Hutus, Tutsis struggle toward resolution

While he attended a Rwandan elementary school during the 1950s, Augustin Banyaga, a professor of mathematics, played with many other children. He knew those children had different ethnic backgrounds, but he really did not know of which ethnicity groups his friends were members.

- Clemente K. Abrokwaa
assistant professor of African studies

Nearly 40 years later, those same children participated in what some term a genocide. In 1994, violence erupted in Rwanda, and the Hutus -- the majority ethnic group -- are reported to have killed an estimated 500,000 Tutsis, a minority group. Banyaga, a Hutu, said the media have misconstrued the 1994 massacre, making the Hutus appear to be the "bad guys."

"Americans always think that there is a good guy and a bad guy," he said. "(The media portray) the victim is the Tutsi, and the Hutu is the bad guy, but the Hutus never really planned a massacre."

The Tutsis, he said, also committed atrocities, but the Hutus are the only people being tried by the Rwandan national courts and the International Criminal Tribunal, which operates under a United Nations mandate.

But, the roots of these atrocities come from a power struggle that dates back centuries. About 400 years ago, the Tutsi tribe settled in Rwanda, a landlocked nation located in central Africa. They brought cattle along and established it as a sign of wealth. And although the Hutus were already settled in Rwanda, the Tutsis were able to set up a feudal-like government which the Tutsis ruled because they were the wealthy.

This hierarchical structure also made provisions for the Hutus to be tenant farmers. They worked the land, while the Tutsis had complete control, both politically and financially. The Tutsis made the sign of wealth the cow, and the Tutsi had just about complete control of all the cattle, said Neil J. Kressel, associate professor of psychology at William Paterson College in New Jersey.

Because it took many resources to rule the sphere, the German authorities granted the Mwami control, and punished the Hutus who tried to rebel. When money was introduced in 1913, it decreased the strength of the Tutsi regime because they no longer monopolized the traditional symbol of wealth -- cattle.

The Belgians also brought Catholic missionaries into the area to educate the Hutu; this is when the Hutus learned that Tutsis were not inherently better than them, Kressel said. Before this, the Hutus were taught that the Tutsis were given the right to rule by God.

In 1957, Rwanda asked the European powers for independence, and by this time, several Hutu political groups emerged and the Mwami mysteriously died. In 1961, the monarchy was abolished and a Republic was set up. And in 1962, Rwanda had its first elections. Because the country was overwhelmingly Hutu, the Hutu won the right to rule for the first time in more than four centuries, Kressel said. However, there were some Tutsis in the government.

Clemente K. Abrokwaa, assistant professor of African studies, said the Tutsis joined the government for survival reasons -- not because of ethnicity or loyalty to the regime.

All Tutsis did not benefit under a Tutsi government, and when the Hutus took over, they aligned with those already in power, he said. Some Tutsis married Hutus and then called themselves Hutus.

"Each ethnic group wanted to rule," Abrokwaa said. "The key was to maintain power."

Kressel said during the 1960s, many Tutsis fled the area to neighboring countries because of violence. The other Tutsis who remained became integrated into the culture, Kressel said.

He added that this may explain why Banyaga remembers the Hutus and Tutsis playing together when he was a child.

Kressel said these relations in Rwanda continued as late as 1986. Tensions started to heat up in the early 1990s -- a time when Banyaga returned to Rwanda. He said things were not as he remembered them being in the school playground.

"I could tell something was going on, but I didn't know what," he said.

The Hutus and the Tutsis were fighting a civil war in which both sides committed atrocities, Banyaga said. In 1994, an extremist group, composed primarily of Hutus, reportedly killed 500,000 Tutsis. Government leaders such as Jean-Paul Akayesu, a former Rwandan mayor, allegedly ordered the military to commit genocide."

With the help of the international community, both sides reached a "peaceful" settlement in 1993. The Tutsis gained control of the government, and the Hutus sought refuge in neighboring countries in fear of reprisal, Kressel said. Now, the refugees are returning to the country they once called home.

After much delay, Hutu officials who led the genocide will be tried in front either the national or international courts. The suspects who played an "intermediary" role in the genocide are being tried in the national courts, and the international community is seeking justice for "big fish."

As the international court begins its first trial, the conflict still lingers. Banyaga said some of the war criminals are going unpunished. Tutsis also committed crimes, but they remain in power.

And so, violence continues to plague the landlocked African country no bigger than the size of Maryland. Members of an extremist Hutu group destroyed a U.N. vehicle Tuesday.

"No, I don't think the situation will get any better after the trials," Banyaga said. "I don't know if there will ever be a solution."