Coalition for the Defence of the Republic
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| “ | Watch out! | „ |
| ~ The CDR's slogan. |
The Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (French: Coalition pour la Défense de la République, CDR) was a Rwandan far-right Hutu Power political party that took a major role in inciting the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. It was founded in 1992 and initially led by Martin Bucyana until his assassination on 22 February 1994.
The party was allied with the ruling National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND), and used the slogan "Mube maso" ("Watch out!"), which meant that Hutus should beware or the Tutsis would rule them as they had in the past. Unlike the MRND, the CDR did not agree to the Arusha Accords and Statement of Ethics. It was therefore shut out of the Broad-Based Transitional Government.
Several important members of the CDR, including Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and Ferdinand Nahimana, were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and other crimes against humanity. The CDR created the Impuzamugambi (Kinyarwanda: "Those who have the same goal") militia, which took part in the killings.
Ideology edit
The CDR was formed by radical Hutu identitarians who believed the MRND wasn't doing enough for Hutu interests, and was failing to effectively fight the Rwandan Patriotic Front. As such, its principles and policies followed Hutu Power, an ideology defined by the Hutu Ten Commandments published in Kangura (Kinyarwanda: "Wake others up") magazine. They stated that:
- Hutus must not marry or do business with Tutsis.
- Hutus should dominate strategic political and economic positions, and the education system
- The military must be exclusively Hutu
- The Tutsi are the Hutu's enemy, and must be opposed by every Hutu
- Hutu Power and the history behind it must be promoted to all Hutu
The CDR also believed the MRND had conceded too much to the opposition parties. Despite such criticisms, however, the two parties otherwise maintained an alliance, leading some to believe that the CDR was spun off by the MRND in order to deflect criticism.
Notably, it was the only political party in Rwanda dedicated entirely to Hutu Power; the others had moderate and "Power" factions, and the CDR was originally part of the "Power" faction of the MRNDD.