By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — The Rwandan Patriotic Front's assistant director of international relations for Asia and Africa, Dr Ben Rugangazi, firmly rejected the international media's "simplistic" claims that the RPF represents the Tutsi ethnic group and is opposed to Rwanda's Hutu majority. The RPF has "no interest in ethnic politics", he told Green Left Weekly on June 22. The RPF's goals are democracy and national unity, he said.
Dr Rugangazi said the RPF was formed in 1979. "There was no chance to operate inside the country. There were about 2 million Rwandans in exile, and the first members of the front joined in exile. The RPF was born in east Africa but later spread into Rwanda. Its first days inside Rwanda were clandestine." In 1979 the front was known as the Rwandan Alliance for National Unity. It changed to RPF in 1987.
At first the front sought to mobilise the Rwandan people to oppose the repressive government of General Juvenal Habyarimana, who seized power in a military coup in 1973. Habyarimana's regime deliberately whipped up ethnic rivalries to maintain power.
"It became clear to us that peaceful change would not be possible. We started looking for military skills, which we did acquire in Uganda during the '80s when the Ugandan people were resisting the dictatorial regime there ... Once we thought we were prepared, in 1990, we started the armed struggle."
Large numbers of the Tutsi ethnic group fled Rwanda following several waves of bloody pogroms instigated by the government. While most refugees were Tutsi, many democratic and anti-chauvinist Hutus, the ethic majority in Rwanda, were also forced to flee. Most went to Uganda.
The Ugandan regime also repressed the Rwandan exiles, many of whom in the early 1980s had joined the Ugandan National Resistance Army in its struggle to overthrow the regime. The National Resistance Army was then led by the current president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. In 1986, a Rwandan, Fred Rwigyema, became the NRA chief.
In 1990, about 2000 Rwandan NRA soldiers, led by Rwigyema, grabbed their guns, stole supplies from Ugandan army stores and entered Rwanda. In the battles that followed, Rwigyema was killed but the RPF force advanced to within 30 km of the capital, Kigali. It was only the intervention of French, Zairean and Belgian troops that saved Habyarimana's government. Museveni denied any knowledge of the RPF's plans. The RPF said it acted alone.
Democratic struggle
The RPF's struggle is "a struggle for democracy. We do recognise that the major problem in the politics of the country has been lack of unity. The establishment of national unity is our first priority in our program."
Rugangazi told Green Left Weekly that the RPF is not, and never has been, based on ethnic politics. "One point that we have always emphasised in our program is the unity of Rwanda's ethnic groups, which has always been lacking. This has resulted in serious repercussions on our people. We think that it is important to establish democracy, but you cannot have democracy without national unity."
He denied media claims that the RPF is dominated by Tutsis. "Many Rwandans from ethnic groups other than the Tutsi people are active in the RPF. The chairperson of the RPF is a Hutu. More than 50% of the high command of our army is Hutu. Some of them do not know about the differences because they grew up outside Rwanda, where ethnicity is not an issue.
"Because of the historic nature of our conflict, the exile population was mainly Tutsi and that's where the organisation originated. At first quite a big proportion of the members were Tutsis, but we have outgrown that. We have been able to join hands with other ethnic groups. We have no interest in ethnic politics because we have been victims of it."
The RPF is dedicated to a democracy in which every citizen is equal before the law and there are no limitations based on ethnic or regional origins (the current government also discriminates against Hutus from the south).
The RPF does not describe itself as socialist or left wing, Rugangazi told Green Left Weekly: "Those terms don't mean anything any more. All we want is to run things for our own people. The RPF is aligned to the interests of the masses of Rwanda, who are mainly the poor. They are the ones who have supported our struggle throughout the years. We are indebted to those people, and a lot has to be done to lift up their standard of living, not only in our country but in most other Third World countries."
Uganda
The RPF leader dismissed claims by the Rwandan government and its international allies that the RPF is backed by the Ugandan government. "In 1991, when the government of Rwanda started these allegations, the Ugandan government invited a team from Rwanda to cross the border to see if there was any aid coming from Uganda. They stayed for three months. Their report was negative, they had no evidence.
"In October 1992, Rwanda again alleged that Uganda was aiding the RPF. The ACP-EEC [African Caribbean Pacific-European Economic Community] joint assembly recommended that a team be sent to investigate the border. That team was sent. They went back; their report was also negative. In 1993, the United Nations sent a contingent of 100 soldiers to monitor the border. They have not caught one single armed Ugandan or RPF soldier crossing the border.
"These allegations are not surprising. The Rwandan government have to say they are being attacked by an outside country to get assistance from their sponsors. They also have to find an explanation of why they are losing ground to the RPF."