Posted on 08/25/2003 8:34:44 AM PDT by propertius
After a campaign of intimidation and rigging outlandish even by Africa's standards, Rwanda holds its first presidential elections since the genocide of 1994 today, still haunted by the massacres.
The first multi-party poll in the country's history is supposed to represent a crucial moment of catharsis nine years after Tutsi rebels deposed the extremist Hutu perpetrators of the 20th century's most intensive blood-letting.
Between 500,000 and one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in only 100 days between April and July 1994.
At face value, the outcome of today's election appears remarkable. President Paul Kagame, a Tutsi whose Rwandan Patriotic Front has ruled since the genocide, will win by a landslide thanks to the support of most of the overwhelmingly Hutu population.
But while the election is described by some western countries as "an important step forward in the democratic process", few analysts believe that Hutus are voting with unbridled enthusiasm for Mr Kagame.
He has turned his country into a Soviet-style totalitarian state. Freedom of expression does not exist and the genocide has been used as a tool to curb all forms of opposition. Independent journalists, human rights activists and politicians are accused of ethnic "divisionism", Rwanda's most serious offence, if they voice even mild criticism of the government.
Thousands of Rwandans have been imprisoned without trial, beaten or murdered. Many have simply disappeared while others have fled the country. Those not accused of divisionism are charged with plotting to restore the monarchy.
According to human rights organisations, RPF officers told crowds in Gisenyi, north-eastern Rwanda: "If you dare side with the king you risk serious trouble. Prison will not be good enough. We will use bullets, and when we run out of bullets, then we will come at you with machetes."
Mr Kagame has promised that one of his first actions on being re-elected will be to arrest his main challenger, Faustin Twagiramungu, on charges of divisionism.
Mr Twagiramungu, a moderate Hutu who once served as prime minister in the RPF government before fleeing into exile eight years ago, has been an almost invisible part of the election campaign.
Billboards showing Mr Kagame's face leer menacingly down at the residents of every town. Buses filled with chanting RPF youths tear through the streets blaring their horns. Forced to fight an underground campaign, Mr Twagiramungu has printed off a few thousand business cards on the computer in his flat which his supporters hide in their pockets.
"If you're caught with one, eat it," he advises them.
His supporters have been harassed at every turn. Some of his agents disappeared, prompting Holland to suspend its election funding. Twelve of his campaigners were arrested yesterday on the orders of the electoral commission, which is synonymous with the RPF.
Unofficial militia groups, known as local defence forces made up mainly of lawless, former street children, roam through the countryside threatening Hutus thinking of voting against Mr Kagame with dire consequences.
Many are reported to have been beaten up. Hutus are terrified. "I will vote for Kagame because he is our father and our leader, but we must not talk because people are watching," said one Hutu man in the capital, Kigali.
The Tutsis, who make up about 14 per cent of Rwanda's population, will undoubtedly vote for Mr Kagame.
The reasons are clear at the church at Ntarama, south of Kigali.
Even nine years after the killings, the smell of death lingers in the building. A single skull lies on the altar. Bones litter the floor beneath the pews, interspersed with clothes and children's sandals.
On a table outside, hundreds of skulls are neatly laid in rows. At intervals, jammed between them, are figurines of the Virgin Mary. A dozen sacks in an outhouse are filled with more human remains.
Dasila Nyirabazungu was one of the few who escaped when the Hutu militia, the Interahamwe, attacked the church on April 15, 1994, throwing grenades through the windows before hacking survivors to death, including her husband, with machetes.
"I am voting for Kagame," she said, gazing at the church where her husband's remains lie, indistinguishable from the bones of the other 5,000 who died that day.
"If Twagiramungu wins, I know there will be some Hutus measuring my neck again to finish the job they didn't complete."
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