By Mariel Ferragamo

April 3, 2024 2:03 pm (EST)

After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the country has made tremendous strides toward peace and development. But critics say these have come at the cost of political freedoms.   

April 7 marks thirty years since the Rwandan genocide, in which a radical faction from the majority Hutu ethnic group launched a campaign to eradicate the ethnic Tutsi minority and other opponents, divisions some experts say were fueled by the legacy of Belgian colonial policies of ethnic identification. The one-hundred-day massacre saw at least eight hundred thousand people killed. In the years since, Rwanda has sought to rebuild society by focusing on reconciliation and economic development, efforts that have been shrouded in controversy under the authoritarian rule of the country’s longtime leader, President Paul Kagame.

How did Rwanda approach reconciliation?

The genocide ended with the military victory of the Tutsi-led political group and today’s ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), headed by current President Paul Kagame. A new, RPF-led government then pursued a nationwide approach of “unity and reconciliation” [PDF]. It also developed a new constitution that underscored equality of Rwandan citizens and discouraged any forms of public identification based on ethnic grouping, to emphasize social cohesion. However, a Human Rights Watch report later noted that these efforts were heavily marred by forced relocation, reeducation camps for followers of the previous government, and other extreme measures. 

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