How did Rwanda turn from a country that went through genocide where one million people were murdered, into being one of the top countries in the world in terms of personal security, the second country in Africa in terms of investment and economic growth, and a country with zero tolerance for corruption?
Some call it the "Singapore of Africa". The streets are cleaner than in Switzerland and green reigns supreme. The "Land of a Thousand Hills", with beautiful tourist attractions. The story of Rwanda is exciting and unique, different from the rest of the continent. Anyone who comes to Rwanda is astonished from what this country has achieved and what it represents today. The dissonance is outstanding.
This article will try to explain the success story of a country that united the ranks and built reconciliation and internal peace between murderers and victims, to show that it is possible.
The Constitution and the Reconciliation Process
The first phase of reconciliation was already evident on July 17, 1994, when it was decided to form an interim national unity government. The composition of the government was similar to the one decided upon in the agreement reached at the peace talks in Arusha, Tanzania in August 1993, under the auspices of the United Nations. That of pre genocide was an attempt to bring calm, but the agreement was never fully implemented and was certainly cut short on April 6. when President Habyarimana's plane was shot down.
The Government of National Unity, established by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi-led organization that liberated Rwanda in July 1994, had a majority of Hutu people, including the first president, Pasteur Bizimungu. During this period, it was also decided to integrate into the army and police men from the Hutu tribe who had fled to neighboring countries and wanted to return. Since 2003, a permanent government has been in place that expresses "representative equality" in accordance with Article 9 of the country's constitution.Public Participation
The constitution was adopted in 2003, drafted and written through a fascinating process of public participation, which lasted almost four years.
The process of public participation was another layer of community peacebuilding, reconciliation, and unity. All theseprinciples were expressed, among others,inArticle 1 of the Constitution, which states that "In the wake of the genocide against the Tutsi that was organized andsupervised byunworthy leadersandother perpetrators... The Rwandan people" Resolved to fight the ideology of genocide and all its manifestations and to eradicate ethnic, regional and any other form of divisions".1
The first practical element in the process of reconciliation and the building of a new and united society was the introduction of the popular judicial system known as the Gacaca. These were local courts, operating in the courtyards of survivors' homes, with local judges from within the community, who have been trained to do so. Such courts were first introduced during the monarchy and since the 17th century have been the primary local legal instance for resolving disputes and restoring order and peace to the community in the event of a dispute.
These local and temporary courts, in which the perpertrators were given the opportunity to bring their version, have resulted in the release of tens of thousands of accomplices and criminals, provided that they confess their actions and express remorse and forgiveness as well as commitment to return to the community and live a new life together, life of reconciliation. Nearly 100,000 murderers have been trialed in Rwanda's regular courts and imprisoned. The courts sentenced war criminals to different periods according to the different categories of severity of their acts.
The second tool that was introduced in the new republic and also existed during the monarchy was the Abunzi (mediator), i.e. the local mediator. This is a hierarchy of local arbitration, which automatically precedes any litigation in an official court. The Abunzi performs a process of understanding a dispute between people in a community or family on a wide range of motives (land dispute, petty crime, or other civil dispute), operates at the cell level (a cluster of villages), and at the sector level, and establishes a decision that binds both parties. Only if the decision is postponed, the dispute goes to court.2
The local court system, the Gacaca court trials, and the Abunzi mediator system were two of the mechanisms that were restored to use by the new republic. In these mechanisms lies the secret of the success of the special Rwanda. The mechanisms known as Home Grown Solutions (HGS) are the "Secrets of Rwanda".
"The Secrets of Rwanda"
A Special Assembly of scholars and leaders from all walkswakls of life in Rwanda that was gathered in October 1999 and the drafting of the Constitution that followed it, decided to bring back from the monarchy period those governmental processes that were practiced long before the arrival of the colonialists. These mechanisms were accepted during the kingdom by both tribes, who lived in peace side by side, and complimented each other. Precisely because they were acceptable by both tribes in the past, they were restored after the genocide, and have become acceptable by all, while at the same time supporting the process of unity and peace building.
The Ambassador gives cows to Poor on behalf of the state of Israel (Mashav) as part of the Girinka
Credit :Mutanganshuro Lavie
Article 11 of the constitutional amendment (2015) officially states that "In order to build the nation, promote national culture and restore dignity, Rwandans, based on their values, initiate home-grown mechanisms to deal with matters that concern them. Laws may establish different mechanisms for home-grown solutions"
"Anyone who comes to Rwanda is astonished from what this country has achieved and what it represents today. The dissonance is outstanding."
Home Grown Solutions – the Mechanisms from the Past
These HGS are a whole world of solutions and governing mechanisms, the most fascinating of them, in myopinionare the Umushyikirano, the Imihigo, the Umuganda. I had the honor and the privilege, as the first Israeli ambassador to Rwanda, to participate in them personally and get to know them up close. These are the ten HGS mechanisms:
Itorero (National Education Camp)
A national civic education program, introduced in 2009 for high school students, in which the children learn the values of patriotism, unity, democracy, and the history, and whatprecededthe genocide. It is somehow similar to the youth movements in Israel (like the scouts), but in the case it is only six weeks, usually after the 12th grade.
Girinka (Giving Cows)
Cows were and still are the most important personal asset. It is the asset that made the class difference between the tribes. At the wedding the cow is the dowry. A female cow that gives milk has become a symbol of wealth, and giving a cow has a very important value in Rwanda. The program, also known as One Cow for One Poor Family, was reintroduced in 2006 by the president himself, and is a government mechanism to promote equality and food security, empowerment of the poor and development of the community, when the stroller that is born passes to the next poor family in line, and so on.
Umushyikirano (National Dialogue)
The people of Rwanda gather in one place and hold a dialogue for two or three days with the President and all elected officials: ministers, members of parliament, mayors, heads of security forces and Rwandan ambassadors to the world. After the President's inaugural address on the State of the Nation, any person inside the hall or from broadcast points scattered throughout the country, can ask questions regarding local or national issues that concern him. The President listens and instructs the relevant minister or mayor to respond. Then the president conducts, on-site and live, an in-depth examination of the issue raised, in order to bring about a solution. It is a very significant forum, in which citizens enjoy being part of the governance and decision-making process.
Gacaca (Court Trials)
In 2002, the government instituted the court trials in order to expedite the process of justice for war criminals, who acted during and before the genocide in Rwanda. Unlike the International Court of Justice in the Hague, whose mandate was
limited to crimes committed between January 1 and December 31, 1994 (Rwanda opposed a UN Security Council resolution that stipulated this), the mandate of the Gacaca was broader and established October 1, 1990, as the beginning of the Mandate (the beginning of the War of Independence). The process promoted justice, reconciliation and mental healing. About 1.9 million cases were brought before these community courts over a period of eight years.
Umuganda (Cleanliness and Unity Day)
Since 1998, last Saturday of every month, all residents of the country, in villages and cities alike, all together, regardless of the class, women, men and children, from the president and his wife to the last resident, go out of their house for local clean-up or schools and houses renovations. The goal: joint activities, promoting cleanliness at the village and neighborhood level. At the end of the activity, the community is holding a dialogue between the heads of the village or city and the residents. The agenda is fixed: from 7 to 11 a.m. cleaning and renovations, and between 11 and 1 p.m., the local dialogue takes place. There are no exemptions!
Abunzi (Local mediator)
The mediation process is in fact a hybrid institutional and traditional process for resolving disputes. The mediator is usually an accepted personality in the village, respected person with integrity and fairness, who is elected by the community and acts voluntarily.
Imihigo (Performance Contract)
between the King and his elected Representatives. This mechanism was reinstated in modern Rwanda in 2006, where at the beginning of each year, the President and the Prime Minister gather all the ministers of the government, the 30 mayors of cities/districts, 5 heads of provinces, the army Chief of Staff, the Commissioner of Police, Heads of the Security Services, and all the incumbent ambassadors. All of these officials present to the President the goals they have set for themselves for the coming year and sign an agreement with the President to implement them. The Imihigo is broadcast live to the public.
Umwiherero (National Leadership Retreat)
Once a year, the political and security leadership, along with senior officials from the Private and Civil Society sectors, gather and hold an open dialogue and hopefully brainstorm about the issues on the agenda of the country for the year. The retreat is a government tool for open internal dialogue and takes place in a closed military base, without access to phones during the day, and includes physical activity early in the morning.
This initiative was also active during the monarchy and was reinstated in 2013 and aims to discuss and strengthen Rwandan identity. Today, the Unity Club meets once a year and its purpose is to strengthen unity and reconciliation among the citizens and is in fact a forum for open discourse on the circumstances that led to the genocide and its consequences, as well as what it means to be a Rwandan.
Ndi Umunyarwanda (Unity Club)
This initiative was also active during the monarchy and was reinstated in 2013 and aims to discuss and strengthen Rwandan identity. Today, the Unity Club meets once a year and its purpose is to strengthen unity and reconciliation among the citizens and is in fact a forum for open discourse on the circumstances that led to the genocide and its consequences, as well as what it means to be a Rwandan.
"In these mechanisms lies the secret of the success of the special Rwanda"
Ku Gicaniro (Around the bonfire)
Teenagers, members of the second generation of genocide, children of perpetrators and survivors alike sit together around the bonfire (today many gatherings are held in the sports hall of the school or community club) and discuss the same topics as adults: how did the education system, the media, and politics contribute to division, exclusion, discrimination, and finally expulsion and extermination, and what can we learn from it.3
Final note
HGS is now the trademark of Rwanda, as it has brought about not only unity and reconciliation, but also economic growth and food security, all based on shared cultural and local values. Rwanda today shares its success story with other countries in Africa and the world. To this end, the Government of Rwanda has established an agency within the Foreign Ministry, called RCI (Rwanda Cooperation Initiative).
The secret lies in leadership. Rwanda's leader, Paul Kagame, who took over the country in 2000, a few years after freed Rwanda. In the first week after liberation in July 1994, Kagame announced a ban on any act of revenge. This was the first call of direction, from which Kagame would lead his people to become a different African state. Kagame, on his orders, broke the cycle of terror, murder and revenge.
References :
1.https://www.constituteproject.orgconstitution/Rwanda_2010
2.De Winne, Ruben and Pohu, Anne-Ael, Proximity Justice in Rwanda – Mediation in Rwanda: Conceptions and Realities of Abunzi Justice (2011-2014), RCN (2015).
