i ended my recent trip to rwanda with a visit to the border town of gisenyi, on beautiful lake kivu. a bit like being in lugano, this verdant region of western rwanda lies at the doorstep of the democratic republic of congo (drc), or simply, 'congo'. the town of gisenyi literally ends at the border post, and on the other side is the city of goma. currently at the center of conflict, it is a veritable hotbed of violence that has bubbled over like the nearby volcano that almost destroyed this town some years ago. not one to be easily frightened, this was one place that made me feel incredibly vulnerable, and for once, i had no desire to cross the border to get another stamp in my passport.
i was intrigued by a front page article in yesterday's new york times, which outlines the current civil war which continues to take shape in this place. more than the geopolitical discussion, i was intrigued by the differences in rwanda and congolese culture which is in part a point of the article. the following is an excerpt:
the fighting is also rekindling the kind of ethnic hatred that previously dragged this region into the most deadly conflict since world war II. it began with the rwandan genocide, in which hutu extremists killed 800,000 tutsi and moderate hutu in 1994. many of the genocide’s perpetrators fled into congo, igniting regional conflicts, lasted for nearly a decade and killed, by some estimates, as many as four million people through violence, disease and hunger.
the current battle is in many ways a throwback to the earliest and most difficult questions at the heart of the congo war, and also a reflection of longstanding hostilities toward tutsi, who are widely viewed here as being more rwandan than congolese, and as foreign interlopers with outsize economic and political influence.
in many ways, congo’s tutsi are a people apart, an unusual minority with influence but also problems beyond its size. these differences are reflected in a unique way of life. when the congolese army routed rebel forces in one of the strategic towns they occupied in a recent, ultimately failed push, the army celebrated with stiff pulls of rotgut whiskey. but when the rebels routed the army with a much smaller force a few days later, they toasted their victory with cups of milk from the most prized of tutsi possessions, dairy cows.
this reputation for sobriety and determination helps explain why tutsi have been so successful in business, according to tutsi community leaders in goma, the regional capital. “when we were investing and working, the congolese were listening to music and playing football,” said modeste makabuza ngoga, a tutsi who is one of goma’s richest men, with investments in transportation, telecommunications, tin ore and the gasoline trade, among other things. “are we to be blamed for that?”.
some of goma’s wealthy tutsi feel so unsafe that they sleep in gisenyi, a town just inside the rwandan border, a fact that reinforces the common perception that congolese tutsi are more rwandan than congolese.
rwanda’s history is a powerful touchstone for congo’s tutsi. similar disparities — a small group controlling considerable wealth and influence, amid a powerful sense of grievance from the majority — helped create the conditions that led to the genocide in rwanda in 1994. until the rwandan genocide, congolese hutu and tutsi coexisted relatively peacefully and in many ways faced the same kinds of persecution from other ethnic groups that considered them outsiders. but when the hutu perpetrators of the rwandan genocide flooded into congo, tensions rose between congolese hutu and tutsi as well.
joseph dunia ruyenzi, a human rights activist in goma, said that despite this history, tutsi must put their trust in the fledgling democracy of congo. “all congolese must see themselves as congolese first, and as having a stake in peace and prosperity,” he said. “our only option is to be in this together.”
i was intrigued by a front page article in yesterday's new york times, which outlines the current civil war which continues to take shape in this place. more than the geopolitical discussion, i was intrigued by the differences in rwanda and congolese culture which is in part a point of the article. the following is an excerpt:
the fighting is also rekindling the kind of ethnic hatred that previously dragged this region into the most deadly conflict since world war II. it began with the rwandan genocide, in which hutu extremists killed 800,000 tutsi and moderate hutu in 1994. many of the genocide’s perpetrators fled into congo, igniting regional conflicts, lasted for nearly a decade and killed, by some estimates, as many as four million people through violence, disease and hunger.
the current battle is in many ways a throwback to the earliest and most difficult questions at the heart of the congo war, and also a reflection of longstanding hostilities toward tutsi, who are widely viewed here as being more rwandan than congolese, and as foreign interlopers with outsize economic and political influence.
in many ways, congo’s tutsi are a people apart, an unusual minority with influence but also problems beyond its size. these differences are reflected in a unique way of life. when the congolese army routed rebel forces in one of the strategic towns they occupied in a recent, ultimately failed push, the army celebrated with stiff pulls of rotgut whiskey. but when the rebels routed the army with a much smaller force a few days later, they toasted their victory with cups of milk from the most prized of tutsi possessions, dairy cows.
this reputation for sobriety and determination helps explain why tutsi have been so successful in business, according to tutsi community leaders in goma, the regional capital. “when we were investing and working, the congolese were listening to music and playing football,” said modeste makabuza ngoga, a tutsi who is one of goma’s richest men, with investments in transportation, telecommunications, tin ore and the gasoline trade, among other things. “are we to be blamed for that?”.
some of goma’s wealthy tutsi feel so unsafe that they sleep in gisenyi, a town just inside the rwandan border, a fact that reinforces the common perception that congolese tutsi are more rwandan than congolese.
rwanda’s history is a powerful touchstone for congo’s tutsi. similar disparities — a small group controlling considerable wealth and influence, amid a powerful sense of grievance from the majority — helped create the conditions that led to the genocide in rwanda in 1994. until the rwandan genocide, congolese hutu and tutsi coexisted relatively peacefully and in many ways faced the same kinds of persecution from other ethnic groups that considered them outsiders. but when the hutu perpetrators of the rwandan genocide flooded into congo, tensions rose between congolese hutu and tutsi as well.
joseph dunia ruyenzi, a human rights activist in goma, said that despite this history, tutsi must put their trust in the fledgling democracy of congo. “all congolese must see themselves as congolese first, and as having a stake in peace and prosperity,” he said. “our only option is to be in this together.”
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