Hutus taught reconciliation
2003-12-04 15:06
Kigali - How does one change discrimination that has been imprinted for decades into people's minds?
And even worse, how is it done in a country where almost a million people were brutally killed in the space of a few weeks as a result of this hateful ideology?
In Rwanda the government is fully aware of the policies that led to the 1994-genocide and has opted for reconciliation rather than path of retribution.
Former members of the Hutu army, the Forces Armées Rwandaises (ex-FAR) and other Hutu groups (Abacengezi) who had been attacking Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and who have surrendered or were captured, are now being sent to retraining camps (Ingando) ahead of their reintegration into Rwandan society.
In these camps, dubbed ''solidarity camps" by the government, they are being taught Rwanda's history, concentrating on the causes for the genocide. The government's national reconciliation strategy, people's courts (the Cacacas), the battle against poverty and HIV/Aids are also being addressed.
Several thousand former soldiers are housed in the camps. The one in Muhazi, in Kibungo province, for instance has 3 342 "pupils".
Demobilised soldiers, war veterans and handicapped members of the current defence force are also being taught skills that might secure them a small income.
The process, however, is eliciting serious criticism from the international community. Human rights organisation maintain former soldiers are being subjected to brain washing techniques by enforcing obedience to the policies of President Paul Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front.
Premier Bernard Makuza, however, says if brain washing is necessary to rid them of the ideologies of the past, then that is the way to go.
"The atrocities committed between 1990 and 1994 are the fruits of the satanic ideology of politicians of the day, advocating discrimination," he says.
"Regionalism and racism sowed the seeds of hate between Rwandans. If this method ensures lasting peace, unity and reconciliation between us, government is prepared to utilise the most efficient policy in solving our country's problems."
Mukaza maintains the ex-FAR and the Abacengezi are required to attend these training schools in order to teach them to understand the "realities" of the ideology inculcated in them.
Some ex-FAR are to receive a pension on conclusion of the process, depending on their former defence force rank. The World Bank has made funds available for this.
According tot he government a total of 9 845 former FAR members and Abacengezi have completed the process, however, a further 20 000 are still said to be in hiding in forests of the eastern DRC.
The government claims their process is a success, citing that infiltration from the west has virtually come to an end.
More and more ex-FAR have voluntary returned home recently - particularly since it appears there will be no retribution.
It remains a difficult process nonetheless. Some Rwandans are cold towards the reconciliation process.
They believe it is an extremely "delicate" experiment to reintegrate "murderers" into the very society against which they had perpetrated their deeds.