On December 14, 1959, the Banyarwanda and Barundi Abadahemuka, exiled in Kampala, Uganda, penned a searing petition to the United Nations Trusteeship Council (circulated January 27, 1960, as T/PET.3/110). Representing mostly Bahutu among Banyarwanda, they accused Belgium, the UN trustee of Ruanda-Urundi, of engineering chaos to thwart independence.
Signed by leaders like President F. Higiro and Vice-President M. Rukataza, their words laid bare Belgium’s ruthless hand.
Before Belgium’s arrival, Rwanda’s people—Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa—lived united under the Umwami. Chiefs rose by merit, not tribe, and social fluidity erased rigid divides.
This harmony ended in 1918 when Belgian troops ousted the Germans during World War I.
By 1920, the League of Nations handed Rwanda to Belgium as a mandate, a trust they twisted into tyranny. In 1931, they deposed Umwami Yuhi V Musinga, imprisoning or exiling loyal chiefs like Kayondo, and unleashed a reign of terror—floggings, chains, and torture chambers scarred the land.
Belgium sowed division early. In 1924, they opened Nyanza’s first school, restricting it to chiefs’ sons—often Batutsi by tradition—denying education to most Bahutu and poor Batutsi.
This, the petitioners charged, planted the myth of Tutsi dominance, a lie Belgium nurtured. Under Umwami Mutara III Rudahigwa, installed in 1931 as their puppet, Belgium ruled through fear.
Graduates of Nyanza, then Astrida College (opened 1932 under Brother Secundien), became enforcers, whipping peasants—Bahutu and Batutsi alike—to meet Belgian quotas.
By the 1940s, famine (1942–43) worsened under their brutal anti-famine measures.
When Mutara sought reform after 1949, Belgium resisted. His Conseil Superieur du Pays, enabled by a 1952 decree, abolished ubuhake (voluntary serfdom) in 1954 and forced labor (akazi) by 1957—over Belgian objections. In 1959, he and chiefs like Michel Rwagasana demanded elected chiefs via universal suffrage; Belgium refused, clinging to control. Instead, they fueled strife.
In 1957, they backed APROSOMA, led by Gitera (allegedly paid 12,000–15,000 francs monthly), to preach Bahutu-Tutsi hatred, supported by Bishop Perraudin and Catholic priests. In 1959, they birthed RADER in the Resident’s office, with stooges like Bwanakweri and Ndazaro, to counter rising unity.
Belgium’s wrath peaked against UNAR, formed September 13, 1959, under Muhutu President Rukeba Francois. Advocating unity and independence, UNAR drew mass support. Belgium retaliated: banning meetings, erecting roadblocks, and transferring leaders like Kayihura and Rwangombwa.
On October 17, 1959, a protest in Kigali was met with gunfire. Then, on November 2, 1959, violence erupted—arson, cattle maiming, and murder. For a week, Belgium did nothing; some officials, the petition claimed, led attackers.
When reprisals began, their militia shot defenders, jailed Batutsi chiefs like Gashugi and Kimonyo, and tortured them in Nazi-style prisons. APROSOMA’s Bahutu attackers, unpunished, were made chiefs, seizing land from the displaced—sent to tsetse-ridden Bugesara.
The petitioners branded Belgium the mastermind: rejecting democracy, arming divisive groups, crushing UNAR, and staging a “tribal war” to delay independence. Under Umwami Kigeri V Ndahindurwa (ascended July 28, 1959), they omitted “constitutional monarch” from his oath until he demanded it—proof of their deceit.
Belgium’s aim, they argued, was a reign of terror to bury evidence and silence witnesses like Rukeba and Rwabakamba before a UN inquiry.
They begged for a UN protectorate, an impartial probe, and restoration of order, warning Belgium would rig any investigation. “They disrupted a united Rwanda,” wrote Higiro and Rukataza, “sowing misery to preserve their rule—a shameful betrayal of trust.”
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Key Facts with Dates and Names:
Petition: December 14, 1959, by Banyarwanda and Barundi Abadahemuka (F. Higiro, M. Rukataza, Haja-Gashegu, etc.), circulated January 27, 1960 (T/PET.3/110).
Pre-Belgian Unity: Bahutu, Batutsi, Batwa united; chiefs rose by merit.
– Belgium’s Role:
– 1918: Ousted Germans, began brutal rule.
– 1920: League mandate granted.
– 1924: Nyanza school limited to chiefs’ sons.
– 1931: Deposed Yuhi V Musinga, terrorized chiefs (e.g., Kayondo).
– 1932: Astrida College under Brother Secundien trained loyalists.
– 1942–43: Enforced brutal anti-famine measures.
– 1952: Resisted Conseil Superieur du Pays reforms (Mutara III Rudahigwa, Rwagasana).
– 1954, 1957: Opposed ending ubuhake and akazi.
– 1957: Backed APROSOMA (Gitera, Perraudin).
– 1959: Formed RADER (Bwanakweri, Ndazaro); crushed UNAR (Rukeba, Kayihura, October 17 Kigali shooting); staged November 2 violence, jailed Batutsi (Gashugi, Kimonyo), displaced victims to Bugesara.
– July 28, 1959: Undermined Kigeri V’s constitutional role.
