Journal of International Criminal Justice Advance Access originally published online on August 19, 2005
Journal of International Criminal Justice 2005 3(4):823-836; doi:10.1093/jicj/mqi070
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I. How Could it Happen? |
The Seven Stages of the Rwandan Genocide
* Ph.D. candidate, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium; the author is also completing a Masters degree in Mediation, University Institute Kurt Bosch, Switzerland. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the International Conference ‘Violence without Law: Testimonies and Reflections on Genocides and Crimes of War’ (Università Bicocca, Milan, 16–17 November 2004). The paper will shortly be published in Italian in M. Calloni (ed.), Violenza semza legge: Testimonianze e riflessioni su genocidi e crimini di guerra. We thank Professor Calloni for authorizing this early publication. The paper was translated from French by Olivia Rutazibwa. [mukimbiri{at}rom.ucl.ac.be]
Drawing upon a book by J.M. Lecomte on the genocide of the Jews by the Nazi Germans, the author examines the seven stages in the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. These stages, which do not necessarily follow one another in time but may overlap, can be classified in the following way: (i) definition of the target group on the basis of some criteria; (ii) registration of the victims; (iii) designation or outward identification of the victims; (iv) restriction and confiscation of goods; (v) exclusion from professions, working activities and means of transportation, among other things; (vi) systematic isolation; (vii) mass extermination.
1 J.-M. Lecomte, Teaching About the Holocaust in the 21st Century (Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2001).
2 Lecomte explains that the stages may take place concurrently. Lecomte, supra note 1, at 47.
3 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 50.
4 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 47.
10 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 48.
11 The Twa constitute the third major population group in Rwanda. The Twa are rarely mentioned but they constitute 1% of the population.
12 Hutu, Tutsi and Twa were socio-economic classifications rather than genetic labels.
13 A. Kagame, Le Code des institutions politiques du Rwanda pré-colonial (Bruxelles: Institut Royal colonial belge, 1952), at 96.
14 L. Rutagaram, L’éveil de la conscience politique des masses populaires au Mayaga de 1931 à 1957: Mémoire de licence (Ruhengeri: Université nationale du Rwanda, 1988), at 15–16.
15 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 48.
17 A. Mugesera, Imibereho y'abatutsi kuri repubulika ya mbere n'iya kabiri (1959–1990) (Kigali: Les editions rwandaises, 2004), 286 ff. (Approximate translation of the title: The Status of the Tutsi during the First and the Second Republic.)
18 Prefecture of Cyangugu, Letter no. 749/F.P./2/09C of 20 May 1965.
19 Prefecture of Kigali, Letter no. 805/A/ of 29 July 1966.
20 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice, Letter no. 1977/cab. of 13 October 1972.
21 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice, Transcript of the meeting held in Kigali, 20 October 1966 by the Prefects of the Prefectures, at 6 and 7.
22 Ministry of Internal Affairs, Letters no. 1902/APA/rec. of 22 August 1972 and no. 2276/APA/org, Prefect, 30 October 1973.
23 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 48.
24 Ibid. It is worth noting at this point that Lecomte also suggests that starting at this third phase, his so-called phases no longer operate in neat succession; instead, as exemplified in the case of Jews in Europe during the Holocaust, phases may occur at different times in different countries, and sometimes concurrently.
26 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 48–49.
28 A. Mugesera, supra note 17, at 87 ff.
29 Ministry of Agriculture, P.D. Nkezabera, Letter no. 0/770/11.c. of 6 August 1964.
30 Prefecture of Cyangugu, Letter no. 03 of 5 February 1962.
31 Prefecture of Byumba, Monthly Report of October 1962.
32 Mugesera, supra note 17, at 91.
34 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 49.
35 Mugesera, supra note 17, at 296 ff.
36 By Note no. 177/cab of 17 January 1967, the Minister of International Cooperation and Plan enumerated the reasons why the Hutu state would not benefit from having Tutsi in the embassies, the consulates and the international offices.
37 Mugesera, supra note 17, at 303.
38 Rudipresse, no. 182 of 30 July 1960, at 3.
39 Prefecture of Kibungo, Letter no. 2328/A.1.37/02 D.W of 17 October 1961, in Mugesera, supra note 17, at 80.
40 The tsé-tsé mosquito, typhus, meningitis and dysentery were the principal causes of death.
41 Imvaho no. 28 of 30 December 1961.
42 Imvaho no. 33 of 28 February 1961.
43 Prefecture of Kigali, Communiqué to the population of Kanzenze, Letter no. 440/20 of 9 May 1966.
44 Prefecture of Kibungo, Letter no. 967, 23 Conf. 1/02 of 23 September 1964.
45 Juvénal Habyarimana, interview in the ACP-EEC Courier, no. 72, March–April 1982, at 16.
46 Prefecture of Kibuye, Administrative Report: Encounter with the President of Central Kivu, Kibuye, Letter no. 0621/B. Pref. of 14 May 1964.
47 Rwandan Embassy in Kinshasa, Letter no. Ref. 700/06 of July 1970.
48 Lecomte, supra note 1, at 48.
52 Human Rights Watch and Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'Homme, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999). The book has been edited by Alison Des Forges on the basis of research by 10 investigators.
54 Valérie Bemeriki, RTLM, 13 April, recorded by Faustin Kagame (ibid., at 300).
56 RTLM, 3 April, recorded by Faustin Kagame, in Human Rights Watch and Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme, supra note 52, at 214.
57 Human Rights Watch and Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme, supra note 52, at 219.