Long-term causes: from colonial division to genocide ideology

1Why this matters

Between 7 April and July 1994, more than one million people were killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in about 100 days. The Constitution of Rwanda commits the country to preventing and punishing genocide, fighting its denial, and eradicating genocide ideology. Prevention begins with understanding how a genocide is made possible.

Genocide is defined in the UN Genocide Convention of 9 December 1948 as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Two things mark it out: the intent to destroy a group, and the planning needed to carry that out. A genocide is not a sudden outburst of anger.

In this lesson a cause means a condition or decision that made the crime possible. No cause excuses it. Responsibility lies with those who planned it and those who carried it out.

21. Colonial divide and rule

Colonial officials and many missionaries spread a false "race" theory that ranked Rwandans and presented the Tutsi as foreigners. Belgium gave power and schooling to a narrow group, then in the 1950s switched sides and backed politicians who framed politics in ethnic terms (unit 7). In the early 1930s the administration introduced identity documents recording each person's "ethnic" label. Sixty years later, that label was used at roadblocks to identify Tutsi.

32. Discrimination under the First and Second Republics

After independence the state itself practised discrimination: ethnic labels on identity cards, quotas in schools and jobs, exclusion from the army and politics, and refugees refused the right to return (unit 8). Generations grew up being taught that Tutsi were outsiders.

43. A culture of impunity

Impunity means crimes going unpunished. The killing of Tutsi in 1959–1963, 1963–1964 and 1973, and the massacres of 1990–1993, were almost never punished. Those who organised them learned they could kill without consequence, and some later organised the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

54. Bad political leadership

A single-party dictatorship, regional favouritism and a small ruling circle (the Akazu) put their own power first. When the Arusha Peace Agreement (1993) required them to share power, extremists within the regime chose to destroy the Tutsi rather than accept it.

65. Genocide ideology

Genocide ideology is a set of ideas that presents a group as less than human or as a deadly threat, so that destroying it seems justified. In Rwanda it took forms such as:

• calling Tutsi foreigners and invaders who did not belong in Rwanda;
• calling them inyenzi (cockroaches), a word meant to strip people of their humanity;
• treating every Tutsi, including children, as an accomplice (icyitso) of the RPF.

76. Hate media

From 1990 the newspaper Kangura spread this ideology. In December 1990 it printed a list of "commandments" telling readers to regard Tutsi as enemies and to cut all ties with them. From July 1993 the radio station RTLM spread the same messages to a much wider audience, mixing popular music with incitement.

87. Poverty exploited by extremists

Economic crisis, land shortage and youth unemployment did not cause the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and most poor people in the world never commit genocide. But extremists exploited them, promising land and property to those who joined the militias.

Worked example: linking a cause to 1994

Question: Explain how the ethnic identity card contributed to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Origin: introduced by the Belgian administration in the early 1930s, it fixed every Rwandan's "ethnic" label for life. Continuity: both republics kept it and used it to apply discrimination and quotas. 1994: at the roadblocks set up from 7 April, the card was used to identify Tutsi. So a colonial administrative tool became an instrument of genocide.

Practice

Solution. Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Solution. Impunity means crimes going unpunished. Because killings of Tutsi from 1959 to 1993 were almost never punished, their organisers believed they could kill without consequence.

Solution. Any two of: calling Tutsi foreigners or invaders; calling them inyenzi (cockroaches); treating every Tutsi as an accomplice of the RPF; Kangura's "commandments".

Solution. Poverty was exploited by extremists, who promised land and property to recruits, but the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was planned and chosen by leaders. Poverty does not produce genocide on its own.