This weekend marks 20 years since a three-month massacre left 800,000 Rwandans dead. The genocide, ignited by the assassination of the Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana, further divided the population along sectarian lines, with the majority of the deaths among the Tutsi group. Half a million women were raped during the carnage and up to 20,000 children were born as a result ...
They said it would never happen again but 20 years on the world is doing little to prevent a similar tragedy, says Daily Maverick Never again, they said, as they counted bodies left behind by the Rwandan genocide, "they" being pretty much everybody with even a passing interest in the African continent: Rwandans, of course; their neighbours; international organisations; NGOs; colonial governments;...
Two decades after the genocide, Rwandans are enjoying longer and wealthier lives, yet extreme poverty persists and activists complain of political suppression. Here's a statistical breakdown of the major developments since 1994 Twenty years after the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of 800,000 people, much of the international commentary about Rwanda swings between extremes astonishment at the...
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series...
With 40% of female MPs, why is Maputo passing legislation discriminating against women, asks Daily Maverick In April, Mozambican MPs will debate and approve a long-overdue review of the penal code: finally, the country is getting rid of the colonial law which dates from 1886. The world has advanced in giant leaps in terms of human rights since then, 127 years ago. The laws of a young country should...
Press freedom group condemns government after US journalist who linked Twitter bullying to president's office is deported Rwanda has been accused of "unacceptable acts of harassment and intimidation" against the media after a hostile pro-government Twitter account using a fake name was traced to the president's office . Paul Kagame's government last week deported Steve Terrill, a US freelance journalist...
Simbikangwa sentenced to 25 years by French court for his part in 1994 genocide that left 800,000 people dead A French court has sentenced a wheelchair-using former Rwandan soldier to 25 years in prison for his part in the 1994 genocide that left about 800,000 people dead. Pascal Simbikangwa, 54, a former intelligence chief and captain of his country's presidential guard, was convicted of complicity...
t to suggest that the subject of reparations is not logistically and morally challenging. Damage caused to both people and property must be fairly assessed, and a monetary value assigned to losses. Some would argue that genocide is an irreparable crime due to the sheer scale of psychological and physical suffering. But irrespective of these challenges, the silence surrounding the subject of financial...
In one of thousands of documents newly released, close aide tells president to say administration ‘responded to danger signs’ James Ball ...
s account of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath serve as a fitting tribute to the actions of a heroic Franciscan priest My first reaction when confronted with David Belton's book was to ask what is to be gained from yet another book retelling the horrors of the Rwandan genocide? A part of me still feels that way, but what makes this one stand out is that it is not simply an account of the events...
t On a recent trip to Rwanda, my luggage was searched at the border, and the authorities confiscated some of my belongings. No, I wasn't trying to smuggle drugs or weapons. The offenders? Three plastic bags I'd use to carry my shampoo and dirty laundry. You see, non-biodegradable polythene bags are illegal in Rwanda . In 2008, while the rest of the world was barely starting to consider a tax on single-use...
s Tutsi population. The rate of killing was astonishing – 800,000 Tutsis slaughtered in 100 days – as the prime minister and members of his government toured the country egging the murderers on. Even priests were among the killers as churches were turned into killing centres. But this is not what Ruhumuliza, then a bishop in Rwanda's Anglican church and now a Church of England priest in a Worcestershire...
propagandist' for Hutu extremists The Church of England is investigating a Rwandan bishop who is now serving as a parish priest in Worcestershire over "disturbing" allegations that he was a propagandist for leaders of his country's 1994 genocide and complicit in sending Tutsis to their deaths. The church said it had been unaware of the most serious accusations when it appointed the Right Rev Jonathan...
s burgeoning economy, many are unequipped to take advantage of the growth. Our letter this week argues the solution may be a more practical approach to education I am the communications director at Akilah Institute for Women , a college with campuses in Rwanda and Burundi that prepares young women for professional careers in the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. I was delighted to see the recent...
s education minister sets his sights on improving quality and tackling the country's high youth unemployment rates In the annual Unesco Education for All global monitoring report , published on Wednesday, Rwanda is listed as one of three top performing countries in the world (with Laos and Vietnam) for reducing out-of-school populations by at least 85% over the past five years. The focus this year...
I will never get married and I will never get kids, because there is no point in being married if my husband is going to be killed; there is no point in having kids when I have seen entire families dying. I would rather stay the way I am'." Twenty years ago this April, Masereka, a Rwandan Tutsi who dreamed of becoming a nurse, watched neighbour turn on neighbour as the country's Hutu majority embarked...
Freddie Knoller, Sokphal Din and Sophie Masereka want the world to know what happened to them in the hope that others will be spared similar horrors Mustafa Khalili Sam Jones ...
s over a fifth of your population died in the genocide. "They did yes." RE After the 1994 genocide which claimed up to a million lives Rwanda was one of the poorest countries in the world. The health system had collapsed and epidemics of infectious diseases including AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis were having a devastating impact on the country. Today, however, Rwanda's economy has been transformed...
s advances in healthcare come under the spotlight in this month's global development podcast. We look at key areas of improvement and discuss whether other developing countries can learn from the evolution of the Rwandan health service. Ruth Evans speaks to the country's health minister, Agnes Binagwaho, and Paul Farmer, professor of global health at Harvard University in the US. She also visits Kigali,...
American zoologist played by Sigourney Weaver in the film Gorillas in the Mist would have been 82 on Thursday Dian Fossey, the American zoologist who was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 after a long battle to protect mountain gorillas, has been celebrated in a Google doodle. Fossey, who would have been 82 on Thursday, was born in San Francisco on January 1932 and educated at the University of California....