"PIO: Hatukuona tena binadamu tulipomwona Mtutsi kwenye vinamasi. Namaanisha mtu kama sisi, mwenye mawazo na hisia zinazofanana na zetu. Uwindaji ulikuwa wa kikatili, wawindaji walikuwa wakatili, mawindo yalikuwa ya kikatili—ukatili ukautawala akili."158

“PIO: We no longer saw a human being when we turned up a Tutsi in the swamps. I mean a person like us, sharing similar thoughts and feelings. The hunt was savage, the hunters were savage, the prey was savage-savagery took over the mind.”158

Katika karne ya 19, nchi za Rwanda na Burundi za leo, ambazo ni nchi zenye Wakristo wengi, zilikuwa koloni za Ujerumani, na mamlaka mpya zilianzisha jamii ya kimwinyi katika nchi hizo.

In the 19th century present-day Rwanda and Burundi, predominantly Christian countries, became Germany colonies, and the new powers founded a feudal society in the countries.

Yakiwa limeundwa na makabila mawili makuu, Wahutu na Watutsi, wakuu wa Kitutsi walitokana na wafugaji wa ng'ombe. Baada ya Ujerumani kushindwa katika Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia, Ligi ya Mataifa iliikabidhi Belgiji mamlaka ya Afrika Mashariki ya Rwanda na Burundi (Ruanda-Urundi), na hivyo Kifaransa kikawa lugha ya serikali.

Made up of two dominant tribes, the Hutu and the Tutsi, the Tutsi nobility descended from cattle ranchers. After Germany lost the First World War, the League of Nations entrusted the East African mandate of Rwanda and Burundi (Ruanda-Urundi) to Belgium, and thus French became the language of the government.

Kuanzia miaka ya 1930, serikali ya Ubelgiji ilifanya iwe lazima kwa Waafrika wote kubeba kadi za utambulisho zinazoonyesha kabila, lugha na dini yao. Wanyarwanda waligawanywa katika makundi matatu ya kikabila: Wahutu asilimia 80 hadi 85, Watutsi asilimia 14 hadi 19, na Watwa asilimia 1. Kama wakoloni wanavyofanya, wakitumia sera ya kugawanya na kutawala, Wabelgiji waliwatenganisha na kuwatenga makundi hayo kwa misingi ya rangi. Waliamua kwamba Watutsi walikuwa jamii bora zaidi iliyokuwa na ngozi nyepesi, walikuwa warefu na walikuwa na pua nyembamba, yaani sura iliyofanana zaidi na ya Wazungu. Wahutu, kwa upande mwingine, walidhaniwa kuwa duni, wakiwa na ngozi nyeusi zaidi na kimo kifupi. Serikali ya Ubelgiji hivyo ilimpa Mtutsi madaraka zaidi, hadhi, na faida za kiuchumi na kielimu.

From the 1930s, the Belgian government made it mandatory for all Africans to carry identity cards displaying their ethnicity, language and religion. The Rwandans were divided into three ethnic groups, 80 to 85% Hutu, 14 to 19% Tutsi and 1% Twa. As colonisers do, practising a divide and rule policy, the Belgian separated and marginalised the groups along racial lines determining that the Tutsi were a superior race who had lighter skin, were taller and had thin noses – a more European type look. The Hutu on the other hand were held to be inferior, with darker skin and shorter statures. The Belgium government thus granted more power, status, economic and educational privileges to the Tutsis.

Waislamu nchini Rwanda walikuwa sehemu ndogo sana ya wakazi wa nchi hiyo, na kwa muda mrefu walibeba mzigo mkubwa wa propaganda hasi, jambo lililosababisha visa vingi vya ubaguzi. Waislamu walikuwa wakitajwa kwa majina ya kudharau “Umuswahili”, yaliyotokana na ukweli kwamba Waislamu wengi wa vizazi vya awali walizungumza Kiswahili. Pia kulikuwa na majaribio ya walimu kuwageuza watoto Waislamu kuwa Wakristo, na mtoto yeyote aliyepinga alikabiliwa na vizuizi na kuwekewa mipaka katika kuendelea na masomo yake. Wazazi wengi Waislamu waliokuwa wakiogopa majaribio hayo ya kubadilisha dini waliamua kutowapeleka watoto wao shuleni na badala yake kuwaandikisha katika madrasa. Hali hii ilikuwa na athari za muda mrefu, kwa sababu Waislamu waliendelea kubaki kundi la pembezoni lenye ushawishi mdogo katika maisha ya kisiasa.

Muslims in Rwanda only represented a very small proportion of the country’s inhabitants and had long suffered the brunt of a negative propaganda, which had led to many cases of discrimination. Muslims were referred to by the disparaging terms “Umuswahili” derived from the fact that many Muslims in earlier generations had spoken Swahili. There were also attempts by teachers to convert Muslim children to Christianity, and if any resisted they faced preventions and restrictions in furthering their education. Many Muslim parents who feared such conversion attempts opted to not send their children to school and to enrol them instead into madrasas. This had long term effects since Muslims would remain as a marginal group with little influence in political life.

Tarehe 6 Aprili 1994, ndege iliyokuwa ikiwarudisha nyumbani marais marehemu Habyarimana wa Rwanda na Ntaryamira wa Burundi ilidunguliwa juu ya Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Kanombe mjini Kigali.

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying home the late Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi was shot down above the Kanombe International Airport in Kigali.

Ajali hiyo ililaumiwa na Wahutu kwa waasi wa Kitutsi, na kilichofuata ni chuki na kisasi kilichoendelea kuchemka kwa vipindi. Hali hiyo ilifikia kilele katika kampeni ya kikatili ya mauaji na ghasia iliyoenea kutoka mji mkuu hadi sehemu nyingine za nchi.

The crash was blamed by Hutus on Tutsi rebels and what transpired was a sporadic festering of hate and revenge. This culminated in a savage campaign of murder and violence which spread from the capital to the rest of the country.

Kutokana na mpango mkali sana wa kuwanyima utu Watutsi, sehemu kubwa ya ghasia zilifanywa kati ya jirani na jirani, mume na mke, viongozi wa kanisa na waumini, mwalimu na wanafunzi. Wanamgambo wa Kihutu, Interahamwe, walikata kwa mapanga hadi kufa wanaume na wanawake ambao walikua nao, ambao walihudhuria makanisa yale yale, shule zile zile, walizungumza lugha moja na hata walioana kwa ndoa baina yao.

Due to a very intense program of dehumanisation of the Tutsi population, much of the violence was carried out between neighbour and neighbour, husband and wife, clergy and congregation, teacher and students. Hutu militia, the interhamwe, resorted to hacking to death men and women they had grown up with, who attended the same churches, the same schools, spoke the same language and even intermarried.

Kampeni ya kuwatenga Watutsi iliandaliwa na kusambazwa kupitia shuleni, vyombo vya habari na katika hotuba za kisiasa, ikiwachochea vijana waliokuwa na silaha kuwaua hadharani. Wauaji walikuwa wakiwalazimisha wengine kufanya vivyo hivyo, wakitumia kauli mbiu za "fanya auufe", yaani ua au uuawe, na kuwarubuni kwa ahadi za chakula, fedha na urithi wa ardhi ya Watutsi watakaowaua.

The campaign of Otherising the Tutsis was fermented and disseminated through schools, media and in political rhetoric, inspiring armed youth to kill openly. The murderers would force others to do the same, evoking slogans of “do or die”, meaning kill or get killed, enticing them with promises of food, money and an inheritance of land belonging to the Tutsis they kill.

Wengi wao hawakuwaua watu kwa mikono yao wenyewe, lakini walishirikiana na wauaji kufichua maficho ya Watutsi. Ingawa baadhi ya mashambulizi ya vurugu yalikuwa matukio ya kujitokeza tu, wanasiasa na wafanyabiashara wengi wa Kitutsi wa ngazi za juu pia walihusika katika kueneza propaganda kali dhidi ya Wahutu. Nchi, bila uongozi wa kitaifa wala wa jamii wenye ufanisi, iliporomoka na kuwa uwanja wa mauaji ya kutisha; vizuizi vya usafiri vilizuia watu kutembea kwa uhuru, na ukosefu wa usalama ulienea kila mahali.

Many who did not physically kill others, colluded with murderers to reveal Tutsi hiding places. Though some of the violent outbursts were sporadic events, many high-level Tutsi politicians and businessmen were also implicated in the festering of virulent anti-Hutu propaganda. The country, without national or effective community leadership, degenerated into a horrendous killing field, travel restrictions prevented free movement and insecurity was rife.

Kilichotokea nchini Rwanda mwaka 1994 kilikuwa ukatili wa mwanadamu dhidi ya mwanadamu mwenzake, ambapo maadili yote yalisimamishwa. Utu-kupokonywa hutokea wakati baadhi ya binadamu wanapowatenga binadamu wengine kutoka katika mpangilio wa kimaadili wa ubinadamu. Machoni mwa watendaji wa uhalifu, watu kama hao hupoteza hadhi inayowaunganisha na jamii ya binadamu. Watutsi walitwezwa kwa "utambulisho ulioharibika", hali ya kutokuwa na thamani, kuitwa "vitu", "mende", "wanyama", na nchi ikaingia katika mauaji ya kikatili. Mchakato huo huo wa kumnyima mtu utu ulikuwepo katika ubakaji wa Nanking mwaka 1937. Maangamizi ya Wayahudi (Holocaust) yalianza kwa njia hiyo hiyo, kupitia mfululizo wa kina wa propaganda zilizoonekana katika vyombo vya habari na shuleni. Mauaji ya Wamarekani weusi kwa kunyongwa nchini Marekani yalichochewa na utamaduni wa kuwadharau weusi kwa kuwaita "niggers". Vilevile, lebo ya "gooks" ilitumiwa kuwafanya Wavietnam kuwa "wengine" katika mauaji ya My Lai, ambapo mamia ya raia wa Kivietnam waliuawa na wanajeshi wa Kimarekani. Kuhusu hili, Mark Baker anatupa mtazamo unaoogofya: "Nilifurahia upigaji risasi na mauaji. Nilisisimka kabisa nilipomwona gook akipigwa risasi. Askari mwenzangu alipopigwa risasi, hata kama nisingemjua, hilo lingeniumiza. Askari mwenzangu alikuwa halisi. Lakini gook alipouawa, ilikuwa kama mimi kwenda pale na kukanyaga mende."159 Glenn Gray anasimulia tukio moja kutoka Vita vya Pili vya Dunia:

What transpired in Rwanda in 1994 was man’s inhumanity to man wherein all morality was suspended. Dehumanisation occurs when some human beings exclude other human beings from the moral order of humanity. In the eyes of perpetrators such human beings lose the status that holds them together with the human race. The Tutsi were castigated with a “spoiled identity”, a state of nothingness, as “things”, “cockroaches”, as “animals” and the country descended into a savage outbreak of murder. This same process of dehumanisation existed in the rape of Nanking in 1937. The Holocaust began the same way – through an elaborate series of propaganda which featured in media and schools. The lynchings of black people in America was precipitated by a culture of stigmatising blacks as “niggers”. Similarly, the label of “gooks” was used to Otherise the Vietnamese in the My Lai massacre in which hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were killed by American soldiers. About this, Mark Baker offers us a haunting perspective: “I enjoyed the shooting and the killing. I was literally turned on when I saw a gook get shot. When a GI got shot, even if I didn’t know him…that would bother me. A GI was real. But if a gook got killed, it was like me going out here and stepping on a roach.”159 Glenn Gray recounts an incident from World War II:

Wakati askari mmoja wa Kijapani alipo"flushed" kutoka mahali pake pa kujificha nyuma kabisa ya mstari wa mapigano, "kikosi, kilichojumuisha askari wachanga kiasi, kilikuwa kinapumzika na kutania. Lakini walichukua bunduki zao na kuanza kumtumia kama shabaha hai, huku yeye akikimbia kwa hofu kuzunguka uwanja mdogo akitafuta usalama. Askari hao waliona miondoko yake ya kuchekesha sana, na kicheko chao kiliwazuia kumaliza maisha ya mtu huyo maskini mapema. Hatimaye, hata hivyo, walifanikiwa kumuua, na tukio hilo liliwafurahisha kikosi kizima, likiwapa jambo la kuzungumza na kutania kwa siku kadhaa baadaye. Akisimulia hadithi hii...yule mkongwe alisisitiza mfanano wa askari wa adui na mnyama. Hakuna askari wa Kimarekani ambaye inaonekana aliwahi kufikiria kwamba huenda alikuwa na hisia za kibinadamu za woga na tamaa ya kuachwa hai.”160

“When a Japanese soldier was “flushed” from his hiding place well behind the lines of combat, “the unit, made up of relatively green troops, was resting and joking. But they seized their rifles and began using him as a live target while he dashed frantically around the clearing in search of safety. The soldiers found his movements uproariously funny and were prevented by their laughter from making early end of the unfortunate man. Finally, however, they succeeded in killing him, and the incident cheered the whole platoon, giving them something to talk and joke about for days afterward. In relating this story...the veteran emphasized the similarity of the enemy soldier to an animal. None of the American soldiers apparently ever considered that he may have had human feelings of fear and the wish to be spared.”160

Limbardo anaandika kwamba “‘gooks’ wa jana wamekuwa ‘hajis’ na ‘towel heads’ wa leo katika Vita vya Iraq, kwani kikosi kipya cha wanajeshi kinawadhalilisha raia na wanajeshi hawa wenye sura tofauti.” Anamnukuu Sajenti Mejla: “Unajaribu tu kuondoa kwenye akili yako ukweli kwamba ni binadamu na kuwaona kama maadui…Unawaita ‘hajis’, unajua. Unafanya mambo yote yanayorahisisha kuwaua na kuwatendea vibaya.”161

Limbardo writes that “Yesterday’s “gooks” have become today’s “hajis and “towel heads” in the Iraq War as a new corps of soldiers derogates these different-looking citizens and soldiers. He cites Sergeant Mejla: “You just sort of try to block out the act that they’re human beings and see them as enemies…You call them ‘hajis. you know. You do all the things that make it easier to deal with killing them and mistreating them.”161

Majaribio maarufu ya Stanford pamoja na yale aliyofanya Albert Bandura yalilenga kuonyesha nguvu ya lebo za kudhalilisha utu katika kuzalisha utamaduni wa kuwatenga wengine, jambo linaloweza kupelekea kuwadhuru wengine. Watafiti walionyesha kwamba kuwadhalilisha wengine kwa picha za kejeli na lebo kuliwanyang'anya wengine sifa za kibinadamu. Kinyume chake, utafiti wao pia ulionyesha kwamba kuwapa watu lebo chanya kulikuwa na athari ya kuongeza heshima kubwa zaidi kwa watu.

The famous Stanford experiments and those conducted by Albert Bandura sought to demonstrate the power of dehumanising labels to generate a culture of Otherness which would lead to harming of others. The researchers showed that dehumanising others with caricatures and labels divested others of human qualities. Conversely, their research also showed that positive labelling had the effect of enhancing a greater respect towards people.

Taswira za kiarchetype za gaidi au adui asiyeaminika zilizoundwa na propaganda ya kuona katika Ujerumani ya Kinazi dhidi ya Wayahudi, pamoja na taswira za vyombo vya habari kuhusu Waarabu ambazo Shaheen na wengine wanazibainisha, huzaa wazo la "wao" walio hatari, kama "wageni" na "wenye uadui". Matumizi ya mara kwa mara ya picha kama hizo pamoja na simulizi hasi za vyombo vya habari huzaa hofu ya kijamii kuhusu mwanamke aliyevaa burqa au mwanamume mwenye ndevu ndefu.

The archetypes of terrorist or untrustworthy enemy created by visual propaganda in Nazi Germany of Jews or the media portrayals of Arabs that Shaheen and others point out generates an idea of a dangerous “them”, as “outsiders” and “hostile”. The repeated use of such images together with negative media narratives creates a societal paranoia about the burqa attired woman or the heavily bearded man.

Katika simulizi ya Jean Hatzfeld yenye kuumiza sana kuhusu mauaji ya kimbari ya Rwanda, iliyojengwa kwa kiasi kikubwa na ushuhuda wa watenda makosa, tunasoma masimulizi ya kutisha ya binadamu wanaoeleza kwa undani wa kina matukio ya mauaji ya kimbari, ambamo michakato ya kuwatenga watu wengine kama "wageni" na kuwafanya wasionekane kama binadamu inadhihirika waziwazi.

In Jean Hatzfeld’s very harrowing account of the Rwandan genocide, made up largely of testimonials by perpetrators we come to read grizzly accounts of human beings who describe in graphic detail the events of the genocide in which the processes of Othering and dehumanisation are made plain:

“JOSEPH-DESIRE: Yule aliyekimbilia kwa kasi huku akiwa na panga mkononi, hakusikiliza tena lolote. Alisahau kila kitu, kwanza kabisa kiwango chake cha akili. Kufanya jambo lile lile kila siku kulimaanisha kwamba hatukulazimika kufikiri kuhusu tunachofanya. Tulitoka na kurudi bila kuwa na wazo lolote. Tuliwinda kwa sababu ilikuwa agizo la siku, mpaka siku iishe. Mikono yetu ndiyo iliyotawala vichwa vyetu; kwa vyovyote vile, vichwa vyetu havikuwa tena na sauti yake.” “FULGENCE: Tulizidi kuwa wakatili, tulizidi kuwa watulivu, tulizidi kuwa wenye kumwaga damu. Lakini hatukuona kwamba tulikuwa tukizidi kuwa wauaji. Kadiri tulivyokata, ukataji ulizidi kuwa mchezo wa watoto, ikiwa naweza kusema hivyo. Jioni unaweza kukutana na mwenzako. Kwa wachache, jambo hilo likawa burudani, wangepiga kelele, “Wewe, rafiki yangu, nunulia Primus au nitakupasua fuvu la kichwa, kwa sababu sasa nimependa hilo!” Lakini kwa wengi, ilikuwa tu kwamba siku ndefu ilikuwa imeisha. Tuliacha kufikiria wajibu au faida – tulifikiria tu kuendeleza kile tulichokianza. Kwa vyovyote vile, kilitushikilia kwa nguvu sana, hata hatukuweza kufikiria athari yake kwetu.”

“JOSEPH-DESIRE: The one who rushed off machete in hand, he listened to nothing anymore. He forgot everything, first of all his level of intelligence. Doing the same thing every day meant we didn’t have to think about what we were doing. We went out and came back without having a single thought. We hunted because it was the order of the day, until the day was over. Our arms ruled our heads; in any case our heads no longer had their say.” “FULGENCE: We became more and more cruel, more and more calm, more and more bloody. But we did not see that we were becoming more and more killers. The more we cut, the more cutting became child’s play if I may say so. In the evening you might meet a colleague. For a few, it turned into a treat, would call out, “You, my friend, buy me a Primus or I’ll cut open your skull, because I have a taste for that now!” But for many, it was simply that a long day had just come to an end. We stopped thinking about obligations or advantages – we thought only about continuing what we had started. In any case, it held us so tight, we could not think about its effect on us”.

Yaliyotokea katika wiki, miezi na miaka iliyofuata mauaji ya kimbari, hasa katika kipindi cha mwanzo, ni kuongezeka kwa hamu kubwa ya Uislamu miongoni mwa Wakristo wa Rwanda. Hadithi zilipoendelea kufichuka kuhusu uadilifu na ushujaa wa Waislamu waliokataa kushiriki katika mauaji na badala yake wakajitahidi kuokoa maisha ya waathirika Watutsi, wengi walitaka kujifunza kuhusu imani iliyoongoza mwenendo kama huo. Makala ya gazeti la Washington Post ya tarehe 23 Septemba 2002, yenye kichwa ‘Islam Attracting Many Survivors of Rwanda Genocide’ iliyoandikwa na Emily Wax, inaeleza:

What transpired in the weeks, months and years following the genocide, and most particularly in the initial period was a deep interest in Islam among the Christian people of Rwanda. As the stories unfolded of the integrity and bravery of the Muslims who refused to take part in the killings and instead resorted to saving the lives of Tutsi victims, many wanted to learn about the faith that inspired such conduct. A Washington Post article from September 23, 2002, entitled ‘Islam Attracting Many Survivors of Rwanda Genocide’ by Emily Wax describes:

Tangu mauaji ya kimbari, Wanyarwanda wamesilimu kwa idadi kubwa. Waislamu sasa ni asilimia 14 ya watu milioni 8.2 walioko hapa katika taifa la Kikatoliki zaidi Afrika, mara mbili ya idadi ya kabla ya mauaji kuanza.169

“Since the genocide, Rwandans have converted to Islam in huge numbers. Muslims now make up 14 percent of the 8.2 million people here in Africa’s most Catholic nation, twice as many as before the killings began.”169

Makala hii inaeleza uzoefu wa Wakristo wa Rwanda pamoja na Waislamu walio wachache, na jinsi majibu chanya yaliyofuata mauaji ya kimbari yalivyofungua nafasi mpya za kuelewana kati ya watu wa nchi hiyo.

The article describes the experience of Rwandan Christians with the minority Muslims and the way the positive responses following the genocide opened up new spaces of understanding between the people of that country:

Sagahutu alisema kuwa baba yake alikuwa amefanya kazi katika hospitali ambapo alikuwa na urafiki na familia moja ya Kiislamu. Walimpokea Sagahutu nyumbani kwao, ingawa walikuwa Wahutu. "Niliwatazama wakiswali mara tano kwa siku. Nilikula pamoja nao na niliona jinsi walivyoishi," alisema. "Wanaposwali, Wahutu na Watutsi wako katika msikiti mmoja. Hakuna tofauti. Nilihitaji kuona hilo."170

“Sagahutu said his father had worked at a hospital where he was friendly with a Muslim family. They took Sagahutu in, even though they were Hutus. “I watched them pray five times a day. I ate with them and I saw how they lived,” he said. “When they pray, Hutu and Tutsi are in the same mosque. There is no difference. I needed to see that.”170