Kangura
Encyclopedia
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-language magazine in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
that served to stoke ethnic hatred in the run-up to the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. It was established in 1990, following the invasion
Rwandan Civil War
The Rwandan Civil War was a conflict within the Central African nation of Rwanda between the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front...
of the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...
(RPF), and continued publishing up to the genocide. Sponsored by the dominant MRND
Mouvement républicain national pour la démocratie et le développement
National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. It was dominated by Hutus, particularly from President Habyarimana's home region of Northern Rwanda...
party and edited by founder Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze is a Rwandan journalist, best known for publishing the "Hutu Ten Commandments", which fomented anti-Tutsi feeling among Rwandan Hutus prior to the Rwandan Genocide....
, the magazine was a response to the RPF-sponsored Kanguka
Kanguka
Kanguka was a Rwandan newspaper founded in 1988 which was critical of the leadership of Juvénal Habyarimana....
, adopting a similar informal style. "Kangura" was a Rwandan word meaning "wake others up", as opposed to "Kanguka", which meant "wake up". The journal was based in Gisenyi
Gisenyi
Gisenyi is a city in Rubavu district in the Western Province of Rwanda. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population of the city is about 106 000 .-Description:...
.
The magazine was the print equivalent to the later-established Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role during the April–July 1994 Rwandan Genocide....
(RTLM), publishing articles harshly critical of the RPF and of Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
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
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
militia rallies.
Support and connections
The journal was financed by military officers, MRND members and an intelligence agency of the government. Supporters included Lt.-Col. Anatole Nsengiyumva and Protais ZigiranyirazoProtais Zigiranyirazo
Protais Zigiranyirazo commonly known as Monsieur Zed , is a Rwandan businessman and politician. He is the former governor of Ruhengeri prefecture in northwestern Rwanda. He has also been accused of collaborating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1985 murder of Dian Fossey.Between 1974 and...
, both later charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
. 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
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
to test ideas, though Kangura did not hesitate to criticize the president over perceived concessions made during the negotiations in Arusha
Arusha Accords
The Arusha Accords were a set of five accords signed in Arusha, Tanzania on August 4, 1993, by the government of Rwanda and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front , under mediation, to end a three-year Rwandan Civil War...
with the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...
(RPF).
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 Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
, the Force Commander of UNAMIR, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
peacekeeping force, would later refer to Kangura as the "their [the CDR's] 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 [the magazine] paid attention, because Kangura seemed to know what was going to happen before it did," stated Kenyan journalist Mary Kimani.
Content
An article in the sixth issue, published December 1990, was the first publication of the "Hutu Ten CommandmentsHutu Ten Commandments
The "Hutu Ten Commandments" was a document published in the December 1990 edition of Kangura, an anti-Tutsi, pro-Hutu, Kinyarwanda-language newspaper in Kigali, Rwanda...
", which decreed that Hutus who interacted with Tutsis were traitors. Another article of December 1990 claimed that the Tutsi were prepared for a war which "would leave no survivors". The back of issue six was a picture of French president François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
with the caption, "It is during hard times that one comes to know one's true friends."
An editorial in the 9 February 1991 issue stated: "Let us learn about the inkotanyi [RPF supporters] and let us exterminate every last one of them", while the March 1993 issue advised, "A cockroach gives birth to a cockroach... the history of Rwanda
History of Rwanda
Human occupation of Rwanda is thought to have begun shortly after the last ice age. By the fifteenth century the inhabitants had organized into a number of kingdoms...
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
Rwandan monarchy
The Kingdom of Banyarwanda was founded in the 15th century by a pastoral group, the Tutsi. It occupied approximately the territory controlled by the modern state of Rwanda. The kingdom became gradually subdued by European colonial interests starting in 1890...
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 should have the courage to understand that they are making a slight error, they shall be exterminated."
Kangura also implied threats against President Habyarimana, especially after its funders moved from the MRND to the CDR. The December 1993 issue stated that a Hutu soldier angry over the Arusha agreement would soon assassinate the president. The January 1994 issue predicted that Habyarimana would be killed in March.
Aftermath
Kangura had stopped publishing by 6 April 1994, when the plane carrying Presidents Habyarimana and Cyprien NtaryamiraCyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:...
of Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
was shot down
Assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira
The assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on the evening of April 6, 1994, was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide. The airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda....
over Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
. This sparked the genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. Over 800,000 people were killed, mostly Tutsis but including Hutu moderates and Hutus who attempted to protect Tutsi from the militias.
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze
Hassan Ngeze is a Rwandan journalist, best known for publishing the "Hutu Ten Commandments", which fomented anti-Tutsi feeling among Rwandan Hutus prior to the Rwandan Genocide....
, 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
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
for his involvement with Kangura, as well as for his supervision of massacres in his home province of Gisenyi. His trial, grouped with that of RTLM co-founders Ferdinand Nahimana
Ferdinand Nahimana
Ferdinand Nahimana is a Rwandan historian who was convicted of participating in the Rwandan Genocide.Nahimana was co-founder of the radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines but not the director, which during the genocide broadcast information and propaganda that helped coordinate...
and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, was the first to establish that media organizations could be held responsible for inciting genocide since the 1946 conviction of Nazi publisher Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine...
. In 2003, Ngeze was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
; Nahimana and Barayagwiza were also convicted.
External links
- Kanguka and Kangura magazines
- "Kangura: the triumph of propaganda refined" by Marcel Kabanda, in Allan Thompson, ed., The Media and the Rwanda Genocide, Pluto Press: London, 2007, ISBN 1–55250–338–0