Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda This book examines the mobilization, role, and trajectory of women rescuers and perpetrators during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. While much has been written about the victimization of women during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, very little has been said about women who rescued targeted victims or perpetrated crimes against humanity. This book explores and analyzes the role played by women who exercised agency as rescuers and as per- petrators during the genocide in Rwanda. As women, they took actions and deci- sions within the context of a deeply entrenched patriarchal system that limited their choices. This work examines two diverging paths of women’s agency during this period: to rescue from genocide or to perpetrate genocide. It seeks to answer three questions: First, how were certain Rwandan women mobilized to parti- cipate in genocide, and by whom? Second, what were the specific actions of women during this period of violence and upheaval? Finally, what were the tra- jectories of women rescuers and perpetrators after the genocide? Comparing and contrasting how women rescuers and perpetrators were mobilized, the actions they undertook, and their post- genocide trajectories, and concluding with a broader discussion of the long- term impact of ignoring these women, this book develops a more nuanced and holistic view of women’s agency and the genocide in Rwanda. This book will be of interest to students of gender studies, genocide studies, African politics and critical security studies. Sara E. Brown is a Fellow at the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, and has a PhD in Comparative Genocide Studies from Clark University, USA. Routledge Studies in Gender and Security Series editors: Laura Sjoberg University of Florida and Caron E. Gentry University of St. Andrews This series looks to publish books at the intersection of gender studies, inter- national relations, and security studies. It will publish a broad sampling of work in gender and security – from private military companies to world wars, from food insecurity to battlefield tactics, from large- n to deconstructive, and across different areas of the world. In addition to seeking a diverse sampling of sub- stantive work in gender and security, the series seeks a diverse author pool – looking for cutting- edge junior scholars alongside more established authors, and authors from a wide variety of locations and across a spectrum of backgrounds. Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda Women as Rescuers and Perpetrators Sara E. Brown Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda Women as Rescuers and Perpetrators Sara E. Brown First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Sara E. Brown The right of Sara E. Brown to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-04353-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-17307-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear In honor of Morton and Pauline Kleinman, and in memory of the Rwandans who lost their lives as a result of the genocide. Contents Acknowledgments viii List of abbreviations ix Introduction: A Study in Contrasts 1 1 Finding the Right Flashlight: Frames of Analysis and Review of Literature 5 2 History of Rwanda 23 3 Mobilization and Militarization 39 4 Rescuers 59 5 Perpetrators 91 6 Post- Genocide Trajectories 121 7 Sharing Salt 145 Epilogue 161 Appendix A: Ethnographic interview questions for community and government stakeholders 165 Appendix B: Semi-structured interview questions for individuals who are survivors, witnesses, rescuers, or perpetrators 167 Glossary 169 Index 170 Acknowledgments This book first took shape as my doctoral dissertation and was made possible thanks to many individuals. First and foremost, I am grateful to the Stern family for its generous support of this research. I thank Debórah Dwork from the bottom of my heart for her unflagging mentoring, guidance, and support. Heart- felt thanks to Cynthia Enloe and David Simon for their feedback, counsel, and encouragement. I am thankful for the Clark University community and everyone who saw me through my undergraduate years and into my doctoral studies. Thanks to Barbara Harff, Yehuda Bauer, Marion Pritchard, Shelly Tenenbaum, Kristen Williams, Taner Akçam, Ken MacLean, Mary Jane Rein, Marianne Sarkis, Cynthia Fenner, Jean Hearns, and my center classmates and colleagues. I also thank the staff at the Interdisciplinary Center, Galia Golan and Isaac Kfir in particular. Thanks too to Mike Auman for his patient mentoring. Murakoze canye to Susan Mbabazi for her research, translation assistance, and friendship. Thanks to Christian Alain Bizimana and Sharon Batamuriza who assisted me with my research. Thanks also to Marlene Bellamy for her careful editing on earlier drafts and thoughtful advice. Murakoze to Jean- Damascène Gasanabo at the CNLG Research and Docu- mentation Center on Genocide, Odeth Kantengwa, Omar Ndiyeze, Usta Kaitesi, Odette Kayirere at AVEGA Agahozo, James Smith, John Petrie, and the staff at the Kigali Genocide Memorial (KGM) and Genocide Archive of Rwanda, and the staff at the Gacaca Court Archives. My family served as my emotional backbone throughout this process. Thank you to my mother and lifelong editor and guide, Babs, and to my brother and best friend Josh and his family for their love and support. Thank you to my grand- parents, who instilled in me the value of education. Thank you to Yannick Tona for joining my family later in life and inspiring much of my research. Thanks also to the Nahmias/Kurta family for opening their hearts and homes to me. Special thanks to my husband, Elliott, who committed to this journey with me, never gave up on me, and never let me give up. Finally, warm thanks to the individuals who agreed to participate in this study. Without you, this book would not exist. Imana ibahe umugisha kandi ibane namwe. Abbreviations AERG Association des Etudiants et Éleves Rescapés Du Genocide AOCM Association des Orphelins Chefs de Ménages AVEGA Association des Veuves du Genocide or the Association of the Widows of Genocide CDR Coalition pour la Défense de la République FAR Forces Armées Rwandaises HAGARUKA Association for the Defense of Women and Children’s Rights ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda MRND Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Développement (before 1991) MRNDD Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le Développement (after 1991) NPS National Prison Service RPF Rwandan Patriotic Front, referred to in slang as Inkotanyi RTLM Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines TIG Travaux d’Intérêt Général or Works for General Interest Introduction A Study in Contrasts At a TIG internment camp in Muhanga district, Rwanda, Suzanne, an elderly Hutu woman with cataracts, clutched her white plastic rosary as she spoke. At the time, she was serving a 12-year sentence for participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.1 She launched into her story. “The reason why I’m here is because I’m accused, I actually killed my grandson, one of my grandkids during the war. That’s why I came here.”2 The details unfolded in fits and starts. In 1994, Suzanne lived with her husband, her daughter, and two grandchildren who were the product of her daughter’s relationship with a Tutsi man from whom she had since separated. When Suzanne began to describe the genocide, she offered differing versions of what proceeded. But what remained constant was that at some point during the genocide, Suzanne and her husband had helped their daughter kill at least one of her children due to its ethnically mixed parentage. Further south, near Murambi, Rwanda, Wendy, a religious mother of three, sat in her living room and recounted her heroic acts quietly. This unassuming woman chose a different trajectory when the genocide began. When a Tutsi family fleeing the killings arrived at her doorstep, she immediately offered them refuge in her home. She did not waver though she knew the risks she incurred by rescuing Tutsis. If she were caught, she would likely be murdered. Asked what prompted her to rescue while so many of her neighbors stood by or, worse, per- petrated genocide, she grew indignant, asserting that her readiness to help was the only conceivable response.3 Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda: Women as Rescuers and Perpetrators explores and analyzes the central role played by women who exercised agency as rescuers and as perpetrators during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Much of the existing genocide studies literature focuses on rescue or perpetration in an effort to determine how and why individuals took action during genocide. Few texts compare and contrast between these diverging expressions of agency, and even fewer focus on women and their unique experience as actors during geno- cide. But as women in 1994 Rwanda, they took actions and decisions within the unique context of a deeply entrenched patriarchal system that limited their agency. Thus Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda deliberately examines these two diverging paths of women’s constrained agency during this period of intense communal violence: to rescue from genocide or to perpetrate genocide.