Rwanda
Rwanda is a country of 10 million people. The capital city is Kigali. Rwandans are divided across two main ethnic groups: the Hutu and the Tutsi - the two groups are most starkly divided across political and economic lines. Rwanda achieved independence in 1962 with a Hutu government led by Grégoire Kayibanda. Ethnic conflict continued, and thousands of people died. Kayibanda was overthrown in 1973 by Hutu army chief General Juvénal Habyarimana; massacres of both Hutu and Tutsi followed. By 1990 more than 600,000 Tutsi fled to exile. Habyarimana led a one-party state and was reelected in 1989. In 1990 exiled Tutsi formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front with Paul Kagame at the lead. Following economic pressures, the Hutu government allowed political parties to organize, and in 1991, Habyarimana transitioned the government with a peace agreement with the RPR. In 1994 Habyarimana died in a plane graph and dissidents in his party, the Mouvement révolutionire national pour le développement (MRND), took power with the Rwandan army. They launched a genocidal massacre, killing mostly Tutsi; 800,000 died. The RPF took over the country in 1994 and ended the genocide. In 2000 president Paseur Bizimunguy led as apart of a coalition. In 2003 he was replaced by Paul Kagame of the RPF took control, which continues. Kagame was set to end his presidency in 2017, but in 2015 he forced a constitutional amendment through allowing him to stay in power until 2034.
DATA VISUALIZATIONS
PROTESTS
Rwanda-August-2008
Ruhango, Ecole Technique Indangaburezi
30 students were arrested after a riot occurred at their school. The riot occurred because the Headmaster had, on several occasions, demanded for the parents of a student who was a genocide orphan and "accused the student of disobedience by failing to bring his parents to school" Student's threw stones and blocked administration from entering the school. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-December-2013
Nyamirambo, St Charles Lwanga
Teachers protest the termination of their contracts at school after it changed management to a group called Aprec. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-June-2016
Gicumbi, Groupe Scholaire de Kageyo
Students protest the resignation by their teachers. Their teachers left due to unfilled raises which were promised to them after their schools merged. Police were called and fired shots into the air to disperse students. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-July-2016
Kigali, Felix Houphouet-Boigny University
Students clashed with police during a protest over poor conditions on campus. Some students were arrested. Property damage reported, including burned cars and stones thrown. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-October-2014
Kigali,
Students and community members protest the BBC's "revisionist history" displayed in their documentary on the Rwandan genocide. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-May-2013
Kigali, Community Integrated Polytechnic
Students decry the closure of their university following its inability to fulfill requirements. More than 800 students were impacted. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-October-2010
Kigali,
Students from technical schools across Kigali protest the suspension of allowances by the Rwandan government (Primary Source)
Rwanda-April-2009
Kigali, Riviera High School
All A-Level (32 students total) students were expelled from school after a violent demonstration occurred on campus. Students led a demonstration through 4 boys dormitories causing an estimated Rwf 7.2 million in damages. The main cause of the protest was the decision by the principal to end a fashion show early. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-October-2010
Kigali, EAV GITWE
A dozen students are on the run after protest on campus where more than 200 textbooks were dumped into toilets, and windows broken. The school administration and this article say that they have no idea what sparked this incident. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-April-2018
Kigali, Lycee de Kigali
Secondary students who completed their studies are protesting about delays by the Rwanda Education Board to issue their certificates of completion. The delay has been taking up to three years for certificates to be delivered. (Primary Source)
Rwanda-October-2007
Gatsibo, Gabiro High School
Student went on strike, one day before exams after "school administration suspended some Senior-4 students who had been threatening to fight each other on the last day of school". Police were called to the strike and students were arrested. (Primary Source)