NEWSPAPER PORTRAYED ETHNIC TUTSIS AS A THREAT TO RWANDA, SAYS WITNESSES

Arusha, May 16, 2002 (FH) - Defunct Rwandan newspaper, Kangura denounced ethnic Tutsis as "a threat to Rwanda and the entire region" in the run-up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, expert witness Dr. Marcel Kabanda told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday.

1 min 37Approximate reading time

The former editor of Kangura, Hassan Ngeze is on trial at the ICTR for genocide, pubic incitement to committee genocide and other crimes related to the 1994 genocide. Kabanda said that Kangura wrote that Tutsis wanted to eliminate all ethnic Hutus before forming a Tutsi empire in the region. "It took a massive campaign of dehumanisation and lies to bring about the genocide", Kabanda told the court. He said that pro-genocide media in Rwanda had prospered with impunity due to general support or inaction from the then government. "In the beginning, opposition papers tried to counter the lies of such media but couldn't keep up", said Kabanda. He said that opposition journalists were normally labelled by Kangura as accomplices of the Tutsi-led RPF rebels. "They were consequently killed or jailed", he said. Rwandan historian and co-author of the book Rwanda Les Media de Genocide (Rwanda The Media of Genocide), Kabanda, is testifying in the so-called 'media-trial'. The case groups three people linked to media which incited Hutus against Tutsis during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. They are Ferdinard Nahimana, a founder and alleged former director of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM); Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a former politician and RTLM board member; and Hassan Ngeze, former editor of newspaper "Kangura". An estimated one million Tutsis were killed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda according to an official survey by the government of Rwanda. Kabanda quoted Kangura articles that referred to two opposition journalists, Andrew Kameya and Martin Kamurase as wicked and accomplices of the Tutsi-led RPF (Rwandaise Patriotic Front) rebels. He said that the two journalists had been consequently murdered. Kabanda has also testified that Kangura called for Hutu men not to marry Tutsi women. According to an article that appeared in Kangura, Tutsi women are treacherous and were to be avoided by Hutu men. One of the major prosecution exhibits in this case is an article that appeared in Kangura titled "The ten Hutu commandments". The "commandments" call for Hutus to alienate Tutsis. Kabanda's expert report presented to the court is titled Kangura: The media of hate and conspiracy to commit genocide. The Media Trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka. GG/FH (ME-0516e)