Rwanda



Per Capita: $1,148 Per Capita: $535 Drives on the right side of the road
 * Government:** Presidential Republic (as of 2003)
 * Capital:** Kigali
 * Population**: 10,746,311 as of July 2010
 * GDP (PPP):** Total: $11.260 billion
 * GDP (nominal):** Total: $5.246 billion

Rwandan National Newspaper "The New Times" website []

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2895803.stm

__From USAID__ The first case of HIV/AIDS in Rwanda was reported in 1983. Just three years later, with the national HIV prevalence rate at 17.8 percent among urban populations and 1.3 percent among rural populations, Rwanda was one of the African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 increased the risk of HIV infection, and thousands of survivors contracted the virus as a result of systematic sexual violence and rape against women. Following the genocide, the first data collection on HIV prevalence took place in 1996 in 10 sentinel sites. At these sites, the infection rate was 27 percent among the urban population, 13 percent among the semi-urban population, and 6.9 percent among the rural population. Moreover, an estimated 70 percent of woman survivors who were raped during the conflict were infected with the virus. The rise in the prevalence rate was especially significant since approximately 800,000 people, 20 percent of the entire population, were killed during the genocide. In collaboration with the Rwandan Government, key strategic priorities for USAID/PEPFAR in Rwanda include HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and testing, care and treatment, and health systems strengthening activities. Prevention activities are focused on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), sexual transmission, biomedical prevention, and integrated counseling and testing services. The PMTCT program focuses on providing follow-up for mothers and their infants and early infant diagnosis and improving the PMTCT referral system. Other strategic priorities include access to basic health care and support services, TB-HIV services, and care and support services for orphans and vulnerable children.

=Rwanda: How the genocide happened=

Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus. Even for a country with such a turbulent history as Rwanda, the scale and speed of the slaughter left its people reeling. The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994. A French judge has blamed current Rwandan President, Paul Kagame - at the time the leader of a Tutsi rebel group - and some of his close associates for carrying out the rocket attack. Mr Kagame vehemently denies this and says it was the work of Hutu extremists, in order to provide a pretext to carry out their well-laid plans to exterminate the Tutsi community. Whoever was responsible, within hours a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country, and did not subside until three months later. But the death of the president was by no means the only cause of Africa's largest genocide in modern times. Ethnic tension in Rwanda is nothing new. There have been always been disagreements between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, but the animosity between them has grown substantially since the colonial period.
 * [[image:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45308000/jpg/_45308111_memorial_afp226b.jpg width="226" height="170" caption="Genocide memorial site guardian, Danielle Nyirabazungu (pictured in 2004)"]]Some 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda's genocide in just 100 days ||
 * Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.**
 * History of violence**

6 April: President Habyarimana killed in plane explosion April - July: Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus killed July: Tutsi-led rebel movement RPF captures the capital Kigali July: Two million Hutus flee to Zaire, now DR Congo [|**Q&A: Search for justice**] ||
 * [[image:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif width="5" height="1"]] || 1994: RWANDA'S GENOCIDE

The two ethnic groups are actually very similar - they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions. However, Tutsis are often taller and thinner than Hutus, with some saying their origins lie in Ethiopia. During the genocide, the bodies of Tutsis were thrown into rivers, with their killers saying they were being sent back to Ethiopia. When the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, they produced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity. The Belgians considered the Tutsis to be superior to the Hutus. Not surprisingly, the Tutsis welcomed this idea, and for the next 20 years they enjoyed better jobs and educational opportunities than their neighbors. Resentment among the Hutus gradually built up, culminating in a series of riots in 1959. More than 20,000 Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to the neighboring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. When Belgium relinquished power and granted Rwanda independence in 1962, the Hutus took their place. Over subsequent decades, the Tutsis were portrayed as the scapegoats for every crisis. This was still the case in the years before the genocide. The economic situation worsened and the incumbent president, Juvenal Habyarimana, began losing popularity.
 * Building up to genocide**

At the same time, Tutsi refugees in Uganda - supported by some moderate Hutus - were forming the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Mr Kagame. Their aim was to overthrow Habyarimana and secure their right to return to their homeland. Habyarimana chose to exploit this threat as a way to bring dissident Hutus back to his side, and Tutsis inside Rwanda were accused of being RPF collaborators. In August 1993, after several attacks and months of negotiation, a peace accord was signed between Habyarimana and the RPF, but it did little to stop the continued unrest. When Habyarimana's plane was shot down at the beginning of April 1994, it was the final nail in the coffin. Exactly who killed the president - and with him the president of Burundi and many chief members of staff - has not been established. Whoever was behind the killing its effect was both instantaneous and catastrophic. In Kigali, the presidential guard immediately initiated a campaign of retribution. Leaders of the political opposition were murdered, and almost immediately, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. Within hours, recruits were dispatched all over the country to carry out a wave of slaughter. The early organizers included military officials, politicians and businessmen, but soon many others joined in the mayhem. Encouraged by the presidential guard and radio propaganda, an unofficial militia group called the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was mobilized. At its peak, this group was 30,000-strong. Soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citizens to take part. In some cases, Hutu civilians were forced to murder their Tutsi neighbors by military personnel. Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some were even told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they killed. On the ground at least, the Rwandans were largely left alone by the international community. UN troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers. The day after Habyarimana's death, the RPF renewed their assault on government forces, and numerous attempts by the UN to negotiate a ceasefire came to nothing. Finally, in July, the RPF captured Kigali. The government collapsed and the RPF declared a ceasefire. As soon as it became apparent that the RPF was victorious, an estimated two million Hutus fled to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). These refugees include many who have since been implicated in the massacres. At first, a multi-ethnic government was set up, with a Hutu, Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Mr Kagame as his deputy. But the pair later fell out and Bizimungu was jailed on charges of inciting ethnic violence, while Mr Kagame became president. Although the killing in Rwanda was over, the presence of Hutu militias in DR Congo has led to years of conflict there, causing up to five million deaths. Rwanda's now Tutsi-led government has twice invaded its much larger neighbor, saying it wants to wipe out the Hutu forces. And a Congolese Tutsi rebel group remains active, refusing to lay down arms, saying otherwise its community would be at risk of genocide. The world's largest peacekeeping force has been unable to end the fighting.
 * [[image:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45308000/jpg/_45308314_kagame_rose226afp.jpg width="226" height="170" caption="President Paul Kagame (l) and his aide Rose Kabuye (r)"]]President Kagame (l) and his officials have denied claims they shot down the president's plane ||
 * Mass murder**
 * [[image:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45308000/jpg/_45308805_tutsi_refugees226afp.jpg width="226" height="170" caption="Tutsi family in a camp in 1994"]]Some Tutsis managed to escape to refugee camps ||
 * Aftermath**

[]

DANIEL RENDON media type="custom" key="8224316"

DANIEL GLYNN media type="custom" key="8224330"