Exile, reform, and the rise of the Rwandan Patriotic Front

Journal of Modern African Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 479-501

  Reed, Wm Cyrus ^a,b  

^a Office of African Studies

^b The American University in Cairo   (Egypt)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING COUNTRY; EXILE; EXILED POPULATION; GEOPOLITICAL STUDY; POLITICAL REFORM; REFORM NEED; REFUGEES;

RWANDA;

EID: 0030439461     PISSN: 0022278X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0022278x00055567     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Both are also known by their French names, the Front patriotique rwandais-Inkotanyi, and the Armée patriotique rwandais.
2. For analyses of the RPF, see James Bennett, 'Zur Geschichte und Politik der Rwandishen Patriotischen Front', in Hildegard Schurings ed.), Ein Volk verlässt sein Land: Krieg und Völkermord in Ruanda (Cologne, 1994), pp. 168-79. and Gérard Prunier, 'Éléments pour une histoire du Front patriotique rwandais', in Politique africaine (Paris), 51, October 1993, pp. 121-38.
3. For analyses of the RPF, see James Bennett, 'Zur Geschichte und Politik der Rwandishen Patriotischen Front', in Hildegard Schurings ed.), Ein Volk verlässt sein Land: Krieg und Völkermord in Ruanda (Cologne, 1994), pp. 168-79. and Gérard Prunier, 'Éléments pour une histoire du Front patriotique rwandais', in Politique africaine (Paris), 51, October 1993, pp. 121-38.
4. See René Lemarchand, Rwanda and Burundi (London and New York, 1970), especially chs. 4, 5, and 6.
5. Catherine Watson, Exile from Rwanda : background to an invasion (Washington, DC, 1991), p. 5.
6. Interview, Kigali, August 1994.
7. Dixon Kamukama, Rwanda Conflict: its roots and regional implications (Kampala, 1993), p. 32.
8. République rwandaise, Présidence de la république, Commission spéciale sur les problèmes des émigrés rwandais, Le Rwanda et le problème de ses réfugiés: contexte historique, analyse, et voies de solution (Kigali, May 1990).
9. Charles P. Gasarasi, 'The Mass Naturalization and Further Integration of Rwandese Refugees in Tanzania: process, problems and prospects', in Journal of Refugee Studies (Oxford), 3, 2, 1990, pp. 90-5.
10. Ibid. p. 88.
11. Ibid. p. 96.
12. Catherine Watson, 'War and Waiting', in Africa Report (New York), 37, 6, 1992, p. 53.
13. Jason W. Clay, The Eviction of Banyaruanda: the story behind the refugee crisis in Southwest Uganda (Cambridge, MA, n.d.), and Kamukama, op. cit. pp. 36-41.
14. Jason W. Clay, The Eviction of Banyaruanda: the story behind the refugee crisis in Southwest Uganda (Cambridge, MA, n.d.), and Kamukama, op. cit. pp. 36-41.
15. The information that follows is based upon confidential interviews conducted in Kigali with former members of the Rwandan Alliance for National Unity (Ranu) in August 1994 and July 1995.
16. Tito Rutaremara was then living in France, where lack of funding, travel documents, and the pending completion of his thesis explains why he did not return to Kenya until 1987.
17. Watson, op. cit. 1991, p. 13.
18. Following the invasion, Habyarimana quickly returned from New York, while Museveni remained abroad, in effect giving the RPA more latitude to act.
19. This figure is given by Cherry Gertzel, 'Uganda's Continuing Search for Peace', in Current History (Philadelphia), 89, 547, 1990, p. 207, and by Filip Reyntjens, 'Rwanda: recent history', in Africa South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1994), p. 698. Watson, loc. cit. 1992, p. 54, suggests that the original 4,000 soldiers were accompanied by 3,000 civilians when they crossed the border.
20. This figure is given by Cherry Gertzel, 'Uganda's Continuing Search for Peace', in Current History (Philadelphia), 89, 547, 1990, p. 207, and by Filip Reyntjens, 'Rwanda: recent history', in Africa South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1994), p. 698. Watson, loc. cit. 1992, p. 54, suggests that the original 4,000 soldiers were accompanied by 3,000 civilians when they crossed the border.
21. This figure is given by Cherry Gertzel, 'Uganda's Continuing Search for Peace', in Current History (Philadelphia), 89, 547, 1990, p. 207, and by Filip Reyntjens, 'Rwanda: recent history', in Africa South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1994), p. 698. Watson, loc. cit. 1992, p. 54, suggests that the original 4,000 soldiers were accompanied by 3,000 civilians when they crossed the border.
22. Interviews, Kigali, July 1995.
23. Justice Muhanguzi, The War in Rwanda: the inside story (Mbarara, Uganda, 1992), p. I.
24. See Filip Reyntjens, L'Afrique des grands lacs en crise: Rwanda, Burundi, 1988-1994 (Paris, 1994), p. 91, fn. 7. 'Inkotanyi' was also the name of the élite fighters in the ancient Rwandan monarchy, though it is unclear that the RPA was aware of the historical reference.
25. Watson, loc. cit. 1992, p. 54.
26. For a discussion of the role of Uganda in the invasion, see Alan I. Zarembo, Explaining the 1990 Invasion of Rwanda: domestic pressures or foreign policy interests?', Senior Honors thesis, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 1992, especially pp. 20-6.
27. The troops from Zaïre were quickly withdrawn because of their lack of discipline and accusations that they spent more time looting shops and stealing from the people than fighting the RPF.
28. Muhanguzi, op. cit. p. 19.
29. 'The Dar es Salaam Declaration on the Refugee Problem', signed 19 February 1991, Annex III, in Kamukama, op. cit. pp. 77-9. Rwanda was joined by Zaïre, Tanzania, Burundi, and Uganda. The Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sent observers.
30. Because political leaders of the RPF were active in the RPA and vice versa, distinguishing the two became increasingly difficult. Here, RPF refers to the activities of the RPA as well.
31. Among the more prominent prisoners who joined the RPF when freed were Commandants Ruseruka, Muvunanyambo, and Thibandeeba, and Major Theomista Linzide.
32. Government of Rwanda, 'Information on the Involvement of Uganda in the Aggression Against Rwanda', undated, n.p. This document accused Uganda of helping to plan the invasion, train and arm the combatants, and of providing backup reinforcements by increasing the country's military presence along the Rwandan border prior to each RPF incursion.
33. Africa Research Bulletin: political, social, and cultural series (Oxford), January 1992, p. 10406.
34. Rwanda and Uganda signed a security pact in August 1992, in which both agreed to co-operate in maintaining security along their common border. Ibid. August 1992, p. 10673.
35. Africa Confidential (London), 33, 20, 9 October 1992, p. 7.
36. Watson, loc. cit. 1992, p. 55.
37. Africa Research Bulletin, June 1992, p. 10621.
38. Watson, Ibid.
39. Africa Confidential, 33, 20, 9 October 1992, p. 7.
40. This offensive was supported by France, which sent troops to the north to protect 'French and other foreign nationals', according to a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. Africa Research Bulletin, June 1992, p. 10628.
41. Ibid. May 1992, p. 10589.
42. 'Accord de cessez-le-feu de N'Sele entre le Gouvernement de la République rwandaise et le Front patriotique rwandais, tel qu'amende à Gbadolite le 16 septembre 1991 et à Arusha le 12 juillet 1992', in Journal officiel de la République rwandaise (Kigali), 32, 16, August 1993, pp. 1271-8. All of the agreements between the RPF and the Government of Rwanda became known as the Arusha Accords, and were published in the August 1993 edition of the Journal Officiel.
43. Protocole d'accord entre le Gouvernement de la République rwandaise et le Front patriotique rwandaise relatif à l'état de droit', in ibid. pp. 1279-85.
44. Protocole d'accord entre le Gouvernement de la République rwandaise et le Front patriotique rwandais sur le partage du pouvoir dans le cadre d'un Gouvernement de transition à base élargie', Articles 1-46, signed in Arusha, 30 October 1992, in ibid. pp. 1286-1309. The Protocol also outlined the broad policies which the Transitional Government was to pursue, as well as the creation of specialised commissions and the rights of the judiciary.
45. Africa Research Bulletin, March 1993, p. 10938.
46. 'Protocole d'accord entre le Gouvernement de la République rwandaise et le Front patriotique rwandais sur l'intégration des forces armées de deux parties', signed in Arusha, 3 August 1993, in Journal Officiel, pp. 1341-1440.
47. This and the following paragraphs are based upon interviews with members of the RPF's Political Bureau, Kigali, July 1995.
48. For a detailed examination of the genocide itself, see Africa Rights, Rwanda: death, despair, and defiance (London, 1995,). Also, Alain Destexhe, Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century (London, 1995), and Gerard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis: a history of genocide (London, 1995).
49. For a detailed examination of the genocide itself, see Africa Rights, Rwanda: death, despair, and defiance (London, 1995,). Also, Alain Destexhe, Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century (London, 1995), and Gerard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis: a history of genocide (London, 1995).
50. For a detailed examination of the genocide itself, see Africa Rights, Rwanda: death, despair, and defiance (London, 1995,). Also, Alain Destexhe, Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century (London, 1995), and Gerard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis: a history of genocide (London, 1995).
51. For a review of the international response to events in Rwanda, see the five-volume study published by the Steering Committee of the Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda, entitled The International Response to Conflict and Genocide: lessons from Rwanda, edited by David Millwood (Copenhagen, 1996).
52. See Wm. Cyrus Reed, 'The Rwandan Patriotic Front: the development of politics and the politics of development in Rwanda', in Issue (Atlanta), 23, 2, 1995, pp. 48-53.
53. Republic of Rwanda, Round Table Conference: mid-term review, 6-7 July 1995 (Kigali, 1995), pp. 8-9.
54. Interviews, Fonction publique, Kigali, July 1995.
55. The RPA has assumed the rôle of a national army, and has reportedly accepted 4,000 exmembers of FAR. But the overwhelming bulk of both the command and the rank-and-file remain affiliated with the RPF. Moreover, because virtually all members of the RPF had military experience, many of those taking senior posts in the civil service are former members of the RPA.
56. 'UN Report Prompts Agency to Stop Urging Rwandan Refugees to Go Home', in The New York Times, 28 September 1995, p. A4.
57. Chris McGreal, 'Rwanda Sacks its Hutu Prime Minister', in The Guardian Weekly (London), 3 September 1995.
58. Of the one to two million refugees outside of the country-, even the RPF estimates the number of guilty to be less than 50,000. Others put the figure much lower.
59. For a more detailed discussion of the challenges faced by the RPF, see Reed, loc. cit.