Commemorating genocide in Rwanda

Abstract

Rwanda is largely known to the outside world for the 1994 genocide, during which Hutu Power extremists murdered between 500,000 and one million civilians, most of whom were members of the nation’s Tutsi minority population. The military victory of the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) ended the genocide, after which the RPF invested in an ambitious transitional justice programme, including trials, memorials and annual national commemorations, to tackle the unenviable tasks of pursuing “universal accountability” and reconciling its citizens. In doing so, it has gradually established an official history of what it terms the “1994 genocide against the Tutsi”. This official history has provoked controversy within and beyond Rwanda. Its supporters laud the government’s efforts to educate the public, promote genocide resistance, and provide survivors with safe spaces to remember missing and murdered loved ones. Its critics argue that it creates a dangerous hierarchy of suffering that obscures Rwandans’ diverse experiences of political violence in the 1990s. This chapter maps the evolution of official commemorations in Rwanda alongside official efforts to silence discussions of broader experiences of political violence in Rwanda in the 1990s, highlighting the potential challenges that can surround genocide commemorations in post-genocide contexts internationally.