The Media, Hatred, and Propaganda
But the propagation of anti-Tutsi sentiment did not stem only from the officials in power, as the national media played a significant role in drumming up tensions between the two groups. Through the media, the Rwandan government effectively carried out a message that it was the Tutsis who were to blame for the economic troubles that the country faced at the time. Never more was this so explicitly manifested than with the advent of the Radio-Television Libre Milles Collines (RTLM), who broadcast a steady stream of propaganda that perpetuated calls for genocide. Hutu propagandists used fear to spread a message of intolerance and even outright mass violence. Sponsored by the government, the RTLM added fuel to the fire by inciting hatred towards the Tutsis. Eventually, anti-Tutsi sentiment became so powerful, that the tension boiled over into outright genocide. Added to this, the Kangura newspaper had a close association with what were known as “genocide planners”. So intimate was this relationship that when President Habyarimana was assassinated on April 6, 1994, the newspaper had predicted it only days before.1
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A Common Misperception
Many may believe that the 1994 genocide was an event that happened in an accelerated and sudden fashion. However, Rwandan Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Mucyo has been quoted as saying: “It was carried on at home, at school, in public life. Rwandans, who seemed to become different people overnight on April 6, 1994, had been prepared to kill for years.”2
Identity, Labeling, and Discrimination
Issues of identity, which were outlined and given a negative context by the national media in Rwanda, had implication on a grand scale in the country before and during the genocide. Previous to 1994, there had existed a sort of institutionalized discrimination expressed towards and by both the Hutu and Tutsi groups. There existed certain labels that both groups gave to each other that signaled a negative connotation. The Tutsis referred to Hutus as Inkoza, or “snakes” and the Hutus called the Tutsis Inyenzi, meaning “cockroaches”. These monikers were used frequently by those broadcasting over government controlled airwaves, and were even passed down inter-generationally in schools, as teachers often given these names in their classrooms and commonly identified as such. 34
1 http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_rwanda1.html
2 ibid
3 ibid
4 http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_rwanda1.html