Ever since the uproar of violence in 1994 and the conflicts
that led up to the genocide, the Rwandan is still not entirely stable.
President Paul Kagame is currently leading the post-genocide government of
Rwanda. He is of Tutsi descent and his rebel force ended the genocide in 1994 (Chothia
2010). He was elected president in 2003 and in 2010 (Chothia 2010). He has been
accused for repressing freedom and was known for his anti-genocide legislation.
From the time of the genocide to Kagame’s election, the Rwandan government did
not have an actual constitution, but was governed by a combination of the
Arusha Accords and Preseident Habyarimana’s 1991 constitution (Gasmagara 2007).
Kagame created a new constitution for Rwanda that sought to prevent any
conflicts over power especially between the Tutsis and the Hutus. However, his
strong opposition to any form of dissent has caused some disruption of freedom,
especially in the media. Furthermore, he supported the rebellion in the
Democratic Republic of Congo to overthrow its president, delving into another
war, while his own country is still recovering from its own civil war. Kagame,
with opposing parties from the Hutu ethnic group, is growing intolerant to political
threats because he failed to end the ethnic conflict that caused the genocide
in the first place. Therefore, although it has been 20 years since the
genocide, there is still Hutu and Tutsi resentment, especially in politics.
References
Chothia, Farouk
2010 Profile: Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, BBC News. December 10. Electronic Document. http://www.bbc.com/news/10479882, accessed on March 25, 2014.
2010 Profile: Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, BBC News. December 10. Electronic Document. http://www.bbc.com/news/10479882, accessed on March 25, 2014.
Gasmagara, Wellars
2007 The constitution making process in Rwanda: Lessons to be learned. 7th Global Forum for Reinventing Government, June. Electronic Document. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan02662 0.pdf, accessed on March 25, 2014.
2007 The constitution making process in Rwanda: Lessons to be learned. 7th Global Forum for Reinventing Government, June. Electronic Document. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan02662 0.pdf, accessed on March 25, 2014.
This is just one example of the ongoing ethnic conflict that occurs in America. There is still discrimination and tension today even if it has been many years since slavery was abolished and some years since the civil rights movement. Anthropology brings forth these issues to help the minority groups who still struggle from racial discrimination. By sharing the political tension of the Tutsi and Hutus occurring in the current Rwandan government, people can grasp an anthropological perspective of how social constructs are not only detrimental to a society but also create the conflict. Both the Tutsi and the Hutu are Rwandan; thus it’s not the ethnicity of culture of the Tutsis or the Hutus that need to be abolished, but the discrimination between them.
ReplyDeleteTrue! Thanks!
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