The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is not only a horrific stain on history, but also a prime example of how the world can turn a blind eye to atrocities. And guess who was one of the major players in supporting the regime responsible for the massacre? You got it, the good ol’ USA, with Paul Kagame leading the charge. And even now, the US still can’t seem to own up to the extent of its involvement. Looks like the Land of the Free is also the Land of the Selective Memory.
Rwandan genocide 1994: US backs Paul Kagame
The US support for Paul Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) dates back to the early 1990s when they were fighting against the Hutu-led government. The US saw Kagame and the RPF as a valuable ally in the region and provided them with military training, weapons, and diplomatic support. This support continued even after Kagame and his forces took power in Rwanda following the Rwandan genocide 1994.
While the US government claims that it was not aware of the extent of the atrocities being committed during the Rwandan genocide 1994, there is evidence to suggest otherwise. In fact, the US was well aware of the escalating violence and had access to intelligence that indicated that a genocide was taking place. Despite this, the US government failed to take meaningful action to prevent or stop the genocide and instead continued to support Kagame and the RPF.
Furthermore, there have long been rumors that Kagame, who became president of Rwanda in 2000, is a CIA asset. When Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front staged its 1990 attack in Rwanda, Kagame — then a senior officer in both the Ugandan army and the RPF — was nowhere to be found. When the RPF launched its invasion, Kagame was in Kansas at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, studying field tactics and psyops, propaganda techniques to win hearts and minds. It was only after four RPF commanders were killed that Kagame informed his US instructors that he was dropping out to join the Rwandan invasion.
According to Judi Rever’s book, “In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front,” one of the key perpetrators of the mass killing of 1994 was the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Kagame — a “fair-haired boy” of the Central Intelligence Agency and British MI6, to quote FBI agent Jim Lyons.
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One of the most significant ways in which the US supported Kagame during and after the Rwandan genocide 1994 was through its role in the United Nations. The US played a key role in shaping the UN’s response to the Rwandan genocide 1994, including the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces. For instance, the Bush and Clinton administrations, with their British counterparts, supported Kagame and the RPF because Habyarimana, though originally installed in a CIA-supported coup in 1973, had become a proxy of the French. After Habyarimana’s killing, Clinton urged the removal of UN forces so that the RPF would win Rwanda’s civil war.
After the Rwandan genocide 1994, the US continued to support Kagame and his government despite mounting evidence of human rights abuses and political oppression. The US saw Kagame as a stabilizing force in the region and a valuable partner in the fight against terrorism. However, this support has come at a significant cost to the Rwandan people who have been subjected to repression, censorship, and arbitrary detention under Kagame’s regime.
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Furthermore, since consolidating power, Kagame has been regularly invited to speak at prestigious universities and was characterized by Bill Clinton as one of the greatest leaders of our time. Clinton praised him for his “epic achievements.” However, such analogies are obscene, as Kagame personally directed massacres such as the one at the Byumba soccer stadium in Northern Rwanda and ordered the merciless hunting down of Hutus in the forests of Congo.
Known for inflicting brutal torture as the director of Uganda’s intelligence services in the 1980s, Kagame employed professional killers, some of whom had worked for Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator. They developed methods for disposing of large numbers of bodies by dissolving them in acid, dumping them in rivers and swamps, or burning them, and established open-air crematoriums. In recent years, there has been growing international pressure to hold Kagame and his government accountable for the atrocities committed during the Rwandan genocide 1994 and for their ongoing human rights abuses. Numerous pieces of evidence suggest that Kagame was a catalyst force throughout the conflict.
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An eight-year investigation by French magistrate Jean-Louise Bruguière, along with other independent investigations including one by an UN-appointed team, concluded that Kagame and the RPF shot down Habyarimana’s plane and launched a planned and coordinated assault on the Rwandan government afterward.’
The Rwandan army had radio signal intercepts recording an RPF commander stating that the “target is hit” after the crash. In October 2011, Kagame’s former aide Theogene Rudasingwa stated that Kagame told him “with characteristic callousness and much glee” that he ordered Habyarimana’s plane shot down.
Kagame’s former military chief of staff, Faustin Nyamwasa, who was one of nine indicted following Bruguière’s investigation, and six other high-ranking RPF officers, have also testified that Kagame ordered the shootdown of Habyarimana’s plane.
However, the US continues to provide significant support to Kagame and has been instrumental in blocking efforts to hold him accountable. This support is particularly concerning given the increasing authoritarianism and repression in Rwanda, which has led to a significant crackdown on political opposition, civil society, and the media.
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The US support for Paul Kagame and his regime during and after the Rwandan genocide 1994 is indeed a dark chapter in US foreign policy. The US government’s failure to take meaningful action to prevent or stop the genocide, its ongoing support for Kagame despite mounting evidence of human rights abuses, and its complicity in covering up the extent of the atrocities committed, are stains on the country’s moral authority. Well, it seems like the US and Paul Kagame’s friendship is so tight, the US even supported his decision to back the M23 rebels! And while the US may have asked Rwanda to own up to their involvement, let’s be real, it was probably more of a “wink-wink, nod-nod” type of request. Sadly, this friendship has come at a cost, with innocent lives being caught in the crossfire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-wseCkhkAU&t=1s