The Real Abominables #3 The Rwandan Genocide & Jean Kambanda

Rwanda, slightly smaller than Maryland, is in east-central Africa, surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Steep mountains and deep valleys cover most of the country.

The area was once the home of the Twa, a Pygmy race, but though still present they make up only 1% of Rwanda's population. The Hutu and Tutsi tribes make up most of the remaining population. They are often considered ethnically separate, through intermarriage has led to much sharing of cultures. Traditionally the Hutu were farmers of the land, while the Tutsi raised cattle, and in many cases had become somewhat wealthier than the farmers.

The Hutus settled in the general area between 500 and 1000 B.C. the Tutsis (also known as Watutsis), a nomadic people, arrived from Ethiopia some 400 years ago, settled among the Hutus adopting many of their customs, beliefs and language.

Rwanda became a part of German East Africa in 1890. It was first visited by European explorers in 1854. During World War I, in 1916, it was occupied by Belgian troops. After the war, it became a Belgian League of Nations mandate, along with Burundi, under the name of Ruanda-Urundi.

Belgian leaders forced Hutus and Tutsis to carry ethnic identity cards, something which exacerbated divisions; they allowed Tutsis to attain higher education and hold positions of power, thus maintaining Tutsi dominance. Eventually they did encourage power sharing between Hutu and Tutsi. Ethnic tension led to civil war, forcing many Tutsi into exile. When Rwanda became an independent nation on July 1, 1962, it was under Hutu rule.

The Hutu majority lashed out at the minority Tutsis – killing thousands and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to neighboring Uganda.

In Oct. 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Tutsi rebels in exile in Uganda, invaded in an attempt to overthrow the Hutu-led Rwandan government. Peace accords were signed in Aug. 1993, calling for a coalition government. But after the downing of a plane in April 1994 killing presidents of both Rwanda and Burundi, deep-seated ethnic violence erupted.

From United Human Rights Council website

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down. Violence began almost immediately after that. Under the cover of war, Hutu extremists launched their plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population. Political leaders who might have been able to take charge of the situation and other high profile opponents of the Hutu extremist plans were killed immediately. Tutsi and people suspected of being Tutsi were killed in their homes and as they tried to flee at roadblocks set up across the country during the genocide. Entire families were killed at a time. Women were systematically and brutally raped. It is estimated that some 200,000 people participated in the perpetration of the Rwandan genocide.

In the weeks after April 6, 1994, 800,000 men, women, and children perished in the Rwandan genocide, perhaps as many as three quarters of the Tutsi population. At the same time, thousands of Hutu were murdered because they opposed the killing campaign and the forces directing it.

The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. This small, privileged group first set the majority against the minority to counter a growing political opposition within Rwanda. Then, faced with RPF success on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, these few power holders transformed the strategy of ethnic division into genocide. They believed that the extermination campaign would reinstate the solidarity of the Hutu under their leadership and help them win the war, or at least improve their chances of negotiating a favorable peace. They seized control of the state and used its authority to carry out the massacre.

The civil war and genocide only ended when the Tutsi-dominated rebel group, the RPF, defeated the Hutu perpetrator regime and President Paul Kagame took control.

Although the Rwandans are fully responsible for the organization and execution of the genocide, governments and peoples elsewhere all share in the shame of the crime because they failed to prevent and stop this killing campaign.

Although the genocidal slaughter seemed a spontaneous eruption of hatred, it has in fact been shown to have been carefully orchestrated by the Hutu government.

In the aftermath of the genocide, an estimated 1.7 million Hutu fled across the border into neighboring Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Although Tutsi rebels took control of the government, they permitted a Hutu, Pasteur Bizimungu, to serve as president, attempting to deflect accusations of a resurgence in Tutsi elitism and to foster national unity. Paul Kagame, the Tutsi rebel leader, became vice president and éminence grise (advisor).

Refugee problems, continued massacres, and the horrific legacy of genocide continued to haunt the national psyche. In Sept. 1998, a UN tribunal sentenced Jean Kambanda, a former prime minister of Rwanda, to life in prison for his part in the 1994 genocide. He became the first person in history to be convicted for the crime of genocide, first defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention after World War II. By 2001, eight others had also been convicted of the same charge. The UN tribunal, however, was criticized for its inefficiency and slow pace. In Dec. 1999, an independent report, commissioned by the UN, took Kofi Annan and other UN officials to task for not intervening effectively in the genocide.

 Jean Kambanda was Prime Minister in the caretaker government of Rwanda from the start of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. He is the only head of government to plead guilty to genocide, in the first group of such convictions since the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide came into effect in 1951.

Kambanda holds a degree in commercial engineering, but his career was in banking. At the time of the April 1994 crisis he was vice president of the Butare section of the opposition Democratic Republican Movement (MDR).

He was sworn in as prime minister on April 9, 1994 after the President, Juvénal Habyarimana, and a former Prime Minister, were assassinated. The opposition MDR had been promised the prime ministerial post in the transitional government established by the Arusha accords, but Kambanda leapfrogged several levels in the party's hierarchy to take the job from the initial choice. He remained in the post for the hundred days of the genocide until July 19, 1994. After leaving office he fled the country.

On September 4, 1998, the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) condemned Jean Kambanda to life imprisonment for:

Genocide, and Agreement to commit genocide
Public and direct incitation to commit genocide
Aiding and abetting genocide
Failing in his duty to prevent the genocide which occurred while he was prime minister
Two counts of crimes against humanity

This verdict was upheld by the ICTR Appeal Chamber on October 19, 2000, and Kambanda is currently jailed in Mali.

Sources ~
PBS; Infoplease; Infoplease; Wikipedia


ASTROLOGY

First: Wikipedia appears to have the wrong date of birth for Jean Kambanda. The record of the sentencing hearing states 10 Oct 1955 - not 19th October.

See HERE. See also HERE.

Jean Kambanda, born 10 October 1955 in the Prefecture of Botare, Rwanda. Chart is set for 12 noon - time of birth unknown.

This is another chart where all natal planets are clustered within the span of just a few signs. This is usually thought to indicate a personality with sharp focus on particular aims and ambitions.

The signs emphasised are somewhat surprising - Kambanda is another who could be labelled "not yer textbook Libra-type" as was Irma Grese in a post here. He has Sun, Mercury, Venus and Neptune all in the sign astrology depicts as a set of scales, signifying balance, negotiation, tact, diplomacy - all that good stuff. What went wrong in Kambanda's case? His natal Jupiter (excess) conjunction with Pluto (darkness, death) in Leo is a definite suspect, especially as the conjunction lies in sextile aspect to three of his Libra planets, drawing in at least some of the dark significance in stark contrast to everything Libra usually stands for.

His Leo planets (probably including Moon) clearly represent his talent and ambition for a position of leadership. The fact that Kambanda pleaded guilty to genocide, does reflect, albeit in a very unfortunate way, both Leo leadership (in his willingness to accept responsibility), and an all-but buried Libra-based sense of right and wrong.

So far, in the few charts of The Real Abominables explored, Pluto well-integrated and conjoining personal planets is a common feature; bundled/clustered chart configuration is emerging as being significant too, but more charts needed - early days!