Document(s) 14 of 37

In April 1994, I was director of the Office Rwandais d'Information (ORINFOR), a government agency that managed public media: Radio Rwanda, Rwandan Television, Agence Rwandaise de Presse and the government-published newspapers, Imvaho and La Relève. I had been appointed by the coalition government led by Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana on 31 July 1993 and, in this role, I collected a significant volume of information about the media.

Early in the morning of 7 April, when I realized that the Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) had taken over Radio Rwanda and that my assassination and that of my family was likely and potentially imminent, my family and I left our residence to hide at a friend's house; we took only the clothes on our backs. A group of presidential guards sent to kill us arrived about 30 minutes later.

On 9 April, I called the United States embassy, in Kigali, to evacuate my daughter, who was born in Austin, Texas, when I was in graduate school there. We rushed into the car the embassy sent and drove to Bujumbura, Burundi, where we boarded a plane to Nairobi, Kenya, accompanied by US marines.

My exhaustive documentation on the Rwandan media was totally lost. For this paper, I have to rely on my memory and the messages I exchanged with some Rwandan newspaper editors after the genocide. (For their security, I cannot disclose their names.) [Editor's note: The author also referred to the material listed in the bibliography at the end of this paper to refresh his memory.]

TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS

The privately owned print media in pre-1994 Rwanda can be divided into four categories based on their political bias:

• Newspapers aligned with the Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND) and the Coalition pour la Défense de la République (CDR);
  
  
• Political opposition newspapers;
  
  
• Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) newspapers;
  
  
• The print media of the Rwandan Tutsi diaspora.

Pro-MRND and CDR newspapers

Newspapers in this group were: Akanyange, Umurwanashyaka, Écho des Mille Collines/Impanda, Intera, Interahamwe, Kamarampaka, Kangura, La Médaille Nyiramacibili, Umurava, Le Courrier du Peuple and Shishoza. Most of their editors were Hutus from northern Rwanda.

They praised the MRND and President Juvénal Habyarimana's leadership and offered space to MRND leaders to respond to criticism levelled at them by the editors of other newspapers and leaders of opposition parties. They depicted Habyarimana as the guarantor of peace and the MRND as the political party of true patriots.

Opposition leaders were portrayed as RPF puppets, traitors and embezzlers of public funds, demagogues, opportunists and idiots motivated by the desire to settle scores with President Habyarimana. The papers saw the RPF as Tutsi supremacists whose goal was to restore the Tutsi monarchy and enslave Hutus. To them, the invasion by the RPF from Uganda was an attempt to roll back the social and economic progress made by Hutus since the social revolution of 1959. In these pro-MRND media, Tutsi leaders were portrayed as cunning, bloodthirsty, untrustworthy and natural power mongers.

These negative representations tap into Rwandan history and old stereotypes exemplified in such sayings as 'Umututsi umucumbikira mu kirambi akagukura ku buliri' (You give shelter to a Tutsi in your living room, he chases you out of your bedroom) and 'Umututsi umuvura imisuha akakwendera umugore' (You cure a Tutsi of inflammation of the genitals, he makes love to your wife).

Kangura stands out among these newspapers. From its inception, its mission was the defence of Hutu interests and it published many articles dehumanizing Tutsis and depicting them as the enemy. Kangura articulated pan-Hutuism and strived to raise the awareness of the Hutus of Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern part of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) about the perceived threat presented by the Tutsis of Rwanda and Burundi and the Himas of Uganda.

These newspapers were funded by northern Hutus who viewed the birth of a private press as an assault on the social and economic accomplishments of the Habyarimana regime. For example, Seraphin Rwabukumba, President Habyarimana's brother-in-law, and Pasteur Musabe, the director general of the Banque Continentale Africaine, launched Intera after Kinyamateka (the newspaper owned by the Catholic Church) and Umuranga (a newspaper founded by Félicien Semusambi) published articles criticizing the Habyarimana regime. The Service Central de Renseignements launched Kangura with Hassan Ngeze as the cover to counter the articles published by Kanguka, a newspaper funded by Valens Kajeguhakwa, a Tutsi businessman and a member of the RPF. High-ranking northern Hutus believed that some southern Hutus, along with some Tutsis, were attempting to destroy the Habyarimana regime and that it was important to counter their attacks. As the name suggests, Intera's objective was to convince the public of the economic progress made by the Habyarimana regime since it came to power in 1973.

Opposition newspapers

Opposition political parties, particularly the Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR) and the Parti Social Démocrate (PSD), were associated with Agatashya, Ibyikigihe, Ikindi, Ijambo, Intwali-Ijwi rya J.D.R., Intumwa/Le Méssager, Isibo, Izuba/Le Soleil, La Griffe, L'Ère de Liberté, Umuranga, Nouvelle Génération, Nyabarongo, Republika, Rukokoma, Soma, Verités d'Afrique, Umuturage w'U Rwanda, Urumuli rwa Demokarasi and Umurangi. Their editors came from southern Rwanda. After the split of the MDR into two factions in 1993, Umurangi and Umuranga went along with the MDR power faction, a group who felt that the Arusha agreement between the RPF and the Rwandan government gave too much power to the RPF.

Pro-opposition newspapers presented MRND leaders as evil and corrupt: liars, idiots, animals, bloodthirsty murderers and warmongers. Some published drawings of President Habyarimana covered with blood. Intumwa/Le Méssager (no.10, 30 December 1991) published a cartoon featuring Prime Minister Sylvestre Nsanzimana carrying a hyena on his shoulders; the hyena stood for the MRND. In its 25 July 1992 issue, the newspaper depicted the secretary general of the MRND as a bird with a snake around its wing and neck, biting his head; the MRND is the snake in this cartoon. Ijambo (no. 54, 31 May 1993) published a cartoon featuring a gorilla wearing the hat of the CDR. In other words, these newspapers dehumanized the MRND and the CDR, and the newspapers associated with the MRND and CDR responded in kind.

Umurangi frequently published cartoons portraying Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana as a prostitute or sexual object and other opposition political leaders as dogs. In Rwandan culture a person considered dishonest, untrustworthy, cowardly and corrupt is usually labelled 'imbwa' or dog.

These newspapers portrayed opposition leaders as peace-loving people capable of ending the war. They disseminated the view that expansion of the war was something that President Habyarimana and the MRND wanted to keep them in power. According to these newspapers, opposition leaders had a solution to the war: peace with the RPF. Some represented opposition leaders as medical doctors administering medicine to a confused patient, President Habyarimana. Intumwa/Le Méssager (no. 20, 15 August 1992) ran a cartoon of Habyarimana lying on a hospital bed and being forced to drink a medication administered by the leaders of the MDR, PSD and Parti Libéral.

Pro-RPF newspapers

Buracyeye, Kanyarwanda, Kanguka, Kiberinka, Le Flambeau, Rwanda Rushya and Le Tribun du Peuple (also known as Umuvugizi wa Rubanda et Le Partisan) strived to be the voice of the Tutsi. Their founders and editors were all Tutsi and members of the RPF living in Rwanda.

These newspapers denounced the MRND regime and its human rights records. They too contended that President Habyarimana and his party, the MRND, did not want peace. Examples of dehumanization of ideological opponents were also found in these papers. For instance, Kanyarwanda (no. 1, 23 September 1992) and Rwanda Rushya (no. 18, 22 February 1992) published cartoons depicting the MRND and the CDR as monsters that thrive on human flesh. Kanguka (no. 58, May 1992) published a cartoon showing the members of the CDR as monkeys. A cartoon published by Kiberinka (no. 8, April 1992) warns Prime Minister Nsengiyaremye not to carry the hyena (meaning the MRND) on his shoulders. In these newspapers MRND and CDR leaders and supporters were depicted as killers.

These papers hailed the RPF armed struggle. They published interviews with RPF leaders, and provided information about its political agenda and the territory the RPF had conquered. They never published stories about the assassinations, the abductions or the destruction for which the RPF was responsible as it advanced from southern Uganda in its quest for power. If they printed stories about violence in the demilitarized zone or buffer zone separating Rwandan government forces and RPF forces, they attributed it to 'the army of Habyarimana', a derogatory label for the FAR.

The front page of Le Flambeau, Rwanda Rushya, Kanguka and Le Tribun du Peuple quite often carried a photograph of RPF soldiers. Furthermore, the editors of this group of newspapers were the only ones allowed to visit the Rwandan Patriotic Army. Jean Pierre Mugabe, the chief editor of Le Tribune du Peuple, frequently visited the zone occupied by the RPF in Rwanda. He even produced a video documentary depicting the RPF military living in the areas under its occupation at a time when the Rwandan government was telling the world that there were no RPF soldiers on Rwandan territory, that they were in Uganda. The government strategy was to refuse to negotiate with the RPF, but rather to deal with the government of Uganda. This video omits any discussion of the destruction of villages and displacement of populations resulting from the war, and instead glamourizes the RPF and its leaders.

In 1993, Jean Pierre Mugabe fled Rwanda and joined Radio Muhabura, the radio station of the RPF. Charles Kanamugire, the chief editor of Le Flambeau, always wore around his neck a photograph of General Fred Rwigema, a founder and commander of the RPF. Vincent Rwabukwisi, the chief editor and owner of Kanguka, wrote in every issue of his paper that he could not get along with a person who did not call him an RPF militant or inkotanyi. His paper even organized a contest to promote the political platform of the RPF. André Kameya, the editor-in-chief of Rwanda Rushya, published many articles supporting the RPF and, as one of the leaders of the Parti Libéral, he repeated RPF messages at press conferences.

The media of the Rwandan Tutsi diaspora

Rwandan Tutsi refugees had their own publications: for example, Alliance edited by Alliance National Unity (RANU), an organization that later changed its name to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF); Congo Nil, edited by Francois Rutanga in Belgium; Impuruza, edited by Alexander Kimenyi in the United States; Inkotanyi, edited by the RPF; Intego, edited by Jose Kagabo in France; Munyarwanda, edited by the Association of Concerned Banyarwanda in Canada; Avant Garde; Le Patriote; Huguka; and Umulinzi. These publications were circulated clandestinely in Rwanda.

The best known paper in this group is Impuruza, published in the United States from 1984 to 1994. Tutsi refugees and Roger Winter, the director of the United States Committee for Refugees, provided financial assistance to the publication. Impuruza is the name of a drum, which in pre-colonial Rwanda was beaten to call able men to war. In the first issue of Impuruza, its editor, Alexander Kimenyi, a Rwandan national and a professor at California State University, explained, 'The reason why we chose this name is to remind us that we too are at war and that we have to continue to show heroism.'

Impuruza published articles on the condition of the Rwandan Tutsi diaspora and on the authoritarian nature of Habyarimana's regime. It accused Belgium and the Catholic Church of being responsible for ethnic conflict in Rwanda because of their colonial policies and called for a round table between the Rwandan government and the representatives of the Tutsi refugees.

Although this paper was not sold in Rwanda, it circulated among Hutu and Tutsi elite in the country. Some Hutu elite saw it as the true reflection of an agenda for Tutsi hegemony in the Great Lakes of Africa even though the publication purported to defend the rights of Rwandan refugees to a homeland. Examples of statements suggesting Tutsi hegemony may be found in the name Impuruza and in the article written by Festo Habimana, the president of the Association of Banyarwanda in Diaspora USA in the first issue:

A nation in exile, a people without leadership, 'the Jews of Africa,' a stateless nation, all these could very well make wonderful titles to depict the 'saga' of our people. A nation in exile because we are a group of people who are of the same origin, speak the same language distinct from the rest of the surroundings; a people who have been victimized for a long period of time yet survived and excelled under oppression ... It is no secret, as it is not our fault that we happen to be scattered in five or six different countries in which we are outnumbered, and the consequent problems are not of our making that the partition of Africa left us in such dilemma we find ourselves in.

He calls for the unity of Tutsi refugees saying:

But our success will depend entirely upon our own effort and unity, not through world community as some perceive – in 25 years, what have they achieved for us in terms of concrete settlements for those who were displaced in [the] late 50s and early 60s? It will be only when they see us in charge of ourselves, and in control, that they will respond and listen. As long as we are scattered, with no leadership, business as usual on their part shall always be their policy. We are a very able and capable people with abundant blessings. What are we waiting for? Genocide?

It should be noted that the Association of Banyarwanda in Diaspora USA – assisted by Roger Winter – organized the International Conference on the Status of Banyarwanda Refugees held in Washington, DC, in 1988. It was at this conference that Tutsi refugees presumably chose armed struggle as the solution to the refugee problem. Winter, two US State Department officials and a Ugandan diplomat participated in the conference. At the invitation of the president of the association, I attended the opening session. I was then a graduate student in the United States.

After the RPF launched the war in October 1990, pro-MRND and CDR newspapers frequently reminded their readers that the ultimate goal of the RPF was the creation of a Tutsi–Hima empire in the Great Lakes of Africa.

To Hutu elite, Impuruza articulated a racist ideology that predated colonial rule. They particularly singled out a poem Alexandre Kimenyi wrote to honour General Fred Rwigema, the commander-in-chief of the RPF who died in the early days of the invasion of Rwanda in 1990. The poem, called 'Nsingize Gisa umusore utagira uko asa' (A tribute to Gisa, a young man with an indescribable beauty), appeared in Impuruza (no. 17) in December 1990. Here is an excerpt translated into English by Dr Froduald Harelimana:

You are a bullfighter who launched a war to free the Nobles [Tutsi]
Since you decided to use the entire arsenal
The termites [Hutu] will run out of the country
Just a few days before the first shell has landed
Those wild rats, corrupted crooks [Hutu] are already panic-stricken
They are looters, hooligans, and killers [Hutu]
I see those traitors with bloated cheeks [Hutu] running in panic and disarray
Those thieves [Hutu] are troublemakers.
The ugly creatures [the Tutsi mythology preaches that people of Hamitic origin are generally handsome, whereas people of Bantu origin are ugly] are insane and furious
They are the enemies of Rwanda; they are nothing but a bunch of dishonorable dirt.

The Hutu elite regarded Impuruza as the voice of the Tutsi refugees and its editor as the ideologue of the RPF. Kimenyi, the editor, served as the director of research of the RPF: Rwandan officials took this publication very seriously.

JOURNALISM AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Except for the government journalists, most journalists in Rwanda did not have college degrees or professional training. Many editors and journalists were militants in the political parties they worked for and were well respected in those political parties. The journalists who were on the side of the ruling party, the MRND, behaved as intelligence agents of the state: ordinary citizens were afraid of them.

Some journalists held positions in political parties. Gaspard Gahigi, editor-in-chief of Umurwanashyaka and Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM), was a member of the central committee of MRND; Ngeze, owner and director of Kangura, was an advisor to the CDR; Sylvestre Nkubili, a journalist at Kinyamateka, was vice-president of the Union Démocratique Populaire de Rwanda (UDPR); Andre Kameya, owner and director of Rwanda Rushya, was the director of the commission of information of the Parti Libéral; Vincent Rwabukwisi, owner and director of Kanguka, was president of the UDPR.

Rwandan newspapers looked very similar in format and presentation. Most of them were tabloids; they published articles in Kinyarwanda (the language spoken in Rwanda) and used cartoons to portray political leaders. They watched each other closely and tried to emulate or outsmart each other.

Some cartoons looked alike. For example, Izuba/Le Soleil (no. 12) of 1 April 1992 published a cartoon that had already appeared in Le Tribun du Peuple (Umuvugizi wa Rubanda). It showed the minister of public works, Joseph Nzirorera, hanged by dogs for corruption and embezzlement. Kanguka (no. 51) of 13 January 1992 published a cartoon showing Félicien Ngango and Félicien Gatabazi, respectively first vice-president and executive secretary of the PSD, hanged by dogs for corruption and embezzlement. Finally, La Griffe (no.6) of 11 April 1992 printed a cartoon showing Ferdinand Nahimana, then director of ORINFOR, caught by dogs for his use of public media to spread hatred against Tutsi.

Examples of dehumanization could be found in many of these papers, including those associated with political opposition and the RPF.

To improve the quality of the Rwandan press, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a German organization, included independent journalists in its international training programmes. In the mid-1980s, this foundation initiated a training programme for journalists of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes, of which Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are members. After the legalization of political parties, the American and Belgian embassies also organized seminars for Rwandan journalists. These seminars attracted many editors very eager to learn. After the signing of the Arusha peace agreement, organizers of these seminars even invited journalists from Radio Muhabura, the clandestine radio station of the RPF. I was an instructor at these seminars. Instructors always insisted that the media not be used to promote war, hatred or racist ideology. Such messages went unheeded.

PROFIT AND THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS

According to some editors, the financial viability of a newspaper depended on its readers. The number of readers a newspaper had depended on its political leanings. The buyers of the newspaper and the financial supporters were members of the political party the newspaper had chosen to support. The newspapers that sided with political parties that had money were the ones that were viable and published regularly. Those supporting the MRND and the RPF fall into this category.

Newspapers supporting the MRND included Kangura, Umurwanashyaka, Interahamwe, Kamarampaka, Écho des Mille Collines and La Médaille Nyiramacibili.

Among those supporting the RPF were Kanguka, Rwanda Rushya and Le Flambeau. These newspapers and their editors had financial resources that came from wealthy Tutsis, such as Valence Kajeguhakwa, the director of planning of the RPF. The three newspapers had an office, a telephone and other office equipment.

Other editors frequently published articles supporting RPF views, usually from RPF supporters living inside Rwanda. To have these articles published, RPF supporters had to pay substantial sums of money. Some editors who received such funding were Elie Mpayimana of L'Ère de Liberté, Theoneste Muberantwali of Nyabarongo, Édouard Mutsinzi of Le Méssager, Édouard Mpongebuke of Umuturage and Augustin Hangimana of Ijambo.

A former Rwandan editor who now lives in exile wrote to me:

When we launched independent news organizations in 1990 (I launched mine in June 1990) we had many contacts with RPF milieus. However, at that time, these milieus were called Rwanda National Unity. There were individuals who gave us articles to publish using Tutsi channels (business people) and there were individuals who gave us money for subscriptions of support (for instance a person would say I have read your articles and I liked them, here is a contribution to publish in the next issue of your newspaper). I later found out that there was also some confusion since there were powerful Tutsi who knew there was something in preparation but did not have necessary contacts and thought we had them, and they asked us for them. Some would ask to meet with me and whenever they saw me and realized I did not look like them, they were disappointed. After the war broke out, some people accused me of supporting the enemy; there were powerful Tutsis who were convinced I was a member of the RPF, and they asked me for contacts ... However later they found the proper channels of establishing links with the RPF.

Some newspapers received financial assistance from people who were only motivated to bring about democratic change in the country. Among them are Isibo and Ikindi, which received financial assistance from the United States embassy and wealthy supporters of the opposition MDR. Some received a budget from their founders. Among these were state-run newspapers; Kinyamateka, a Catholic-owned newspaper; Imbaga, a newspaper owned by Centre Iwacu, a private nongovernmental organization (NGO); and the newspapers owned by political parties. Other newspapers and their editorial staff did not make a profit and journalists who worked for them were poor.

Selling newspapers was a major problem. Every editor had to find a market and organize a distribution system. In Kigali, newspapers were sold at the central bus station and children sold newspapers on the street. Usually the editors did not receive the money collected by these street children. Quite often I visited kiosks where newspapers were sold to observe reading behaviours and talk to newspaper boys. I could see many unsold issues.

When the private press was first established, a newspaper sold for 50 Rwandan francs (about US$ 0.30). After devaluation of the Rwandan franc by 67 per cent in November 1990, under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment programme, the cost of a copy doubled. Reading a newspaper became very expensive even for me, the director of a state agency. It was too costly to buy all the newspapers that were published in Kigali. I observed that a reader could give 50 Rwandan francs to a newspaper boy, read a copy standing at the kiosk and return it.

Based on discussions with many of the editors of these newspapers, whom I met at seminars and other events in Kigali, the circulation of a newspaper was 2,000–3,000 copies. When an issue sold well, the editor would order another printing. Hassan Ngeze of Kangura told me on several occasions that the circulation of his newspaper was 10,000 copies and sometimes 30,000. I always doubted these figures; visiting the kiosks in Kigali, I found many unsold issues of Kangura.

DISTRIBUTION IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

There were many obstacles to the distribution of these newspapers outside Kigali. The first was the high illiteracy rate. To emphasize the impact of Rwandan media on the genocide, Professor Alison Des Forges, a Human Rights Watch researcher and an expert on Rwandan history, wrote:

Some 66 per cent of Rwandans are literate and those who knew how to read were accustomed to reading for others. In many cases, the written word was underscored by cartoons, most of which were so graphic that they could not be misinterpreted. (Des Forges 1999)

However, the general census of the population conducted on 15 August 1991 indicates that: 'The population that cannot read nor write represents 44 per cent of people who are more than six years.'

In other words, only 56 per cent of the population could read and write in 1991. The same general census adds: 'In comparison to 1978, this represents a decrease of 13.4 per cent, since the illiteracy rate was 57.4 per cent for the entire country.' Des Forges' literacy figure suggests that there had been a dramatic change of 10 per cent between August 1991 and 6 April 1994. However, during that time there was no documented campaign to increase the literacy level of the population.

Buying a paper was expensive: the cost of a newspaper was 100 Rwandan francs before 6 April 1994 (US$ 0.75) or the average day's salary of a migrant worker in rural areas of Rwanda. The drop in coffee prices on the world market and the IMF's structural adjustment programme worsened the situation. Potential consumers, such as elementary school teachers, did not have money to spend on print media. In fact, the Rwandan government was not even paying the salaries of teachers on time because it was almost bankrupt.

The newspapers of the government, the Catholic Church and the political parties reached rural areas. The political parties sent their papers to their supporters in the prefectures and communes. Others reached rural areas through people who travelled to Kigali. People living outside the capital did not realize that many newspapers existed.

Editors could put advertisements on Radio Rwanda to announce that a new issue of their newspaper was available, but they could not hint at the content. For publicity, they had to count on the weekly review of the print press, a Radio Rwanda programme produced by Tharcisse Rubwiliza. Those who did not like this weekly review regarded this journalist as an accomplice of the RPF; in April 1994 Interahamwe killed Rubwiliza at his house in Gikondo.

There were no places in the provinces or communes where newspapers could be sold. The administrative structure of Rwanda was still dominated by the MRND and did not allow easy dissemination of any information opposed to it. However, political parties that had organizational structures in the countryside used them to distribute newspapers to local leaders and supporters free of charge.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

With the sudden emergence of an aggressive press early in 1990, the government reacted by issuing statements broadcast by Radio Rwanda asking journalists not to abuse the freedom of the press. When those statements went unheeded, the chief of the Service Central de Renseignements (SCR), an agency based in the president's office, called a meeting with journalists in early 1990 and dictated issues that were off limits for discussion. Such issues included the head of state and his family, regionalism or relations between southerners (abanyenduga) and northerners (abakiga), religion and government officials. The SCR chief even designated an intelligence officer to serve as an advisor to the press. His restrictions would have left little freedom and no one accepted these injunctions.

The regime engaged in persecution of the private press, particularly newspapers that were critical of the MRND and its leaders. Editors were frequently jailed, interrogated by the SCR or beaten by its agents. Among those who were jailed were Thaddée Nsengiyaremye of Ikindi, Théoneste Muberantwali of Nyabarongo, Janvier Afrika of Umurava, Julien Uwimana of Ibyikigihe and Urumuli rwa Demokarasi and Sixbert Musangamfura of Isibo.

Many issues of some newspapers were not allowed to leave the print shop because they contained articles critical of the Habyarimana regime. Politicians took editors to court. Joseph Nzirorera, a minister of public works sued Sixbert Musangamfura because he had published an article on mismanagement in the ministry. Other editors were targeted by car 'accidents', that is, attempted assassinations. Félicien Semusambi survived a car accident, while Father Silvio Sindambiwe did not.

To silence dissent in the private print press, Nahimana Ferdinand, then director of ORINFOR, convened a meeting of all Rwandan journalists. His idea was to create an association of journalists supposedly to defend their interests, but in fact he wanted to use it to influence the content of newspapers. The journalists affiliated with opposition papers and the representatives of Kinyamateka, a Catholic newspaper, and Imbaga, a newspaper funded by Centre Iwacu, walked out of the meeting and created the Association des Journalistes du Rwanda (AJR). Those who remained formed a pro-regime government association, the Union des Journalistes du Rwanda (UJR).

In June 1991, a new constitution legalized multiparty democracy, and political parties began to publish their own newspapers. Some politicians and parties provided funds to newspapers and used them to defend themselves against political attacks or to disseminate their views. Thus, these newspapers were published regularly. For example, the pro-MRND and pro-CDR newspapers Kangura, Umurwanashyaka, Interahamwe, Kamarampaka, Écho des Mille Collines/Impanda and La Médaille/Nyiramacibili came out at least twice a month; pro-RPF newspapers Kanguka, Rwanda Rushya and Le Flambeau, and pro-MDR newspapers, Isibo and Umurangi, were also published at least twice a month. Their resources came from political parties or their supporters, who were very often wealthy businessmen. Some newspapers had two or three people working for them, an office and a telephone; others were a one-person operation without a known address.

Finally, a law of the press was promulgated in 1992. While claiming to recognize the freedom of the press, its emphasis was on how to restrict that freedom. The Rwandan law on the press recognized the right of any Rwandan to publish a newspaper. It stated that a person who wanted to launch a newspaper had to write a letter to the minister of information and the local prosecutor informing them of his intentions and providing the name of the newspaper, its goals and the identity of the editorial team. Once the person received authorization from both officials, he could begin publishing. If after 30 days the minister of information and the local prosecutor had not responded to the letter, the person could start a newspaper anyway. The law also provided that the owner of the newspaper had to send three copies of each issue to the minister of information and the local prosecutor.

IMPACT OF THE PRIVATE PRINT PRESS ON RWANDAN POLITICS

Erosion of power

The private print media represented the first political opposition to the Habyarimana regime. Until 1989, only Kinyamateka – under the leadership of Father Silvio Sindambiwe and André Sibomana – could publish articles critical of the regime. Under government pressure, Silvio Sindambiwe was replaced by André Sibomana, who used the newspaper as a platform to defend human rights. The regime used all sorts of intimidation tactics, including taking him to court. The birth of independent newspapers followed his example.

The resistance of these editors to the authoritarian regime of Juvénal Habyarimana convinced the Rwandan elite that if they needed political change they had to fight for it. The negative representation of Habyarimana and his associates as warmongers, murderers, monsters, liars and embezzlers lifted all the taboos that had surrounded the regime. The regime lost its essential attribute of instilling terror in the population. When multiparty democracy became legal, opposition supporters in Kigali chanted 'navaho impundu zizavuga' (when he [Habyarimana] is removed from office cries of joy will resonate throughout Rwanda). In Rwandan political culture, this type of discourse was previously unthinkable.

Influence on the political process

I believe the private print media influenced the Rwandan political elite. For instance, in 1991 pro-opposition media called for the abolition of the annual compulsory contribution each public- and private-sector employee was obligated to pay as a member of the MRND. (According to the country's constitution of 1978, all Rwandans were members of the MRND.) The contribution was deducted from the pay cheque at the beginning of a new year. Although the constitution was not changed until June 1992, the secretary general of the MRND abolished the annual compulsory contribution.

During the coalition government led by Prime Minister Dismas Nsengiyaremye, pro-MRND and pro-CDR newspapers monitored and denounced many abuses committed by some members of his cabinet who belonged to opposition parties. At the time, the media accused the members of the PSD of diverting public resources toward their political party. The accusation of mismanagement put these ministers on the defensive.

The dehumanization practices mentioned earlier made the political discourse vitriolic. For example, when a newspaper published a cartoon depicting a political leader as a dog, a murderer or a monster, a newspaper favourable to this political leader would retaliate by publishing a cartoon depicting an opponent as a dog or a monster, or he would dehumanize the other or the other's political party during a speech at a political rally. These dehumanization practices found in the media led to the escalation of conflicts between the MRND and the CDR and opposition parties, and it caused the escalation of conflicts among opposition parties themselves. It was common to see politicians depicted in newspapers as a cow, goat, dog, hyena, lion, monkey, gorilla, pig, snake, shark, eagle or mouse. In other words, the media were used as proxies in the struggle for power and reflected the anger and even hatred the political parties harboured toward each other.

To illustrate the impact of dehumanization on the escalation of violence, I have selected three examples mentioned earlier to relate them to Rwandan political culture.

Inyenzi: Inyenzi means cockroach, which is of course demeaning. Originally the word inyenzi had a positive connotation, to do with the Tutsi rebel movement that devastated Rwanda throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In a BBC interview broadcast on 8 November 2003, Aloys Ngurumbe explained that Inyenzi is the acronym of 'Ingangurarugo yemeye kuba ingenzi.' Ingangurarugo was an army division under Kigeli Rwabugili, a Tutsi king who ruled Rwanda at the end of the nineteenth century. Hence, Inyenzi means 'a member of Ingangurarugo who has committed himself to bravery.' Rwabugili, the son of King Rwogera belonged to this division. The word ingangurarugo comes from 'kugangura urugo rw'ibwami' or to provoke trouble at the king's court. When Rwabugili was a child, he and his friends attacked Rwogera's court and took away his cattle. More broadly, ingangurarugo then means troublemakers. During his reign, Rwabugili waged war throughout the Great Lakes of Africa until his death in 1895. Ngurumbe stated that his supporters chose the label, not extremist Hutus, to whom it is attributed in many writings on the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Inyenzi would attack at night and kill innocent civilians. Then they would rapidly vanish in the countryside or retreat into Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda or Zaire. Due to this ability to terrorize the country and to disappear, the population associated the attackers with cockroaches instead of bravery. Cockroaches are annoying insects that disappear when somebody turns on the light. The only way to get rid of them is to kill all of them. Inyenzi became a generic term for Tutsis. By extension, the supporters of the Habyarimana regime and other Hutus opposed to the RPF applied the label inyenzi to their political opponents.

By virtue of this exclusionary practice, during a political rally held in October 1993 to remember the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected Hutu president of Burundi, Froduald Karamira, the second vice-president of MDR declared that Radio Rwanda had fallen into the hands of inyenzi and that inyenzi Higiro should be fired. Karamira was referring to me. Given the volatile political climate of the time, labelling a person or a group of people cockroaches was similar to sentencing somebody to death. The Radio Rwanda reporter informed me of this hate language and I ordered him to omit that part of the speech from his report. In compliance with the Arusha accord between the Rwandan government and the RPF, I had ordered state-run media not to use the word inyenzi when referring to the RPF and to avoid all language that incited violence. This policy applied to the news coverage of political rallies, the broadcast time allocated to political parties and all press releases sent to ORINFOR, including those of MDR, the party to which I belonged. Whenever a news release of a political party came across my desk and contained language inciting violence or dehumanizing a group of people, I would cross out that language and initial the crossed out paragraphs or sentences before sending it to the news desk of Radio Rwanda. My family and I almost lost our lives because of this policy.

Hyena: In Rwandan culture a hyena is the worst animal. Rwandans use the name to label a dirty person or a person who has a bad look. Saying that a person is a hyena is to wish him death. It is a very bad insult. In Rwanda it is common to carry a baby or a person one likes or who needs care on one's back or shoulders. Showing someone carrying a hyena like that is the worst possible insult.

The editor who published the cartoon portraying Prime Minister Nsanzimana carrying a hyena on his shoulders wanted to express empathy with him. I think he meant that Nsanzimana was sentenced to death because he was given the tough responsibility of leading Rwanda during a political and economic crisis. I doubt that in the volatile situation Rwanda was undergoing, MRND members decoded this intended meaning. I rather think that they saw the cartoon as very offensive.

Monkey or gorilla: Likening the rally of the CDR to a bunch of monkeys or gorillas is to draw on deep stereotypes or even the hatred that Tutsi supremacists felt for Hutus. There is a Rwandan tradition known as 'kwishongora' – an oratory skill consisting of either putting down a speaker or a group of speakers, or deflecting an attack from a speaker or group of speakers. Tutsi aristocrats had to master this skill to be able to socialize with their peers. Tutsi supremacists compared Hutus to monkeys or gorillas as part of this oratory practice because they were confident that they were superior to Hutus and the indigenous Twas. Since the CDR was made up of Hutus, a rally of gorillas was a rally of Hutus. Again the editor's intended message was to ridicule the emphasis on Hutu identity, but it rekindled deeply seated racism. In a politically charged atmosphere, such as the one prevailing in Rwanda at the time of publication, the cartoon was very provocative.

Role in the genocide

Many newspapers welcomed the signing of the Arusha peace agreement between the Rwandan government and the RPF. Interahamwe, a pro-MRND newspaper devoted a special issue to the Arusha talks, with many photos of the representatives of the RPF. The political atmosphere was one of relief and hope. However, the positive news coverage did not last long, for opposition parties split into pro-MRND and pro-RPF factions, and newspaper editors aligned themselves accordingly.

During the genocide these newspapers stopped publication. Most of the journalists were killed.

Did the content of these newspapers serve as the catalyst of the genocide? The media have the potential to shape the views of their readers. As said earlier, Rwandan newspapers reached a small proportion of the population because of their high cost and the high illiteracy rate. They certainly shaped the world view of the political elite, as evidenced by the example regarding the abolition of the compulsory annual contribution to the MRND, and they probably contributed to the escalation of violence.

Having said that, the Rwanda genocide cannot be solely attributed to Rwandan media. The media tapped into a context of social discontent, war, high population growth rate, economic crisis, regionalism, historical ethnic conflict opposing Hutus to Tutsis, bad leadership and such external forces as the structural adjustment programme and the rivalries between foreign powers. It is the combination of these factors that led to the genocide.

CONCLUSION

Basic human rights – such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press – should be guaranteed to Rwandan citizens, otherwise underground networks will channel social discontent and an explosion of violence will likely occur again. These basic human rights should be sustained by economic development.

Economic development that favours one group over others will inevitably create social inequalities and discontent and, in the long run, likely lead to violence. The MRND regime favoured northern Hutu elite; today the RPF regime favours Tutsi refugees who returned from Uganda.

Journalism is an established academic discipline. It is important that Rwandan journalists learn the professional values of this field and understand the requirements and responsibilities of the profession.

Foreign donors should support the development of a free press by funding the training of professional communicators in Rwanda and by encouraging the Rwandan government to open up the political arena and the state-run media to pluralistic ideas.

Alternative media, such as Internet newspapers or magazines, may reach only those Rwandan elite with access to this technology. It is these elite who are involved in the struggle for power. Cultural centres and libraries may play a major role by making the Internet accessible at a low cost.

For the majority of the population, radio remains the medium through which news and ideas are disseminated most widely. As long as Rwanda is ruled by authoritarian regimes, broadcasting will remain under government control. That is why international radio stations that broadcast in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi – such as the BBC and the Voice of America – are essential to provide information on topics that are off limits in Rwanda. I realize that these radio stations have their own political agenda; however, it is my conviction that so far they have offered space to political diversity in their programming. Providing space in which differences are articulated is one way to prevent conflicts.

To prevent abuses perpetrated in the name of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, there is a need for local independent NGOs to defend these basic freedoms. These organizations may monitor violations of these freedoms by both the government and journalists and remind them of their obligation to maintain a free society.

Some 'experts' on Rwanda relay the RPF propaganda according to which a racist ideology originated from the teaching of Catholic missionaries, the policies of Belgian colonizers and the social revolution of 1959 that overthrew the Tutsi monarchy. These 'experts' then emphasize the role of Kangura and the RTLM in the mobilization of Hutus around a racist ideology that instilled hatred in Rwanda before 1994. These experts create only two social categories among Hutus: Hutu 'extremists' and Hutu 'moderates'.

In 1992, my parents fled our village near the Rwanda–Uganda border as a result of the RPF 'scorched earth' policy. They moved from one internally displaced camp to another until they reached Zaire, then Kenya. They returned to Rwanda in 1998 only to find the ruins of their home. In which category do they fit? During this entire period they were always on the run. Many other people like them just ran to save their lives. The narrow social categories of 'extremist' and 'moderate' are, therefore, meaningless.

When it comes to the media as well, some experts adopt a binary analysis: the media of hate and the media of democracy. Such a representation of events is, of course, valuable in Western movies or other artistic creations. Rarely do these experts realize that practices of racism and exclusion in Rwanda have indigenous seeds in Rwandan proverbs that stereotype ethnic groups, myths that legitimize the superiority of Tutsis over Hutus and Twas and other social practices.

When I was growing up, no Hutu or Tutsi drank at the same jar of ikigage (beer of sorghum) or urwagwa (banana wine) with a Twa or partook of the same meal in a basket with a Twa. This exclusionary practice was still alive in 1994. Likewise, before the social revolution of 1959, Tutsi aristocrats never socialized with Hutus. Only impoverished Tutsis mixed with Hutus – impoverished Tutsis and Hutus made up of what the Hutu leaders of the social revolution of 1959 called 'rubanda rugufi' or the low or oppressed people. Racism and exclusionary practices are not confined to one ethnic group or one group of media as the Hollywood approach suggests.

Before the social revolution of 1959, Tutsi supremacists called Hutus 'ibimonyo' or ants. Ibimonyo are a type of ant that lives in colonies of thousands. They are big and work very hard tilling the soil, but they are considered worthless. If a person steps on them and kills them, it does not matter. The Rwandan name 'Sekimonyo' means the son of an ant or the son of a Hutu. To my knowledge only Hutu parents gave this name to a child. This suggests that Hutus had internalized their oppressor.

As discussed earlier, after Tutsi rebels launched the Inyenzi movement in the 1960s and 1970s to retake power, Hutu elite turned the acronym on its head and labelled all Tutsis inyenzi or cockroaches. Under the RPF regime, Tutsi elite labelled Hutus 'genocidaires' or genocide perpetrators. Unlike Hutu elite, Tutsi elite are careful not to use such a label in writings and speeches at public events. Since the victory of the RPF, Tutsi elite have added a new label to the Rwandan dictionary of exclusionary practices, the word 'ibipinga' from a Swahili word 'kupinga', which means to reject what another person says. Thus ibipinga means those who reject RPF policies, and the word has become a generic term used by the RPF to mean Hutus. By extension, the label also applies to Tutsis who oppose the RPF. As a consequence of this exclusionary discourse, ibipinga have to be eliminated in the elite pro-Tutsi regime by assassinating them or forcing them into exile.

Rwandans who are committed to building a democratic society in Rwanda and to understanding the racism and exclusionary practices that have both historically and contemporarily pervaded Rwandan society, should beware of the limited narratives of experts and the discourse of the RPF. An open discussion on this issue may result in the adoption of policies and behaviours that will lead to peaceful coexistence among the three Rwandan ethnic groups: the Hutus, the Tutsis and the Twas. Shifting the blame on to foreigners and ignoring deep-seated racism will only lead to cyclical violence as each ethnic group strives to achieve a zero-sum solution to oppression.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank Keith Harmon Snow, a researcher at Survivor's Rights International, for his editorial suggestions and insight into the politics of the Great Lakes of central Africa. I also thank Ms Maya Graf for providing many of the cartoons I referred to in writing this article. Ms Graf, a Swiss national, helped launch Makuru ki i Butare? the first independent newspaper that existed in Butare, Rwanda, before the war broke out in October 1990.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Centre Culturel Americain. 1992. Media situation in Rwanda. Embassy of the United States of America, Kigali, Rwanda.

Chrétien, J.P., J.F. Dupaquier and M. Kabanda. 1995. Rwanda: les médias du génocide. Karthala, Paris, France. 397 pp.

Des Forges, A. 1999. Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, New York, NY, USA. Available at <www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/> (accessed 30 August 2005).

Government of Rwanda. 1993. Recensement général de la population et de l'habitat au 15 août 1991. Analyse des principaux résultats. Government of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, July.

Guichaoua, A. (ed.). 1995. Les crises politiques au Burundi et au Rwanda (1993–1994). Karthala, Paris, France. 790 pp.

Habimana, F. 1984. A Nation in Exile. Impuruza, 1. Sacramento, California.

Hall, S. 1980. 'Encoding and decoding' (revised extract). In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, P. Willis (eds). Culture, Media, Language. Hutchinson, London, UK.

Kelman, H.C. 1998. Social-psychological Dimensions of International Conflict. In W. Zartman and J. Rasmussen (eds). Peacemaking in International Conflicts: Methods and Techniques. United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC, USA.

Kimenyi, A. 1984. Editorial. Impuruza, 1. Sacramento, California.

—— 1990. Nsingize Gisa umusore utagira uko asa. Impuruza, 17. Sacramento, California. Ministère des Finances et de la Planification Économique. 2004. Recensement 2002 en bref. Government of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.

Ministeri y'Amashuli Makuru n'Ubushakashatsi mu by'Ubuhanga. 1988. Ingoma ya Kigeli Rwabugili na Nyirayuhi Kanjogera. Government of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.

RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières). 1994. Rwanda: médias de la haine ou presse démocratique. RSF, Paris, France.

—— 1995. Rwanda: l'impasse? La liberté d'expression après le génocide. RSF, Paris, France.

—— 2004. Rwanda 2004, Annual Report. RSF, Paris, France.

Staub, E. 1989. The Roots of Evil. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

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