Rwanda

Located in central Africa, Rwanda is a small agrarian nation of 10.7 million people. A former colony of Belgium, Rwanda is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, and Uganda. The nation consists mainly of subsistence farmers, although tourism and the export of coffee and tea also contribute to its economy. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 had a disastrous influence on the country's population, political system, and its social networks. The genocide occurred after nearly three years of civil war between the government, which was composed mainly of ethnic Hutu, and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), made up of the ethnic minority Tutsi. The massacre, perpetrated by extremist Hutu against Tutsi and moderate Hutu, killed approximately 800,000 people in 100 days.

[Page 753]As the nation continues to recover from the effects of the genocide and years of civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi, social networks have slowly reemerged. The nation's tenuous democracy has led to concerns over human rights abuses and the denial of basic freedoms for dissenters by the government.

From the end of the genocide and civil war in 1994 until the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, political organizing was banned in Rwanda. The nation held its first postgenocide elections in 2003 following the adoption of a new constitution. The Rwanda Patriotic Front, which emerged as the victor in the Rwandan civil war in July 1994, is the current ruling party of the nation. Paul Kagame serves as the country's president. The RPF has dominated the country's political landscape, and won 42 of 80 seats in the 2008 election. Following the 2008 election, women held 44 of 80 seats in the Rwanda parliament, making the nation the first in the world to have a majority of women as its governmental representatives. This achievement is tempered, however, by the realization that males composed 70 percent of the 1994 genocide victims.

Political dissent and opposition parties are legal in Rwanda, although Kagame and the RPF have received criticism for quieting political dissidents. Kagame and his government have been accused of kidnapping, detaining, torturing, and murdering political opponents. Freedom of the press is also severely limited in Rwanda. Likewise, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gender community (LGBT) faces constant harassment and discrimination by the government and some of the nation's citizens, although a grassroots group, Horizons Community Association of Rwanda, has emerged to advocate on behalf of the LGBT community. Founded in 2003, the Horizons Community Association seeks the passage of laws that prohibit discrimination against members of the LGBT community, as well as increased social services for members of the community. As a heavily Roman Catholic nation, most Rwandans view the sexuality of the LGBT community as sinful. As a result of these more traditional beliefs, in 2009 the Rwandan parliament discussed legislation that would criminalize homosexuality, with convictions resulting in imprisonment of five to 10 years.

Numerous nonprofit organizations have focused on rebuilding Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide. For example, Take Part Social Action Network, an online community that connects activists and causes, promotes the One Laptop Per Child campaign, which aims to help developing nations such as Rwanda achieve economic development through the use of information technology. To achieve this developmental goal, President Kagame has pledged to deliver over 100,000 laptop computers to citizens throughout the nation. A donation of $199 to One Laptop Per Child purchases one laptop computer for a Rwandan youth to help facilitate education.

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