Tutsi massacres were strategised into phases marked by a timeframe

In the previous article, one realised that the role of the Rwandan State in the genocide was obvious, given the fact that numerous victims were killed in public and in administrative offices. In this piece, we shall observe how the state strategised and laid out the time frame to carry out the massacres. Without a well-articulated organisation, the massacres would not have gone to such an extent. That organisation was structured into a hierarchy of levels of operation. It also consisted of a collection of elements that can be termed as massacre strategies. These strategies can be categorised into three phases. The first phase, from April 6-11, 1994, consisted of eliminating the Tutsi based on predetermined lists. During that phase known as priority targets, the genocide organisers had already distributed to killer groups lists of names of persons who were particularly targeted. The names were also announced on the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines to ensure that the killers get their designated targets. Tutsi families were targeted as a priority owing to their conditions of living, education, social and administrative status, as well as their assumed collaboration with the RPF. Their elimination was effected by killers who generally operated in small groups, killing victims, as it were, wherever they found them. This could be in their homes, on the street or at roadblocks. The strategy of priority targets was visibly aimed at preventing educated Tutsi, prosperous businessmen and those who had connections with the outside world from organising their escape, resistance or denunciation of the massacres. Many Rwandans remember that strategy of compiling lists in the accomplishments of the sinister genocide programme. It made it possible to hunt down and rapidly kill the most wanted persons. To ensure that no Tutsi escaped, roadblocks were set up at crossroads, and RTLM broadcast the names and address of persons who were considered to be the RPF internal accomplices. The obligatory requirement to carry an identity card bearing the ethnicity of the holder made it easy to identify people who were to be killed. If the names on the identity card matched those published in the press or the ones on the lists, then the executioners killed their victim there and then. During this phase, all Hutu personalities who were capable of legitimately taking power and oppose the genocide were also eliminated. In accordance with this logic, the then Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was murdered. Others who met the same fate were PSD’s Félicien Ngango, Frederic Nzamurambaho and Joseph Kavaruganda, who was president of the constitutional court. In the second phase between April 12 and May 1, 1994, Tutsi were killed simply for being who they were. This was shortly after the meeting of Provincial Governors with Jean Kambanda, the Prime Minister of the Interim Government. During this phase, massacre operations were pursued with terrific effectiveness. The organisation of the manhunt was reinforced to flush out Tutsi from their hiding places and kill them. They were removed from swamps, sorghum fields, forests or bushes. It is important to remember that authorities used to call the Tutsi to gather in public places like district offices, stadiums, schools and health centres. Declarations that were made by these authorities incited the Tutsi to stay together to facilitate their protection. During the second fortnight of April 1994, these places of asylum were cordoned off and attacked by the district police, gendarmes, soldiers and militia. They killed whoever attempted to flee. They killed the injured and looked for survivors from the surrounding areas. Finally, it is necessary to recall that the interim government had prohibited the local administrative authorities from issuing travel documents to all Tutsi in their areas of jurisdiction. Those Tutsi who tried to look for asylum elsewhere were caught and killed instantly. Towards the end of April 1994, the Interim Government announced the end to the killings and a return to calm. That declaration was relayed by the local administrative authorities, and this convinced survivors to come out of hiding. Unfortunately, whoever came out was instantly killed. The objective of this trick was obviously to recapture and exterminate the Tutsi who had previously managed to escape.

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Tutsi massacres were strategised into phases marked by a timeframe