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Detecting Hidden Violence: The Spatial Distribution of Excess Mortality in Rwanda

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  • Marijke verpoorten

Abstract

Rwanda experienced several forms of internal violence, including civil war,genocide, reprisal killings and (counter-)insurgency. While these events all occurred in 1990-1998, their geographic location within Rwanda differred, with the genocide especially severe in the South of the country, the civil war and reprisal killings mostly taking place in the North and East, and the (counter-)insurgency concentrated in the Northwest. In order to assess the relative impact of the different forms of violence, this article derives a detailed spatial pattern of excess mortality from the population census. In line with previous evidence on the death toll of armed conflict in Rwanda, we find significant high-high excess mortality clusters in the southern province of Butare, in and around Kigali City, and in the eastern province Kibungo. Furthermore, we present the first quantitative evidence to date of high excess mortality in the northwestern porvince Gisenyi, indicating that the 1995-1998 (counter-)insurgency inflicted a much higher death toll on the population than presently acknowledged by the Rwandan government, the UN and large western donors.

Suggested Citation

  • Marijke verpoorten, 2010. "Detecting Hidden Violence: The Spatial Distribution of Excess Mortality in Rwanda," LICOS Discussion Papers 25410, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
  • Handle: RePEc:lic:licosd:25410
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    File URL: http://www.econ.kuleuven.be/licos/publications/dp/dp254.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Guariso Andrea & Verpoorten Marijke, 2019. "Armed Conflict and Schooling in Rwanda: Digging Deeper," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 25(1), pages 1-40, February.
    2. Bonnier, Evelina & Poulsen, Jonas & Rogall, Thorsten & Stryjan, Miri, 2015. "Preparing for Genocide: Community Work in Rwanda," Working Paper Series 2015:1, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    3. Dagnelie, Olivier & Luca, Giacomo Davide De & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2018. "Violence, selection and infant mortality in Congo," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 153-177.
    4. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Alexandra Avdeenko & Andrew Tedesco, 2016. "Measuring Violent Conflict in Micro-level Surveys: Current Practices and Methodological Challenges," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 31(1), pages 29-58.
    5. Bonnier, Evelina & Poulsen, Jonas & Rogall, Thorsten & Stryjan, Miri, 2020. "Preparing for genocide: Quasi-experimental evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Andrea Guariso & Marijke Verpoorten, 2018. "Aid, trade and the post-war recovery of the Rwandan coffee sector," Journal of Eastern African Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 552-574, July.
    7. Dagnelie, Olivier & De Luca, Giacomo & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2014. "Do girls pay the price of civil war? Violence and infant mortality in Congo:," IFPRI discussion papers 1374, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Verpoorten Marijke, 2012. "The Intensity of the Rwandan Genocide: Measures from the Gacaca Records," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-26, April.
    9. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Andrew Tedesco & Alexandra Avdeenko, 2013. "Measuring Conflict Exposure in Micro-Level Surveys," HiCN Working Papers 153, Households in Conflict Network.
    10. Marijke Verpoorten, 2011. "Measure for Measure: How Well Do We Measure Micro-Level Conflict Intensity?," LICOS Discussion Papers 27511, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    11. Guariso Andrea & Verpoorten Marijke, 2019. "Armed Conflict and Schooling in Rwanda: Digging Deeper," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 25(1), pages 1-40, February.
    12. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Alexandra Avdeenko, 2010. "Identifying Conflict and Violence in Micro-Level Surveys," Economics of Security Working Paper Series 38, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2011. "From vice to virtue? Civil war and social capital in Uganda," LICOS Discussion Papers 29811, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    14. Anton Parlow, 2016. "State and Development: Child Mortality and the War on Terror: Afghanistan from 2007 to 2010," HiCN Working Papers 220, Households in Conflict Network.
    15. Serneels , Pieter & Verpoorten , Marijke, 2012. "The impact of armed conflict on economic performance. Evidence from Rwanda," NEPS Working Papers 5/2012, Network of European Peace Scientists.
    16. Andrea Guariso & Bert Ingelaere & Marijke Verpoorten, 2017. " Female political representation in the aftermath of ethnic voilence. A comparative analysis of Burundi and Rwanda," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 610137, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    17. Marijke Verpoorten, 2014. "Growth, poverty and inequality in Rwanda: a broad perspective," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 490896, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    18. Ingelaere, Bert & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2016. "Inter-ethnic trust in the aftermath of mass violence: insights from large-N life histories," IOB Working Papers 2016.03, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    armed conflict; genocide; excess mortality; Rwanda;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Y80 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines - - - Related Disciplines

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