What caused the Rwandan Genocide? - Susanne Buckley-Zistel

翻译人员: Sophia Ye 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

For 100 days in 1994, the African country of Rwanda

在 1994 年的 100 天里， 非洲国家卢旺达

suffered a horrific campaign of mass murder.

遭受了一场可怕的大屠杀。

Neighbor turned against neighbor as violence engulfed the region,

邻居之间相互对立，暴力席卷该地区，

resulting in the deaths of over one-tenth of the country’s population.

导致该国超过十分之一的人口丧生。

The seeds of this conflict were planted a century earlier,

这场冲突的种子在一个世纪前种下，

first when German, and later Belgian, colonizers arrived in the country.

最早是德国人，后来是比利时殖民者 来到这个国家。

At the time, Rwanda was ruled by a monarchy of Tutsi,

当时，卢旺达由图西人的君主统治，

one of the three ethnic groups comprising the population.

图西人是卢旺达人口中的 三个民族群体之一。

Tutsi and the even smaller Twa communities were minority groups,

图西人和较小的图瓦人社区是少数族群，

while Hutu composed the majority.

而胡图人是大多数。

Many Hutus and Tutsi civilians were on good terms,

许多胡图人和图西平民之间的关系良好，

but colonial powers encouraged political division.

但殖民列强煽动了政治分裂。

Belgians enforced record keeping around ethnic identity,

比利时人在种族身份的记录上 进行强制性管理，

and created a public narrative that cast Tutsi as elite rulers

并编造了一套公众言论， 将图西人描绘为精英统治者，

and Hutu as ordinary farmers.

将胡图人描绘为普通农民。

Over time, this propaganda led to intense political hostility.

随着时间的推移， 这种宣传导致了激烈的政治敌对。

And while colonial powers had largely withdrawn by 1959,

尽管殖民列强在 1959 年之后 基本上已经撤退，

lingering anger motivated a Hutu revolt,

但余留的愤怒激发了胡图人的起义，

forcing many Tutsi leaders to flee the country.

迫使许多图西领导人逃离国家。

Over the following decade,

在接下来的十年里，

Rwanda transitioned to an independent republic with a Hutu government.

卢旺达转型成了一个 由胡图政府统治的独立共和国。

This new administration argued that as the majority group,

这个新政府认为，作为多数族群，

Hutu deserved exclusive access to political power.

胡图人应该独享政治权力。

They excluded the Tutsi minority by appointing offices based on population

他们通过按照人口分配职位来 排除图西少数族群，

and prohibited the return of Tutsi families that had fled years earlier.

并禁止逃离多年的图西家族回国。

Hutu extremists also circulated propaganda

胡图极端分子还散布了 指责图西人造成国家经济、

blaming Tutsi for the country’s economic, social, and political problems.

社会和政治问题的宣传。

Discontent with their life in exile,

一小部分不满流亡生活的图西叛乱分子

a small group of Tutsi insurgents invaded Rwanda in 1990,

于 1990 年入侵了卢旺达，

beginning a violent civil war.

引发了一场暴力的内战。

The conflict lasted three years before it was resolved with a formal peace accord.

冲突持续了三年， 直到达成正式和平协议才得以解决。

But the war’s aftermath was rife with insecurity.

但战后的局势充满了不安全因素。

While some civilians in both groups remained amicable,

尽管双方的一些平民保持友好，

the treaty intensified political polarization.

但协议加剧了政治对立。

And in 1994, when a plane carrying the Hutu Rwandan president was shot down,

1994 年，当载有胡图卢旺达 总统的飞机被击落时，

the conflict broke out anew.

冲突再次爆发。

This time, Hutu officials had prepared a deadly response

这一次，胡图官员已经准备好 采取致命的行动

to ensure they stayed in power.

以确保他们掌握着权力。

Working off a list of targets,

政府资助的胡图民兵 根本不按照什么目标行动，

government-funded Hutu militias flooded the streets,

而是涌入街头，

perpetrating acts of physical and sexual violence

对图西的政治敌人和平民实施肢体

against Tutsi political enemies and civilians.

和性暴力行为。

Over the chaotic following months,

在接下来混乱的几个月里，

over 1 million Hutu civilians joined their ranks due to coercion,

出于受到胁迫、自我保护或个人动机，

self-preservation, or the pursuit of personal agendas.

超过 100 万胡图平民加入了 他们的行列。

Tutsi victims sought refuge at churches and schools

图西的受害者向教堂和学校寻求庇护，

where they hoped international organizations would protect them,

希望国际组织能保护他们，

but no outside party came to their aid.

但没有外部团体来帮助他们。

UN soldiers who’d overseen the Peace Accord

监督和平协议的联合国士兵

were instructed to abandon Tutsi civilians,

被指示放弃保护图西平民，

and UN leadership refused to acknowledge the genocide taking place.

联合国领导层拒绝承认 种族灭绝正在发生。

The violence didn’t end until mid-July,

暴力直到 7 月中旬才结束，

when the Tutsi army— who instigated the previous civil war—

当时在上一场内战中发动冲突的 图西军队夺取了国家的控制权。

seized control of the country.

By the time the fighting was over,

战斗结束时，

roughly 800,000 Rwandans had been killed,

大约有 80 万卢旺达人丧生，

and only a small fraction of the Tutsi population was left alive.

只剩下一小部分图西人口幸存。

In the months that followed,

随之而来的几个月里，

there was no easy strategy for bringing the killers to justice.

将杀人犯绳之以法没有简单的策略。

The UN established a special tribunal in Tanzania to try the key perpetrators.

联合国在坦桑尼亚建立了一个特别法庭来 审判主要肇事者。

But Hutu civilians from every level of society had committed atrocities

但来自社会各个层面的胡图平民对邻居、

against their neighbors, friends, and even family members.

朋友甚至家人都犯下了暴行。

There were roughly 120,000 Rwandans awaiting trial,

大约有 12 万名卢旺达人等待审判，

and inmates were dying from overcrowding and poor hygiene.

囚犯因拥挤和卫生条件差而死亡。

The new Rwandan government estimated it would take 100 years to prosecute

新的卢旺达政府估计 需要 100 年时间才能

every accused civilian in national court.

在国家法庭上起诉每一个被告平民。

So officials determined the best path forward involved

因此，官员们决定前进的最佳途径是

looking to the country’s past.

参考该国的以往做法。

Rwanda has a traditional process

卢旺达有一种解决人际冲突的传统程序，

for resolving interpersonal conflicts called gacaca.

称为加卡卡（gacaca）。

Roughly translating to “justice on the grass,”

加卡卡大致翻译为“草地上的正义”，

gacaca had long been used to address offenses within villages.

长期以来一直用于解决村庄内的冲突。

Local witnesses would offer testimony

当地目击者将提供证词，

and could then speak for or against the accused.

然后可以对被告发表支持或反对的意见。

Then, appointed lay judges would determine an appropriate penalty

然后，被指派的普通法官将在社区 能力范围内判处适当的处罚。

within the community’s means.

In the hope of trying perpetrators more quickly,

为了更快地审判犯罪者，

the government adapted gacaca for their formal courts.

政府将加卡卡应用于他们的正式法庭。

These hybrid trials had no professional attorneys or judges,

这些混合审判没有专业律师或法官，

and no evidence outside the spoken word

除了口述的话语和详细记载 被告犯罪的案卷之外，

and a case file detailing the crimes of the accused.

没有其他证据。

All charges were then divided into four categories:

然后，所有指控被分为四类：

masterminding the genocide and committing acts of sexual violence,

策划种族大屠杀和实施性暴力行为、

participating in the killings, physical assault,

参与杀戮、

or destroying Tutsi property.

肢体袭击或破坏图西人财产。

Those found guilty of the first two categories

对于前两类罪名成立的人，

were entered into the traditional court system,

将进入传统的法庭系统，

but the other crimes were assigned set penalties

但其他罪行将被判处固定的刑罚，

which could be reduced if the accused pled guilty.

如果被告认罪，刑罚可减轻。

Beginning in 2002, thousands of gacaca courts convened every week.

从 2002 年开始，成千上万的 加卡卡法庭每周开庭。

The process proved faster than conventional courts,

这个过程比传统法庭更快速，

but Rwandan opinion on the trials was mixed.

但卢旺达人对审判的意见不一。

Some didn’t want to accuse their neighbors in a community setting,

有些人不想在社区环境中 指责他们的邻居，

and many potential witnesses were intimidated to prevent their testimony.

许多潜在的证人因恐吓而不敢作证。

Additionally, while the trial showed that not all Hutu participated in the killings,

此外，尽管审判显示并非所有 胡图人参与了屠杀，

the courts only reviewed cases with Tutsi victims,

但法庭只审查了涉及图西受害者的案件，

ignoring the Hutu casualties incurred during the genocide

忽视了种族灭绝和前期内战 期间的胡图伤亡。

and the preceding civil war.

When the trials concluded in 2012,

当审判于 2012 年结束时，

the courts had convicted 1.7 million individuals.

法庭已判处 170 万人有罪。

For some families, these verdicts helped restore the dignity

对一些家庭来说，这些判决恢复了

of those lost in the violence.

那些在暴力中失去的人的尊严。

For others, the trials were a decade-long reminder

对其他人来说， 审判是一个长达十年的

of a past they were desperate to leave behind.

过去的残酷提醒，他们迫切希望离开。