During the years preceding the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, state-sponsored television and radio carefully spread fear and hate of the Tutsi people throughout Rwanda. Messages included the idea that Tutsi were foreigners in Hutu land; they were from Ethiopia and should go back. Tutsi people were referred to as animals, “cockroaches,” and “snakes.” In December 1990, the newspaper Kangura published the Hutu Ten Commandments, a document that called for the Hutu to unite against the Tutsi. The commandments forbade a Hutu man from marrying a Tutsi woman and demanded an entirely Hutu military. The document also encouraged Hutu Rwandans to deny their Tutsi family and neighbors economic rights and freedoms.
Hate Speech
The use of hate speech, fear, and an organized call-to-arms from the Hutu extremist government and media is remarkably similar to the propaganda of Nazi-controlled Germany before and during the Holocaust. This is not a coincidence. Genocide ideology is any ideology that advances or suggests the destruction of a group of people. The use of dehumanizing and segregating language is a recognizable feature of such ideologies.
Everyone’s Job
Knowing that genocide does not occur spontaneously, but out of concerted ideological efforts to incite hatred and violence, Global Survivors of Peace facilitates discussions on the spread of genocide ideology. We are committed to historical clarity, the stories of survivors, and public education on the consequences of unchecked hate speech. As members of a global community, everyone has a role in ensuring that genocide never happens again. Recognizing and combating genocide ideology is everyone’s job.