IRST to preserve Belgian research on ethnic divisionism

SOUTHERN PROVINCE HUYE — The Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IRST) is set to establish a museum to preserve works of the Belgian colonial researchers that were used as a basis for ethnic divisionism in Rwanda. This was revealed by the IRST’s Director General, Dr Jean Baptiste Nduwayezu, in an interview with The New Times this week. “We have the human skulls that were measured to provide ‘scientific’ proof that Rwandans were of three distinct ethnic groups: Twa, Tutsi and Hutu,” said Dr Nduwayezu. The Institute will also exhibit works of a Belgian researcher at the institute then, only identified as Dr Hiernaux, in which he conducted a meticulous research on different groups of Rwandans so as to set in motion the perceived differences between Rwandans; the very basis of their colonial system which pursued the ‘divide –and rule’ policy. Through this policy, the colonial administration favoured one group over the other depending on its interests. This dichotomy became important in influencing Rwandan society and politics. It sowed the seeds of hatred that were to culminate into the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. “Rwandans especially the young generation need to know that there was science behind the ethnic divisionism propagated by our Belgian colonial masters. This museum will clear the air for those who considered such historical facts as mere rhetoric,” said the IRST Director General. “We hope that these works will serve as an important tool for fostering unity and reconciliation because Rwandans will be able to see that divisionism based on ethnicity was the work of the Belgian colonial administration,” he added. Belgium was mandated by the League of Nations to administer Ruanda-Urundi, a former Germany colony in 1924. In 1935 the Belgian colonial administration introduced a discriminatory national identification based on ethnicity. There was no clear cut way for this classification. First, Rwandans who possessed ten or more cows were registered as Tutsi while those with less were registered as Hutu. Secondly, research was made into the existing differences between Rwandan social categories; Tutsi (pastoralists), Twa (hunters and porters), and Hutus (agriculturalists). The Hermitic myth was propagated. They claimed that the Tutsi were of a superior race that migrated from Egypt, Ethiopia and beyond and that they were of Aryan or Semitic origin. The Hutu were said to be an inferior stock, Negro-Bantu who probably migrated from West Africa while the Twa were simply pygmies who lived simple lives. Measurements of different body parts like the nose, head, and chest were made to prove this hypothesis. Such works conducted by Dr Hiernaux including the proof of the human skulls that were used in the experiments will be exposed at the museum to be set up by IRST. Ends