''Kangura'' was a
Kinyarwanda
Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where there ...
and
French-language magazine in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
that served to stoke ethnic hatred in the run-up to the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
. The magazine was established in 1990, following
the invasion of the rebel
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winn ...
(RPF), and continued publishing up to the genocide. Edited by
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze (born 25 December 1957) is a Rwandan journalist and convicted war criminal best known for spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda and Hutu superiority through his newspaper, ''Kangura'', which he founded in 1990. Ngeze was a founding member ...
, the magazine was a response to the
RPF-sponsored ''
Kanguka
''Kanguka'' (''Wake Up!'') was a Rwandan newspaper founded in 1988 which was critical of the leadership of Juvénal Habyarimana. The magazine ''Kangura
''Kangura'' was a Kinyarwanda and French-language magazine in Rwanda that served to stoke ...
'', adopting a similar informal style. "Kangura" was a Rwandan word meaning "wake others up", as opposed to "Kanguka", which meant "wake up".
[Linda Melvern, ''Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide'', Verso, 2004, , p. 49] The journal was based in
Gisenyi
Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Overview
The city features a resort on th ...
.
The magazine was the print equivalent to the later-established
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) ( rw, Radiyo yigenga y'imisozi igihumbi) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been d ...
(RTLM), publishing articles harshly critical of the RPF and of
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...
s generally. Its sensationalist news was passed by word-of-mouth through the largely illiterate population. Copies of ''Kangura'' were read in public meetings and, as the genocide approached, during
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND ...
militia rallies.
[
]
Support and connections
The journal was financed by military officers, MRND
The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (french: Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. From 1978 to 1991, the M ...
members and an intelligence agency of the government. Supporters included Lt.-Col. Anatole Nsengiyumva and Protais Zigiranyirazo, both later charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...
. Two language editions were published twice a month in batches of 1,500 to 3,000 copies. Some of the early editions were published on government printing presses. Due to the magazine's close ties with the government, it came to be viewed as a vehicle for the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana (, ; 8 March 19376 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed ''Kinani'', a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible".
An ethn ...
to test ideas, though ''Kangura'' did not hesitate to criticize the president over perceived concessions made during the negotiations in Arusha with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winn ...
(RPF).[ ''Kangura'' criticised democracy as sowing discord between Hutu and called for rallying around the MRND.
''Kangura'' was key in fomenting extremism and, in turn, became the mouthpiece of the CDR upon its founding in February 1992. The CDR was an extremist offshoot of the MRND that campaigned for a "pure Hutu" nation and prohibited Rwandans with Tutsi grandparents from joining. While initially formed to give the MRND and Habyarimana deniability for the positions espoused, the CDR soon developed a life of its own. ]Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a Canadian humanitarian, author, retired senator and Canadian Forces lieutenant-general. Dallaire served as force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda b ...
, the Force Commander of UNAMIR
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, wh ...
, the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
peacekeeping force, would later refer to ''Kangura'' as "their ''he CDR's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
' propaganda rag" and a "scurrilous extremist newspaper".
The extensive connections of ''Kangura'' to the ruling elite appeared to give the magazine inside knowledge. "People who might otherwise have ignored he magazinepaid attention, because ''Kangura'' seemed to know what was going to happen before it did," stated Kenyan journalist Mary Kimani.["Radio Hate"]
Dina Temple-Raston, ''Legal Affairs'', September–October 2002.
Content
An article in the sixth issue, published December 1990, was the first publication of the "Hutu Ten Commandments
The "Hutu Ten Commandments" (also "Ten Commandments of the Bahutu") was a document published in the December 1990 edition of '' Kangura'', an anti- Tutsi, Hutu Power Kinyarwanda-language newspaper in Kigali, Rwanda. The Hutu Ten Commandments are ...
", which decreed that Hutus who interacted with Tutsis were traitors.[ The propaganda of ''Kangura'' targeted women in particular, accusing Tutsi women of seducing Hutu in order to spy on them and mollify them, but only bearing the children of other Tutsi.] Another article of December 1990 claimed that the Tutsi were prepared for a war. The back of issue six was a picture of French president François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
with the caption, "It is during hard times that one comes to know one's true friends."[Melvern, p. 50]
An editorial in the 9 February 1991 issue stated: "Let us learn about the inkotanyi ''PF supporters
PF may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Pianoforte, full original name of the piano instrument
* Project Fanboy, a comic book news website
Businesses
* PF Flyers, a brand of shoes
* Palestinian Airlines (IATA airline designator), a defunct a ...
' and let us exterminate every last one of them". In a November 1991 edition, Ngeze asked "What tools will we use to defeat the Inyenzi once and for all?" alongside an image of a machete
Older machete from Latin America
Gerber machete/saw combo
Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...
. The March 1993 issue advised, "A cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...
gives birth to a cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...
... the history of Rwanda shows us clearly that a Tutsi always stays exactly the same, that he has never changed." ''Kangura'' further asserted that some who said they were Hutus were in fact Tutsis and that these individuals could be recognized because they "lacked commitment to the Hutu cause" and that the RPF had launched its 1990 invasion in order to reestablish the Tutsi monarchy and enslave the Hutus.[
The writings of founder Ngeze in the journal regularly hinted at exterminations. In issue 54, of March 1994, Ngeze stated that the RPF had a list of 1600 people who they would kill if they ever took power and warned "the accomplices of the enemy are well known. Therefore the ]Inyenzi
The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or ot ...
should have the courage to understand that they are making a slight error, they shall be exterminated."[Melvern, p. 51]
''Kangura'' also implied threats against Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana (, ; 8 March 19376 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed ''Kinani'', a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible".
An ethn ...
, especially after its funders moved from the MRND to the CDR. The December 1993 issue stated that a Hutu soldier enraged by the Arusha Accords would soon assassinate the president. The January 1994 issue predicted that Habyarimana would be killed in March.[Melvern, p. 124]
Aftermath
''Kangura'' had stopped publishing by 6 April 1994, when the plane carrying Presidents Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira (6 March 1955 – 6 April 1994) was a Burundian politician who served as President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death two months later. A Hutu born in Burundi, Ntaryamira studied there before fleeing to Rwanda ...
of Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
was shot down over Kigali
Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
. This sparked the genocide. Over 800,000 people were killed, mostly Tutsis but including Hutu moderates who attempted to protect Tutsi from the militias.
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze (born 25 December 1957) is a Rwandan journalist and convicted war criminal best known for spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda and Hutu superiority through his newspaper, ''Kangura'', which he founded in 1990. Ngeze was a founding member ...
, the founder, editor and accountant for ''Kangura'' fled the country as the RPF took control. He was arrested in 1997 and charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...
for his involvement with ''Kangura'', as well as for his supervision of massacres in his home province of Gisenyi
Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Overview
The city features a resort on th ...
. His trial, grouped with that of RTLM co-founders Ferdinand Nahimana
Ferdinand Nahimana (born 15 June 1950) is a Rwandan historian, who was convicted of incitement to genocide for his role in the Rwandan genocide.
Nahimana was co-founder of the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), wh ...
and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza
Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza (1950 – 25 April 2010) was a convicted Génocidiare and politician associated with the Hutu Power movement. A high-ranking civil servant, Barayagwiza served as policy director within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at ...
, was the first to establish that media organizations could be held responsible for inciting genocide
Incitement to genocide is a crime under international law which prohibits inciting (encouraging) the commission of genocide. An extreme form of hate speech, incitement to genocide is considered an inchoate offense and is theoretically subject ...
since the 1946 conviction of Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
publisher Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...
. In 2003, Ngeze was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
; Nahimana and Barayagwiza were also convicted.
See also
*Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) ( rw, Radiyo yigenga y'imisozi igihumbi) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been d ...
(RTLM)
*Der Sturmer
Der or DER may refer to:
Places
* Darkənd, Azerbaijan
* Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US
* Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq
* d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...
*Kanguka
''Kanguka'' (''Wake Up!'') was a Rwandan newspaper founded in 1988 which was critical of the leadership of Juvénal Habyarimana. The magazine ''Kangura
''Kangura'' was a Kinyarwanda and French-language magazine in Rwanda that served to stoke ...
References
External links
Complete collection
*
*https://www.idrc.ca/en/book/media-and-rwanda-genocide "''Kangura'': the triumph of propaganda refined"] by Marcel Kabanda, in Allan Thompson, ed.
''The Media and the Rwanda Genocide''
Pluto Press: London, 2007,
Articles from ''Kangura'', in English, French and Kinyarwanda
{{Authority control
1990 establishments in Rwanda
1994 disestablishments in Rwanda
Magazines published in Africa
Defunct magazines published in Rwanda
Defunct political magazines
French-language magazines
Magazines established in 1990
Magazines disestablished in 1994
Propaganda in Rwanda
Rwandan genocide
Magazines published in Rwanda
Hutu
Incitement to genocide