gelei na In menseslagting wat die lewens van vele Tutsis en Hutus geëis het. Terwyl die huidige Tutsi regering homself as verbonde tot demokrasie en menseregte voordoen, argumenteer Hoofstuk drie dat die regering bloot 'n mutatis mutandi weergawe van die Hutu regering is. In werklikheid is die staatsisteem en die hulpbronne deur 'n groep Tutsis gebuit, die res van die Tutsis is sonder hoop gelaat en die Hutus is tot tweederangse burgers gemaak, wat vrede en sekuriteit in gevaar stel. Met die ontwyking van die grondliggende kwessie van nasieskap, het die Verenigde Volke ten opsigte van die handhawing van vrede en sekuriteit gefaal. Die onvermoë om Uganda se aggressie teenoor Rwanda te verdoem, die gedwonge repatriasie van vlugtelinge en die gebrek aan vervolging van Tutsis wat skuldig is aan misdade teen die mensheid het die afstanddoening van internasionale wetgewing en die ondersteuning van die kultuur van straffeloosheid in Rwanda bewys. Desnieteenstaande argumenteer die skrywer dat respek vir menseregte en die instelling van regsoewereiniteit nog steeds deur middel van 'n proses van versoening en heropbouing in Rwanda moontlik gemaak kan word.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
I set out to rethink the ongoing conflict in North Kivu and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). I highlight two problems with regards to the current conceptualisation of the conflict in North Kivu and South Kivu. The first is a theoretical problem and here I demonstrate that the Banyarwanda and Banyamulenge’s quest for belonging has so far been restricted to citizenship. Congolese Banyarwanda and the Banyamulenge find themselves in a peculiar situation, at various times in the postcolonial Congolese state they had recognition from above but lacked recognition from below. It is in this context that a politics of belonging developed. The second problem is with regards to the history of the conflict. I argue that most scholarly works take the 1993 conflict in North Kivu as the starting point of the conflict, but the conflict can be traced back to an earlier date. It was with this in mind that I pose the following question: Can the conflict in North and South Kivu in the DRC be considered as a politics of belonging between indigenous Congolese and Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese, and a contest for survival between Hutu and Tutsi elites?

Il ne nous appartient pas dans cette étude de traiter des seuls problèmes occasionnés par l’exportation coercitive du modèle politique occidental en Afrique, la question a déjà fait l’objet de remarquables travaux. Il convient cependant de souligner que force est de constater le manque d’études concernant l’ethnie en tant qu’ontologie intrinsèque en relations internationales et en polémologie en particulier. Dans le cadre de notre étude, il s’agit d’une part de mettre en évidence l’aspect central et fondamental de la manipulation multiforme du concept d’ethnie dans la survenance de certains conflits post 2nde Guerre Mondiale. En effet, outre les deux bombardements nucléaires d’Hiroshima et de Nagasaki en 1945, les puissances nucléaires se sont livrées à un jeu macabre de chantage stratégique sans pour autant faire usage de l’arme prétorienne et ultime qu’est le feu nucléaire, reléguant les études concernant le phénomène nucléaire à de vaines spéculations sur l’emploi d’une arme devenue de fait obsolescente. Il va sans dire qu’eut égard aux nombreuses victimes civiles et militaires, directes et indirectes des conflits que nous décrivons et que nous analysons en l’espèce dans le cadre de cette étude ; l’ethnie qui est maintes fois convoquée, galvaudée joue un rôle non négligeable dans ces conflits. A cet effet les conflits étudiés en l’espèce appartiennent à la catégorie des conflits identitaires. La multiplicité des conflits à caractère ethnique en Afrique noire et les violences indicibles qui en résultent comme au Rwanda, nous incline à penser pour schématiser prosaïquement que l’ethnie tue plus que l’atome ; autrement dit les conflits ethniques auxquels un nombre limité d’études est consacré sont beaucoup plus violents et plus meurtriers que les spécialistes ne veulent le faire croire. Ainsi marginaliser, caricaturer ou analyser sans consistance scientifique, sans profondeur épistémologique les conflits identitaires et ethniques reviendrait à les exclure progressivement du champ d’étude des relations internationales et de la polémologie. L’ethnie appert de ce fait comme une ontologie intéressant de plus en plus les relations internationales eu égard à la multiplicité des conflits ethniques et identitaires essaimant en Afrique depuis la chute du Mur de Berlin. Depuis cette période symbolique les Etats forts bâtis sur le modèle jacobin importé et cimenté par les partis et pensées uniques ont fait place à une multitude de revendications, au pluralisme politique ainsi qu’à la résurgence des identités ethniques. Dans le cas congolais, l’ethnie devient une ontologie transnationale, elle sert non plus à diviser mais à unir des alliés. L’ethnie ne devient donc plus un facteur de repli identitaire mais une source de la constitution de grands ensembles politiques transnationaux. Pour ce faire, l’histoire est mobilisée et manipulée à dessein afin de servir de ferment de légitimation
It is not up to us in this study to treat only problems caused by the coercive export of Western political model in Africa, the question has already been remarkable treated. It should however be noticed that it is clear the lack of studies on ethnicity as an integral ontology in international relations and conflict studies in particular. In our study, it is firstly to highlight the central and fundamental aspect of the multifaceted manipulation of the concept of ethnicity in the occurrence of certain post WW2 conflicts. Indeed, besides the two atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the nuclear powers have engaged in a macabre game of strategic blackmail without making use of the ultimate weapon and Praetorian what the nuclear fire, relegating studies on nuclear phenomenon of idle speculation about the use of a weapon is now obsolescent.Needless to say, What would the light of numerous civilian and military casualties, direct and indirect conflicts we describe and we analyze the case in this study, the ethnic group that has repeatedly called, plays a hackneyed significant role in these conflicts. To this end the conflicts in the studied species belong to the category of identity conflicts. The multiplicity of ethnic conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa and the unspeakable violence that result as in Rwanda, we tend to think to map prosaically as ethnicity kills more than the atom, ie the ethnic conflicts which a limited number of studies are devoted much more violent and deadly than the experts do not want to believe. And marginalize, caricature or analysis without scientific consistency without deep epistemological identity and ethnic conflicts would be to progressively exclude the study of international relations and war studies.The ethnicity appears thus as interesting ontology increasingly international relations with respect to the multiplicity of ethnic and identity conflicts swarming in Africa since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since this symbolic period strong states built on the Jacobin model imported cemented by single parties and thoughts have been replaced by a multitude of claims to political pluralism as well as the resurgence of ethnic identities. In the Congolese case, ethnicity becomes a transnational ontology, it is no longer to divide but to unite allies. The ethnic therefore becomes a factor of isolationism but a source of the formation of large transnational political groups. To do this, the story is mobilized and manipulated on purpose to serve as a leaven of legitimation

This study aims to examine Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda's tolerance and reconciliation processes after the conflicts by answering the research question 'How can we explain the similarities and differences between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda’s reconciliation processes in terms of ethnic tolerance among its inhabitants post civil war and genocide?'. An explanatory theory based on Brounéus’ perspectives and recommendations on reconciliation is used throughout the study. The main findings are that both countries have had diverse approaches and have not fulfilled the requirements for achieving ethnic tolerance and reconciliation.

Chapter 2 examines the uneven responses by government officials to populations displaced by genocide. In response to genocide in Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo—the case studies in this chapter—millions crossed international borders in search of safety, destabilizing the countries that reluctantly hosted them. The case studies show how perceptions of the refugees’ politics, ethnicity, race, and overall “worthiness” influenced decisions about intervention, humanitarian assistance, and opportunities for parole or refugee status. Refugee advocates had to convince government officials and a reluctant American population that assistance to these populations was in the national interest; when they were unable to do so, refugees suffered the consequences.

This chapter examines the adoption and effects on peace of non-recognition under minority Tutsi rule in Rwanda. Reviewing first a history of recognition under Hutu majority leadership, it argues that the decision not to recognize ethnic identity in post-genocide Rwanda is consistent with the book’s central theory and cross-national trends. It shows that a “dilemma of recognition” logic offers the most convincing explanation for Rwanda’s effort to “eradicate” ethnicity. On the question of effects, it finds potentially destructive contradictions between the non-recognition policy, implemented alongside de facto favoritism for members of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front and for Tutsis specifically, and the everyday experiences of Rwandans that maintain the salience of ethnicity as a basis of mistrust. It introduces the concept of a “paradox of non-recognition,” wherein efforts to negate ethnicity may result, rather, in sustaining its salience. This paradox challenges conflict management theories proposing that non-recognition enables societies to transcend ethnic identities.