Month of remembrance of the victims of the genocide perpetrated against members of Hutu ethnic group.
The purpose of the Hutu Genocide Commemoration Month is to dedicate a month solely to the victims of Hutu genocide in order to organize various appropriate activities going beyond a single commemorative act.
1. Why October as Hutu Genocide Commemoration Month?
Throughout the 1990s conflict in the African Great Lakes region, there were several significant dates and months during which large-scale massacres of Hutu were planned and committed.
The choice of the month of October was guided by the requirement to select the most significant month in the history of Hutu genocide, for the remembrance of victims and for the advocacy for victims and survivors, in an appropriate and peaceful manner.
October stands out, for the following reasons:
A. October 1990 – Phase One of the Hutu genocide
1st October 1990 was the very beginning of hostilities during which began the crime of genocide against the Hutu people by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
The massacres which followed the October 1990 RPF attack marked the beginning of the first phase of the genocide against the Hutu people with the assassinations and the suffering of Hutu peasants in the north of Rwanda. A large number of survivors were displaced inside and outside the areas controlled by the RPF, living in “bulende” shelters. Large numbers of abandoned and malnourished children, nicknamed “Mayibobo”, arrived all the way to Kigali city.
B. October 1996 – phase two of the Hutu genocide
20th October 1996: This date was the start of the second phase of the genocide against the Hutu people, when the RPF created a new rebellion (AFDL) and launched major attacks in North and South Kivu, DRC.
- South Kivu
From 20th October 1996, the RPF, with the help of Burundian army and Banyamulenge soldiers, carried out systematic attacks on 11 refugee camps in the territory of Uvira, killing tens of thousands of Burundian and Rwandan Hutu refugees.
For example;
- 20th October 1996: an attack on the Kanganiro camp resulted in the murder of 1,000 Hutu refugees.
- 20th October 1996: an attack on the Itara I and II refugee camps caused the assassination of hundreds of Hutu refugees from Burundi and Rwanda.
- 21st October 1996: fires in the Lubarika and Luberizi camps killed hundreds of Hutu Rwandan and Burundian refugees.
- 24th October 1996: an attack on Kagunga camp resulted in the murder of 1,000 refugees.
From 22nd October 1996, after the capture of the town of Uvira, when the refugees fled in several directions, the RPF erected numerous barriers in the territories of Fizi and Uvira, and intercepted and killed a large number of Hutu refugees. :
For example;
- 22nd October 1996: massacre in the Rushima ravine of 550 Rwandan Hutu refugees who had survived the Luberizi massacres.
- 25th October 1996: murder of an unknown number of refugees from Kahororo, sector 7 of the Kiliba sugar factory.
- 27th October 1996: Execution of other Hutu refugees led into the Rushima ravine by the RPF
- 29th October 1996, assassination of 300 Hutu refugee men in the church of the 8th CEPZA (Pentecostal community of Zaire)
From 20th October 1996, RPF troops destroyed 26 “Bukavu camps” in Walungu, Kabare and Kalehe, as well as improvised refugee camps who had survived previous massacres, killing more Hutu refugees.
For example;
- 20th October 1996: attack on the Kamanyola refugee camp and the murder of thousands of refugees.
- 21st October 1996: massacre of refugees from Nyarubale who survived and fled the attack on the Kamanyola refugee camp.
- 26th October 1996: massacres of 600 refugees in Nyantende and Walungu, most of them women, children and the elderly, fleeing the territory of Uvira.
- 28th October 1996, assassination of Hutu refugees in the village of Lwakabiri who had fled up to thirty kilometers west of Bukavu
- North Kivu
Beginning on 25th October 1996, the RPF carried out systematic major attacks on 5 refugee camps in North Kivu, killing tens of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutu civilians. Starting from the three camps along the road from Goma to Rutshuru, with heavy and light weapons.
For example;
- 25th to 26th October 1996: attack on the Kibumba refugee camp with heavy weapons and massacre of 7,000 Hutu refugees.
- 26 th October 1996: attack at Katale refugee camp with heavy weapons and massacre of hundreds of Hutu refugees with cold weapons.
- 26th October 1996: assassination of one hundred Congolese Hutus internally displaced in the camp for internally displaced persons at Nyongera, Rutshuru.
- 31st October 1996: massacres of 700 Hutu refugees in the Kahindo and Katale camps.
- 30th October 1996, massacre of 1000 Congolese Hutus, women and children included, in the villages of Bisoko, Mugwata, Ngugo, in the territory of Rutshuru.
- 30th October 1996: murder of 500 Congolese Hutus in downtown Rutshuru, near the PNA house.
C. October 1997 – Bombing of the Nyakinama caves
Although large numbers of Hutus were continuously killed in many parts of the country throughout 1997, October 1997 was an intense period of massacres, particularly in the prefectures of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri. Between 23 and 28 October 1997, approximately 8,000 Hutu civilians were killed by RPF soldiers in the large caves of Nyakimana, Kanama commune, in Gisenyi prefecture.
D. October 2010 – DRC Mapping Exercise Report
October 2010, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) published the official version of the Report of the mapping project on violations of human rights and international law committed between 1993 and 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which its team concluded that there was some elements that indicated that a genocide had been committed.
2. Why a month for the victims of the Hutu Genocide?
The Hutu Genocide Commemoration Month is a time for the survivors and witnesses of the Hutu genocide to give their testimonies and to let their nations and the rest of the world know what really happened to theirs. Importantly, it is an opportunity to find ways and means to advocate and assist survivors of this crime who are still in conflict zones.
The Hutu Genocide Commemoration Month is an opportunity to campaign for the recognition of this genocide by the competent institutions and to seek justice against the perpetrators of these acts. It is also an opportunity to clarify on the question of whether the crimes constitute (or not) a crime of genocide.
The month of commemoration of the victims of the genocide perpetrated against the Hutus is the only framework in which the commemoration ceremonies can be organized in an inclusive manner by commemorating the victims of all nationalities (Congolese, Burundian and Rwandan) and by involving, as far as possible, Congolese and Burundian Hutu communities that lost theirs alongside the Rwandan Hutu victims.
3. Why not a joint commemoration "Kwibuka bose"?
3.1 Joint commemoration : a fusion of dissimilar memory rituals
The common and joint commemoration “Kwibuka bose” consists in merging the rituals of memory and paying homage to the victims (Tutsi and Hutu) killed in different times, by different people, in different countries, and for different motives while, for some, there is currently an absence of recognition and justice for the crimes committed against them.
The genocide perpetrated against the Hutu is not yet widely recognized and its legal qualification is sometimes disputed (was it a crime of genocide or war crimes?). No one has been brought to justice for this crime. The victims have not been identified and the survivors are not taken care of. Witnesses are harassed and the authorities spare no effort to silence them. Denial of this crime has been institutionalized and built into the law.
On the other hand, the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsis has received international recognition, national and international justice and laws have been adopted to punish and prevent the denial of this crime. Theses, films and books have been published and taught in schools. Memorial sites have been erected and visited. So there is clarity as to what is being commemorated and Tutsi victims are honored in this established environment that has developed over the past 25 years.
How then can we commonly commemorate the victims of these two disparate crimes at the same time and in a genuine way?
3.2 Why not the month of April?
On the one hand, April is not particularly the most significant month in the genocide committed against the Hutu. There is no particular reason why the victims of the Hutu genocide must necessarily be commemorated in April. Of course, in April 1994, the RPF massacred thousands of Hutu peasants in the north and west of Rwanda, as it did all over the country in the months and years that followed. There are, however, other significant months when large massacres of Hutu also took place (for example, massacres at the Byumba stadium, May 1994, the bombardment of the Nyakinama caves from October 23 to 28, 1997, attacks on the camps of Uvira from October 20 to 24, 1996, Tingi-tingi massacre on March 1, 1997, etc. …).
On the other hand, for the Rwandan government, April is not a time to remember all the victims of the conflict or the violence that followed. Why forcibly organize a commemoration of the Hutu victims in April when, in the eyes of Tutsi survivors, it has always appeared as a confrontation or sabotage and when the Rwandan government and its agencies fiercely oppose it? Why not choose another month?
3.3 “Joint” commemoration discriminates other nationalities
So far, joint commemoration is only envisaged in the Rwandan context and does not take into account the fact that many victims of the Hutu genocide are of different nationalities. This is unfair and discriminatory against a large number of non-Rwandan victims.
To illustrate this often forgotten reality, for example, in October 1996, in the territory of Uvira in the DRC, two-thirds of the refugees registered by the UNHCR were of Burundian nationality, or about 150,000 people. These Burundian Hutu refugees were hunted down and massacred alongside Hutu of other nationalities. Alongside Congolese Hutus and Rwandan Hutus, they fled, faced hunger, died, and were massacred by RPF soldiers after the destruction of the refugee camps.
In view of the above, the month of October has been chosen to be dedicated to the commemoration of the genocide perpetrated against the Hutu. Annually, the month of October will be marked with various activities with the aim:
- to present facts which demonstrate that the atrocities committed constitute a crime of genocide;
- to demand wider international recognition of the genocide against the Hutu people;
- to seek justice for the perpetrators of these acts;
- to advocate for survivors living in conflict zones and
- to commemorate and honor the victims of this crime