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Rwanda

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Flag of Rwanda
National Hymne of Rwanda
Location of Rwanda

Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills" for its high elevation and rolling terrain. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The climate is temperate to subtropical, with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year. Rwanda has a population of over 12.9 million people of which a million live in the capital and largest city Kigali.

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  • I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil.
  • There's a Rwandan proverb: "A message is given to many, but those who are meant to understand, understand." There's always a subtext in Rwanda. You don't have to resort to brutal language. People understand.

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  • The lesson of Rwanda is not that every moral panic leads to genocide. It is that every genocide begins with a moral panic. The lesson for today is that the spiral of intolerance, once set in motion, can have unpredictable and devastating consequences. Whether the target is an ethnic minority or a religious movement labeled a “cult,” the logic is the same. And the responsibility to break the spiral before it reaches its final stage belongs to all of us. Words matter, narratives matter, and the defense of human dignity begins with resisting the first step on the slippery slope.
  • The Ryangombe, a significant religious phenomenon within Rwanda, remained largely obscure until 2018, when Simon Bizimana and Jean Baptiste Nkulikiyinka, scholars and initiates themselves, published “Le culte de Ryangombe au Rwanda: étude ethographique” (Tervuren: Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale), a comprehensive study that shed light on its origins, practices, and historical role. This publication marked a milestone in the understanding of African Indigenous Spirituality (AIS) in Rwanda, revealing a complex tradition intertwined with the social and political fabric of the area.
    … Ryangombe had a complex relation to the Rwandan monarchy. The institution’s theological framework justified kingship and authority: Ryangombe’s divine mandate was ostensibly reflected in the king’s status, reinforcing the idea of divine kingship. The institution thus played a crucial role in sustaining the legitimacy of the monarchy and, more broadly, fostering social cohesion among the elites. The title of king attributed to Ryangombe meant that the kings of Rwanda could not be initiated into the institution, as they were not allowed to recognize any royalty above themselves. However, they promoted and supported the institutions and took their leaders as advisors.
  • In Rwanda, the Nyabingi cult brought together men and women, with a preponderance of female leaders, and included Tutsi, Hutu, and even the marginalized Twa. A study of the songs of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the long march of Tutsi refugees returning to Rwanda noted their celebration of Muhumuza, despite her fight against the Tutsi monarchy. The rebel queen had become a national icon, celebrated by Tutsi and Hutu alike.
  • Unlike neighboring countries, precolonial Rwanda successfully kept Arab slave traders out of its borders. The first Muslims to enter the country were probably merchants from Zanzibar, but a significant Islamic presence came only with German colonization. The Germans brought Muslim soldiers from Tanganyika, and the free circulation within German East Africa enabled some traders to enter Rwanda and settle there. They were called “Swahili,” a term based on the language they spoke, not intended as a compliment.

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  • I am sometimes asked to name the thing that most scares me about Rwanda. My answer is this: It frightens me to death when my countrymen are not talking. If a Rwandan is brooding you never know what he is thinking.

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  • "For the responsibility incumbent on him in this genocide in Rwanda and which he cannot discard either on others or on the whole of the national community, he (M. Mitterrand) is part of the sinister club of hell surnames of the 20th century, of those genocidaires who are synonymous with absolute abomination."

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  • Not surprisingly, relations between Burundi and Rwanda have soured in the meantime, while Rwanda openly presents itself as "the protector of the Burundian people against their murderous president" and regularly suggests that it might intervene with its neighbours.

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See also

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