1964 NYTimes article: Genocide against the Tutsis started in 60's

mchambawima1 · 2016-04-11T08:49:22+00:00

ROBERT CONLEY; Special to The New York TimesFEB. 9, 1964 KIGALI, Rwanda, Feb. 8—The savagery that has swept through this mountainous African land numbs the mind. By authoritative accounts, at least 10,000 Watusi men, women and children perished in the recent massacres here. The Watusi, who often reach seven feet in height, were Rwanda's feudal overlords for About 22,000 more Watusi are reported to have fled to neighboring Tanganyika, Uganda, Burundi and the Congo. The Watusi have been beaten, clubbed and hacked to death to an extent that one investigator said approached genocide, the intentional eradication of a race. Some are said to have been beheaded, and others burned alive. Bodies appear to have been thrown by the hundreds into Rwanda's rivers, which are thick with crocodiles. One missionary reported having seen 48 bodies pass under a bridge in 10 minutes on the The Rwanda radio, in its first mention of the massacre the other day, officially put the death toll at 750. Otherwise the Rwanda Government has said nothing. According to several highly placed sources, the ' Rwandan Governnment did little to prevent the massacres. At one point the Government instructed the Bahutu to take whatever action they thought necessary against the Watusi. Continue reading the main story The massacres were in retaliation for raids by Watusi guerrillas, culminating a month and a half ago in an attack that Rwandans feared was the begin In that attack a guerrilla band of Watusi exiles, armed with rifles, bows and arrows, invaded from Burundi in the south and nearly seized the capital before being routed by the Rwandan Army. Other tribal bands—called “inyenzi,” or “cockroaches,” because they strike at nightattacked the Watusi from Uganda in the north and the Congo across Lake Kivu on the west. In one such attack, a list was seized naming 20 Watusi political leaders said to be chosen as heads of a new Rwandan revolutionary government. At least 350 Watusi guerrillas were killed in battles with the Rwandan Army, apart from the massacres. The guerrilla casualties were said to include a number of deserters from the Congolese Army. Amid charges and countercharges over the massacres and guerrilla raids, Rwanda and Burundi have virtually broken diplomatic relations. Burundi put her army on full At the same time Burundi restricted foreign diplomats to the capital, Usumbura, about 110 miles southwest of here on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. The restriction was ordered after Burundi's National Assembly, in a unanimous' resolution, accused diplomats from the United States, Britain, France and Belgium of interfering in her internal affairs. Rwanda, with about 10,000 square miles, and Burundi, with about 11,000, made up RuandaUrundi, a United Nations trust territory administered by Belgium until July 1, 1962. Rwanda, with a population estimated at 2.7 million, and Burundi, with about 2.4 million, broke when they became independent. Violence started with Rwanda's nledieval revolution in November, 1959. Bahutu serfs, representing 53 per cent of Rwanda's population, overthrew the traditional monarchy of the Watusi minority, numbering a bout 400,000. At least 6,000 Watusi were killed in the revolution and its violent aftermath, and 145,000 more fled the country. Toll Put at 16,000 With the new massacres, the Watusi death toll since 1959 is believed to stand at a minimum of 16,000 dead, and 157,000 more are in refuge in the neighboring countries. Only 227,000 Watusi are thought to be left in Rwanda. Sweeping into Rwanda's misty hills and valleys, mobs of Bahutu pillaged and burned coup after camp of Watusi. H undreds of Watusi fled to the country's Roman Catholic and Protestant missions just ahead of the rampaging Bahutu. The missionaries held off pursuing mobs with rifles. In the north, near Ruhengeri, more than 100 Watusi women were said to have committed, suicide by throwing their children and themselves into the Nywarungu River. The women had been trapped on the river bank by two attacking mobs of Bahutu. In the massacres the Bahutu appear to have used mostly clubs and sticks so they would not draw blood. “We are not guilty if there is no blood,” one said. “The Bahatu would not kill a dog, because it is taboo,” said a man who has lived in Rwanda, for years. “But a man — they don't care.” The greatest slaughter was reported in the area of Bugasera, a Watusi enclave in the hills above Butare, about 50 miles south of here on the main Rwanda‐Burundi road. At least 5,000 Watusi were said to have been massacred there. Before the massacre there were 13,000 Watusi in the area. Now there are 3,000. The rest either died or fled. In one Watusi hilltop camp, it is reported, the massacre went on all night amid shrieks and screams. “It was beyond belief,” said a missionary still stammering from shock. “Screams — they went on hour after hour.” Forty Watusi monarchist agitators are said to be responsible for the recent guerrilla raids; their aim, it is said, is to restore Rwanda's deposed King, Kigeri V. Agitators are reported to be at work among Watusi refugees in four countries. At least 16,000 Watusis are reported to be in Tanganyika, 25,000 in Burundi, 48,000 in Uganda and 60,000 in the Congo. Agitation efforts are said to be centered in two Watusi ref ugee camps in Eastern Burundi. One is near Ruyigi, the other near Kayongozi. One Watusi guerrilla captured in an attempted raid on the capital wore the gray uniform of the Rwandan Army under his clothes. His task was apparently to infiltrate the Rwandan ranks. Another guerrilla, who described himself as a “lieutenant,” bore a homemade sword in a wooden scabbard with “Vive Kigeri” inscribed on the blade. On learning of invasions by about 700 guerrillas, Rwanda mobilized her 1,000‐man army, which is led by 19 Belgian officers. The Rwanda radio repeatedly warned the Bahutu to be “constantly alert” for Watusi terrorists. The country was divided Into nine emergency regions, with a Rwanda Cabinet minister in charge of each. Rwanda's 10 prefects, each comparable to a county official, and the burgomasters of her 100 communes, were made responsible to Cabinet ministers. Most of the guerrillas were Soldiers Beaten to Death In the attack on Rwanda's capital Dec. 21, 150 Watusi penetrated within 12 miles of the city after crossing over at Murehe near the eastern end of the Rwanda‐Burundi frontier. As they fled back to Burundi, according to reports, the warriors beat to death four Rwandan soldiers they had seized. Other bands, crossing from Kivu Province in the eastern Congo, repeatedly attacked SShangugu at the south end of Lake Kivu. The Rwandan Army says that since Dec. 21 it has seized from the Watusi 16 rifles, 15 Belgian Vigneron burp guns, several pistols, a supply of British Army hand grenades and one American Thompson submachine gun. Rwanda also seized two redand‐white guerrilla flags reputed to belong to a revolutionary government. In an intensive four‐day tour of Rwanda this week, not a single body was seen. An unearthly calm covers the country. Vultures circle continually overhead, but not a single Bahutu will admit that killing has occurred. “There is no record, no trace, no nothing,” said one European working in the country. “Africa has swallowed them up.” This article can be viewed in its original form. Please send questions and feedback to archive_feedback@nytimes.com

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Start date Apr 11, 2016

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1964 NYTimes article: Genocide against the Tutsis started in 60's

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