Rwandan Patriotic Front
| Rwandan Patriotic Front | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Party leader | Paul Kagame |
| founding | 1985 |
| Place of foundation | Uganda |
| Headquarters | Kigali |
| Alignment | Nationalism , conservatism , environmental policy |
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (abbreviated as RPF ; in Kinyarwanda Ishyaka FPR-Inkotanyi , French Front patriotique rwandais , abbreviated FPR ) is the current ruling political party in Rwanda .
It is led by President Paul Kagame . She currently governs in a coalition with other parties. The party's motto is unity-democracy-development (in Kinyarwanda: Ubumwe-Demokarasi-Amajyambere ).
history
Foundation of the RPF 1985
The RPF was founded in 1985 in Uganda . Descendants of Rwandan Tutsi refugees helped end the Milton Obote dictatorship .
Local military, however, hindered the further advancement of the Tutsi in the new Ugandan army. As a result, many Tutsis resigned and joined the RPF with the aim of overthrowing the Hutu- led government of Rwanda.
As a military force 1990–1994
On October 2, 1990, the RPF launched an invasion of Rwanda from its bases in southern Uganda. The units consisted of Tutsi in exile from Uganda, Burundi and Zaire . She was equipped and supported by the USA and was able to access the resources of the regular army of Uganda. At first, the 5,000-strong troop was very successful against the numerically superior but poorly trained government army FAR. However, the commander of the RPF, Fred Rwigema, was hit by a stray a week later and died shortly after of the consequences and the invading army was briefly without command. On October 7th, the government army launched a counter-offensive. The RPF, only prepared for a short deployment, fell further and further behind when it became clear that they had nothing to counter the heavy equipment of the FAR, which was also supported by units of the French army with personnel and weapons. Major Paul Kagame, who was receiving military training in the US at the time, was informed and immediately returned to take command of the RPF. On October 23, two other RPF commanders, Major Peter Banyingana and Chris Bunyenyezi, were killed in an ambush. At the end of the month the RPF was pushed back to Uganda or had sought protection in the Akagera National Park .
As soon as he arrived, Paul Kagame began reorganizing the troops and decided to wage guerrilla warfare in the north of the country . He led his troops entirely back to Uganda and then led them to the area of the wooded Virunga volcanoes . The RPF stayed there for two months without any contact with the enemy. The time was used to reorganize the army and appoint new commanders. In addition, new people were recruited, so that the troop strength grew from 5000 men in the spring of 1991 to 12,000 men in 1992 and ultimately to 25,000 men at the time of the genocide in 1994 .
To start the guerrilla war, Kagame planned a bold attack against the city of Ruhengeri in northern Rwanda. He wanted to hit the north, which was a stronghold of the Habyarimana regime, but also stir up insecurity in other cities in the country. On January 23, 1991, the RPF captured Ruhengeri, freed a large number of political prisoners and captured large numbers of weapons and equipment before retreating into the woods that evening.
After this action, the RPF withdrew and began a classic guerrilla war. Not very intense, but grueling battles were usually fought successfully. During the next few years there were repeated truces, but these had little effect, so that in the end the fighting continued until July 13, 1992. On that day, both sides signed the Arusha ceasefire . Negotiations continued over the coming months, but did not lead to any countable result, except that emotions on both sides continued to boil. After reports of massacres of Tutsis, the RPF launched a major offensive on February 8, 1993.
This offensive took the government forces completely by surprise, so that the RPF had no trouble taking the city of Ruhengeri in no time, then turning south and moving towards the capital. This caused panic in the French capital Paris , which had supported the Habyarimana regime for a long time and now immediately sent a few hundred reinforcements and ammunition for the FAR. The arrival of French troops in Kigali changed the situation drastically; Because of the advocacy of the government and the rapid emergence of troops, it was feared that if the RPF reached the capital, it would have to fight French and government forces alike. On February 20, the rebels therefore declared a unilateral ceasefire.
The Rwandan genocide and civil war
On April 6, 1994, President Juvénal Habyarimana was returning from Dar Es-Salaam when his plane was shot down, killing all of its occupants. That night, among other things, the Presidential Guards began killing opposition politicians and prominent Tutsi . After a few days it became clear that the entire Tutsi population, as well as some moderate Hutu , were the target of these killings. The genocide in Rwanda had started and would last three months and claim hundreds of thousands of lives; according to the RPF more than 937,000.
The role of the RPF since the genocide
The RPF took control of Rwanda in 1994 and emerged victorious from the four-year civil war. Their leader, Paul Kagame , assumed the presidency. The RPF became the ruling ruling party and its military units became part of the official Rwandan armed forces. In the last parliamentary elections on September 30, 2003, the RPF won 33 out of 53 seats.
In 1996, Rwanda invaded Zaire and the Congo Wars that followed .
criticism
During the civil war in Rwanda from 1990 to 1994, the RPF, which is subordinate to the Kagame, reportedly committed massive human rights violations. This resulted in the killings of prisoners of war and massacres of the civilian population. The RPF is said to have continued to accept the killings of Rwandan Tutsis and in some cases even provoked them in order to increase pressure on the Habyarimana regime.
In a report published by the UN in 2010, the RPF is accused of numerous massacres of civilians in eastern Congo, as well as mass rape and the looting of villages between 1993 and 2003.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Africa's World War: Around six million people died between 1993 and 2003. The UN is postponing the report on the atrocities in the Congo so that the regions affected can write their own statements. - Frankfurter Rundschau, September 3, 2010
- ↑ The "Failure" of the International Community On the 10th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Genocide in Rwanda - Declaration by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
- ↑ Peter Scholl-Latour : African death suit. The sell-out of the black continent (= Goldmann 15219). Goldmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-442-15219-4 .
- ↑ Filip Reyntjens: A Dubious Discourse on Rwanda. In: African Affairs . 98, no. 390, Jan, 1999, ISSN 0001-9909 , pp. 119-122.
- ↑ Dominik J. Schaller: Guilt and Atonement in Rwanda. How genocide researchers acting as political advisors contribute to the moral and political upgrading of the regime in Kigali. In: Journal for Policy Advice. Vol. 1, No. 3-4, ISSN 1865-4789 , 2008, pp. 626-636, doi : 10.1007 / s12392-008-0064-4 .
Web links
- Rwandan Patriotic Front Report by Human Rights Watch (1999)