ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Historica Upsaliensia 264 Utgivna av Historiska institutionen vid Uppsala universitet genom Margaret Hunt och Maria Ågren Cover Photo: Nyamata Church, Rwanda Photographer: Ben Curtis, Associated Press Cover Layout: Kerri Sandell Olov Simonsson God Rests in Rwanda The Role of Religion in the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Geijersalen, Thunbergsvägen 3P, Uppsala, Friday, 14 June 2019 at 09:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor R. Scott Appleby. Abstract Simonsson, O. 2019. God Rests in Rwanda. The Role of Religion in the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. Studia Historica Upsaliensia 264. 312 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-513-0655-1. This study analyses the role of religion in the Rwandan genocide, providing new explanations to the complex dynamics of devaluation and victimisation processes in genocidal violence. The thesis explains how religion was used in different contexts prior to, during, and after the 1994 genocide. The following questions guide this study: What kinds of religious concepts and arguments were used in the context of the Rwandan genocide, and how? Why were they used and what did these concepts and arguments mean? Finally, did the meanings of the religious arguments change over time and between different contexts, and if so why? Texts from three sources were analysed: the Hutu extremist propaganda in Kangura magazine and in RTLM broadcasts, and testimonies from the ICTR trials. The analysis was guided by Roger Dale Petersen’s theory on Fear, Hatred, and Resentment, as well as theories on devaluation, social identity, self-victimisation, and competitive victimhood. This thesis utilises the computer software MAXQDA to search for concepts and arguments, which are analysed through the contextual approach developed by Quentin Skinner. This thesis demonstrates that the Hutu propagandists used religious mythology to argue that the Tutsis were not of Rwandan origin and therefore had no rights in Rwanda. The devaluation of the Tutsi was not only or even primarily done through downgrading animalistic epithets, but through the elevation of Tutsis with emphasis on the historical, and allegedly divine, superiority of the Tutsi. This devaluation allowed the Hutu extremists to claim victimhood, a necessary conviction to argue that violence committed by the Hutus were acts of self-defence. In the deeply Christian context of Rwanda, the extremist Hutu propagandists constructed a Hutu God, while claiming that the Tutsis were non-Christian, irreligious, or atheists, in order to create different religious identities for the two groups. This study also assesses the judicial aftermath, and argues that religious concepts were used in similar ways in ICTR testimonies to claim innocence, credibility, and victimhood. This thesis thus sheds new light on the importance of religious belief systems in genocidal violence, highlighting the crucial role of religion prior to, during, and after the genocide in Rwanda. Keywords: Rwanda, Genocide, Religion, Christianity, Catholicism, Church, Propaganda, Dehumanisation, ICTR Olov Simonsson, Department of History, Box 628, Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden. © Olov Simonsson 2019 ISSN 0081-6531 ISBN 978-91-513-0655-1 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-380153 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-380153) Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 7 Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................... 9 Glossary .............................................................................................................. 11 Map of Rwanda ................................................................................................. 15 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 17 1.1 Aim and research questions ................................................................. 19 1.2 Previous Research ................................................................................. 20 Theory, Sources, and Method......................................................................... 53 2.1 Theory ..................................................................................................... 53 2.2 Primary Sources ..................................................................................... 65 2.3 Method .................................................................................................... 79 Background and outline................................................................................... 87 3.1 Historical background ........................................................................... 87 3.2 Thesis outline ...................................................................................... 102 The dividing God: The separation of Hutu and Tutsi through mythology ....................................................................................................... 104 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 104 4.2 The origins of the Rwandans ............................................................ 105 4.2 The use of origins ............................................................................... 111 4.3 Royalty and Nobility .......................................................................... 122 4.4 The race of God ................................................................................. 129 4.5 Dividing the Church .......................................................................... 137 4.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 150 The Rwandan gods: The separation of Hutus and Tutsis through faith .................................................................................................................. 153 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 153 5.2 A Rwandan God ................................................................................. 154 5.3 The Religiosity of the Tutsi ............................................................... 164 5.4 The Strategic Faith of the Hutu ....................................................... 183 5.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 192 Between the Devil and the deep blue sea: The use of religion in the genocide tribunal ............................................................................................ 195 6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 195 6.2 The influence of God ......................................................................... 196 6.3 The Influence of the Devil ................................................................ 211 6.4 Truth and Forgiveness ........................................................................ 225 6.5 Father Seromba and the importance of faith .................................. 239 6.6 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 247 Concluding remarks ....................................................................................... 250 Sammanfattning på svenska .......................................................................... 263 Appendices ...................................................................................................... 277 Appendix I: Concepts ............................................................................... 277 Appendix II: The Hutu Ten Commandments ...................................... 282 Appendix III: ICTR Cases and Number of Transcripts ..................... 285 Appendix IV: Chronology of Events 1884-2017 ................................. 287 Sources ............................................................................................................. 298 Literature .......................................................................................................... 306 Acknowledgements I was fifteen years old when I saw the news of a murdered president and the massacres that followed. Being the grandson of a Jewish refugee, I had grown up with the Holocaust, and now, in 1994, another genocide was being committed. It never left me. Twenty-five years later, I am writing the acknowledgements section for my finished doctoral thesis, a section that could go on for many pages but that I will try to keep short. I would not sit here, writing this, had it not been for my supervisors, Lars M. Andersson and Karen Brounéus. They have always pushed me when I needed pushing, encouraged me when I needed encouragement, and believed in me when I failed to believe in myself. I will never be able to express my gratitude to them for helping me make my thesis what it is. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to Professor Maria Ågren, whose comments and suggestions have been invaluable. Thanks also to Margaret Hunt, and Jan Lindegren, for their support over the years. Malin Thor Tureby accepted the invitation to be the external reader at my final seminar. Her insights and comments gave me a clear direction for the final months. Charlotte Merton went above and beyond to make