Rwanda
Even before the notorious 1994 genocide, Rwanda was beset by ethnic tension associated with the traditionally unequal relationship between the dominant Tutsi minority and the majority Hutus. In 1959, three years before independence, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions. The shooting down of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana, and his Burundian counterpart, near Kigali triggered what appeared to be a well-organized, coordinated attempt by Hutus to eliminate the Tutsi population. In response, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched a military campaign to control the country. It achieved this by July, by which time at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been massacred.
About 2 million Hutus - some perpetrators of the genocide, some who were used as human shields - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC, some of the génocidaires (perpetrators of the genocide) joined with DRC forces to attack local Tutsis. Rwanda responded by invading refugee camps dominated by Hutu militiamen. Laurent Kabila, who seized control of the DRC, failed to quell or drive out the Hutu extremists, prompting Rwanda to support the rebels trying to overthrow him. Rwanda withdrew its forces from the DRC in late 2002 after signing a peace deal with Kinshasa.
Since then most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but the presence of Hutu militiamen in the DRC remains a source of strong regional tensions. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first ever local elections held in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation.
Rwanda has used traditional "gacaca" community courts to try those suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide. Key suspects -- those accused of orchestrating the massacres -- face an International Criminal Tribunal in northern Tanzania.
Paul Kagame, leader of the RPF, was selected by MPs as President in 2000. In August 2003, he claimed a landslide victory in the first presidential elections since the genocide. The son of Tutsi parents who had fled to Uganda to escape ethnic violence, Kagame fought alongside Yoweri Museveni (Uganda's future president) in the fight to topple Milton Obote, rising to become Museveni's intelligence chief. Mr Kagame was instrumental in establishing the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), becoming its military commander. Rwanda has experienced relative stability under Mr Kagame and the RPF, but the ruling party does not tolerate any criticism or challenge to its authority. Kagame dismisses any ethnic agenda in Rwanda, presenting himself as a Rwandan and not a Tutsi.
Most of Rwanda has been calm since the war and genocide ended in July 1994. Insurgents opposed to the current government launched attacks against Rwanda from bases in DRC beginning in early 1997. The government has largely brought the insurgency under control, sporadic attacks continue in the northwest. Avoid travel to the following communes (zones) in the northwest: Ndusu, Gatonde, Giciye, Kinigi, Mutura, Kidaho, Nyamyunba and Kayove. Unexploded ordnance still remains a danger off well-traveled roads in the northwest.
Rwanda has reopened the Parc National des Volcans (translation: Viruga National Park) and provides military escorts for those individuals with official passes to track gorillas. Visitors to the park risk being the target of rebel and/or bandit attacks, and should not stay overnight.
