Amagambo y'ingenzi (A Glossary of important words and phrases) - DRAFT text compiled by Jim Fussell

''There's a Rwandan proverb,'' says Alison DesForges, '' 'A message is given to many, but those who are meant to understand, understand.' There's always a subtext in Rwanda. You don't have to resort to brutal language. People understand.''

Guverinoma y'abatabazi ("government of rescuers", “government of national salvation” ) The government following the death of Juvénal Habyarimana. In power in Kigali from April 7 to July 4, 1994.

Abana (children) “The Inkotanyi use small children (abana bato),” suggesting that they too were enemies to be killed. Some killers urged eliminating Tutsi women because, they said, they would produce only Tutsi children.

Bafuye bahagaze (the living dead) A post-1994 term used for traumatized survivors of genocide who have psychological problems.

Amategeeko (laws), Itegeko (law)

Akazu ("little house") a secret inner circle of Northern Hutus around President Juvenal Habyarimana and his wife. Madame Habyarimana, and several others were evacuated from Rwanda on April 9 by the French government.

Amasasu (bullets) - An acronym for Alliance des Militaires Agacés par les Séculaires Actes Sournois des Unaristes - Alliance of Soldiers Provoked by the Age-old Deceitful Acts of the Unarists. On January 20, 1993 this group of Rwandan soldiers led by Colonel Théoneste Bagosora sent a open letter to President Habyarimana demanding a“civilian self-defense” force.

Indangamuntu (Rwandan carte d'identité, ID card) Ethnic ID cards were established in the 1930s by the Belgians and were retained in new laws passed in 1964. "Ethnicity" ("Ubwoko" in Kinyarwanda and "Ethnie" in French) appeared immediately beneath the cardbearer's photograph as the uppermost item on page two of the Rwandan ID card. Four possible "ethnic" categories appeared with the issuing official striking a line through all but the applicable category, for example "Ubwoko (Hutu, Tutsi, Twa, Naturalisé)" . The term "Naturalisé" applied to naturalized citizens. Prior to independence, nine Hutu leaders (including future President Gregoire Kayibanda) declared their intention to retain such classifications in the Hutu manifesto of March 24, 1957, writing: "we are opposed vigorously, at least for the moment, to the suppression in the official or private identity papers of the mentions 'muhutu', 'mututsi', 'mutwa'. Their suppression would create a risk of preventing the statistical law from establishing the reality of facts." By "statistical" the authors meant dominance by the Hutu majority population group. On November 13, 1990, President Habyarimana announced his intention to abolish ethnic identity cards, but failed to act upon this promise. He was repeatedly encouraged to do so: in April 1991 by American Ambassador Robert A. Flaten, and in July 1991 by independent consultants who encouraged France and other governments giving aid to Rwanda to require the removal of group affiliation from ID Cards be taken as a prerequisite for assistance.

Gacaca - justice on the Grass umucamanza (Judge) avoka (Lawyer) Ubutabera ( Justice), and kureshia (Equality)

GP - Garde Présidentielle [Presidential Guard], one of the three elite units which played a central role in the genocide. Major Protais Mpiranya commanded the Presidential Guard, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemye the reconnaissance battalion, and Major Aloys Ntabakuze the paracommando battalion. Lt. Col. Léonard Nkundiye, was a former commander of the Presidential Guards.

Gukora, 'to work' a term frequently used in RTLM broadcasts. An ordinary word which carried a special meaning during the genocide, meaning to kill Tutsi and their Hutu supporters. The word refers back to the 1959 revolution and its violence against Tutsi, a link indicated in phrases that advocate “finishing the work of the revolution.”Rwandan president Theodore Sikubwabo used the term on April 19, 1994 in a speech in which he said “every person must understand that he must ‘work’ in order to win the war.” “Work” requires ibikoresho ( “tools" literally, the things to work with) that is, firearms, machetes, clubs, spears and homemade nail-studded clubs. After a massacre the radio announcer commented that people were cultivating lands taken from victims “to reward themselves for the work they had done.” "Clean up the dirt" and “clearing the brush” are related phrases. Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, a former minister for family and women's affairs, is reported to have asked militiamen "to clean up the governor's office." in Butare. "She went inside the governor's office for about 15 minutes. When she came out, she told Sylvain Nsabimana, Butare governor, that the place is dirty. 'When I come again I don't want to see the dirt [referring to the refugees],'

Gutsemba (exterminate) wipe out, leave nothing, deny.

Gufata ku ngufu - post-1994 phrase for "rape"

Guhumbahumba, meaning to track down the last remaining Tutsi. The sub-prefect of Gisagara was responsible for conducting meetings in the five communes RTLM disseminated a new term for this final stage of the killing campaign in late May 1994.

Inzoka (snake) a term used for Tutsi. "Iyo inzoka yizilitse ku gisabo ugomba kikimena ukabona uko uyica" literally means 'In killing a snake curled around a gourd, you break the gourd if you must to kill him': 'When the snake is curled round the calabash, you smash the calabash'; 'lorsque le serpent est enroulé autour de la calebasse, on casse la calebasse.') In Ocotver 1997 Defendant Jean-Paul Akayezu later explained the proverb, which he is supposed to have quoted at the meeting in May 1994, has been mentioned. Akayesu, a former teachers, aid "Actually, these words go back to King Kigeri. Some of the members of his court wanted to get rid of the Queen Mother, so they made up a story that she was pregnant. The king summoned these people to see him. He asked them "When a snake is curled around the calabash, what must you do ?" They answered : "Smash it". Then the woman was cut open and no child was found. The King exterminated all those who had wanted to get rid of the Queen Mother".

Itsembabwoko genocide (from the two words Itsemba (from the verb 'gutsemba' - to exterminate) and ubwoko (clan, ethnic group) )

Ibyitso (traitors) an accomplice is icyitso, two or more accomplices are ibyitso.traitors, "Tutsi sympathizer" moderate Hutu

Itsembatsemba (mass killing, to kill again and again). A term which appeared post-July 1994 and was used for the equivalent of the word genocide.

Ibyivugo A foreign witness present in Kibuye town heard the militia and troops coming home shouting their ibyivugo, a formalized boast that dates to the precolonialperiod, declaiming the numbers they had slain and the details of how they had killed them.

Inkotanyi: a term referring to RPF soldiers, named after the militia serving under King Rwabugiri who was famous for his military conquests, especially in the north of Rwanda.

Interahamwe: "Young people of similar age" or persons "united in the same cause". In the Rwandan political context, the word was used to designate a group of persons united to "reflect on the future of the country" then later to the MRND youth groups. After 6 April 1994, "all the people who had taken part in killings and all those who were not pro-RPF" were qualified as Interahamwe.

Inyenzi cockroach. The term came into use to characterise a group "which was formed in the 1960s to re-establish the overthrown monarchy." 1961 saw the creation of the Ingangurarugo Vivemeje Kuba Ingenzi which the linguist translated as "the most determined fighters of the ingangurarugo militia.", named after a royal militia at the end of the 19th century. According to Eugène Shimamungu, this group sought to associate its name with a word which already existed in Kinyarwanda, one more eloquent than the simple initials of the movement."

Ibyaha ku kiremwamuntu (crimes against humanity)

Ibyaha by' intambara (war crimes)

Icyivugo, a literary genre practised mainly at family occasions, in which the orator sings the praises of martial exploits

Ikinyamakuru (newspaper) see Kagara

Ibinyamakuru (journal)

Impuzamugambi (Those With a Single Purpose) had no leaders apart from those of the CDR, the best known of whom was Barayagwiza. CDR youth group, the Impuzamugambi, “.”

Inkotanyi (warrior, fierce fighters) The word was used by the RPF for its fighters after 1990.Beginning on April 8, Bemeriki had cautioned that “Inkotanyi are now dispersing...spreading out amongst the inhabitants.” Hitimana warned that “they are taking off for the hills...They know how to hide and reappear!”

Inyangamugayo “people with integrity” - term used for Gacaca judges

Inyenzi (cockroaches) Perjorative word used for the RPF and later for all Tutsi people

Kalinga - royal drum of the pre-independence Tutsi monarchs (mwami). In the Hutu power ideology it symbolized the oppression of Hutu by the and the humiliation of the Hutu. “No more feudalism! No more Kalinga!”

Kangura -("Wake Up") a Hutu extremist newspaper estabished in early 1990 and edited Hassan Ngeze. In December 1980 the paper printed the so-called "Hutu Ten Commandments" and charged that the Tutsi had prepared a war that “would leave no survivors.”

Kiga-Nduga: used as the equivalent of the term regionalism. A neologism, the word was formed from the name of two natural regions in Rwanda, one in the north and the other in the south. It is used to characterise the opposition between "northerners" and the "southerners" which appeared in 1967 with the expulsion from the party of members born in the north and "accused of having strayed from the party line." The conflict resurfaced in 1973 when the "northerner" Juvénal Habyarimana took power after beating the "southerner" Grégoire Kayibanda. The introduction of the multi-party system caused the word to become fashionable again. The arrangement corresponded exactly to what Bagosora had specified in his diary in early 1993 when he had written “War for the Bakiga, Politics for the Banyanduga.” “Bakiga” meant people of the north and “Banyanduga” meant people of the central and southern part of the country

Kwiunga “merging,” At some killing sites, the besieged people formulated strategies for fighting or for fleeing. At Rubona in Butare and at Bisesero at Kibuye, resisters used a tactic called “merging,” or kwiunga.121 This involved lying down and waiting until assailants had moved in among the intended victims, then rising up to face them in close combat. This tactic decreased the likelihood that assailants would shoot because they would fear being caught in fire from their own side. The two sites where the tactic was used are far apart and probably had no communication between them during the genocide.

Mata 1994 ("April 1994") gatandatu 6 also Gicurazi (May), Kamena (June), Nyakanga (July)

Minwa derived from umunwa, or mouth. Designates someone or something who talks a great deal or who is talked about but fails to materialise. A term applied to the UNAMIR peacekeepers by the population.

Mpemuke ndamuke- ''to be dishonest in order to escape death.''

“Mukore nko 1959!” “We have to do as in 1959!”

Muhere aruhande (Begin on one side) As squads sought out the most wanted victims on the morning of April 7, Bagosora was reportedly overheard directing the commanders of the elite military units, “Muhere aruhande,” “Begin on one side...,” ordering a systematic sweep of Tutsi and opponents of Hutu Power from one side of the city through to the other. (Reyntjens, Rwanda, Trois Jours, p. 58.)

Nta (hate) a Rwandan proverb tells us : "Nta wiyanga nk'uwanga undi (Nobody hates himself more than he who hates others)".

Ntibindeba (“this doesn’t concern me”, neutrality ) Using the same phrases made current by Sindikubwabo in his April 19 speech, the sub-prefect declared that those whose attitude was “this doesn’t concern me” (ntibindeba) must disappear from the communes. He insisted: Anyone who does not help his fellow Rwandans to fight the RPF is also an enemy and must be treated as an Inkotanyi....Whoever hides and does not show up to carry out the plans decided on by the administration is also an enemy.

“Pacification” meaning “more killing” merged into “pacification” meaning “more discreet killing.” no more cadavers visible on the roads. RTLM announcers showed their understanding of “pacification” by declaring a general “clean-up” of Tutsi left in Kigali. They asked listeners to finish killing all the Tutsi in the capital by May 5, the date when Habyarimana’s funeral was supposed to take place. The policy of “pacification,” meant to tighten control over the killing and to impress the foreigners, also in the end served the additional purpose of enticing more Tutsi to their deaths. Local authorities elsewhere delivered the same “pacification” messages, complete with cautions about the likelihood of satellite surveillance, to the people in their jurisdictions. The slaughter in Butare prefecture, launched most intensively two weeks after the genocide began in Kigali and elsewhere, was still at its worst when national authorities were already proclaiming “pacification” on the weekend of April 23 to 24

Pawa : The young men of each cell were organized into a group who were PAWA [Power]. They used the greeting “PAWA!” and you had to respond “PAWA” so they would know you were not an enemy. It was these groups who manned the barricades. When two PAWA patrols would meet, they would shout “PAWA!” to each other.

MRND - Mouvement Republicain Nationale Democratique Although the name Interahamwe officially described the youth wing of the Mouvement Republicain Nationale Democratique (MRND), the former ruling party, the term came to refer to all militia participating in the genocide Umurwanashyaka, party organ of the MRND. MDR-Power factions MDR-Power leader Frodauld Karamira

Mukureho ibihuru byasigaye (Clear the remaining brush) On May 18 the security committee for Muyaga commune directed the people “to destroy the brush that could serve as hiding places for the enemy.”

Radio Muhabura - RPF radio

Panga (a kiSwahili word for machete)

Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines (RTLMC), which translates in English to "radio of one thousand hills. "Radio RTLM involved the general public in hunting down named individuals, directed killers where to find them and then announced their murders. One person who was targeted recalls that he and others at risk listened to RTLM because it “indicated the victims and we wanted to know if we were on the list of people selected to be hunted.”On Announcers included Valérie Bemerki, Kantano Habimana and Georges Ruggiu.

Rubanda nyamwinshi, the majority people, a phrase refering to Hutus 1957 Hutu Manifesto (" le peuple majoritaire "). Instead Tutsi were described as “accomplices,” “infiltrators,” “Inyenzi,” “Inkotanyi” and “the minority.” The Hutu were called “the great mass” (the rubanda nyamwinshi) or “the majority people” and “the innocent,” meaning the innocent victims of the Tutsi aggressors.

Ubwoko: term is used as an equivalent for ethnic group. In fact, the Hutu, Tutsi or Twa categories were only one element in a more complex social identity summed up by bwoko, a Kinyarwanda word which describes regional belonging as much as it does that of a profession, or clan.

Umusilikare “militaire” means literally a military person, member of the armed forces. Rwandans often use the term and its Kinyarwanda equivalent umusirikare to mean any person in uniform, particularly if carrying a gun. Because National Policemen wore the same uniform as regular soldiers (except for distinctive berets), witnesses cannot ordinarily distinguish National Police from soldiers on the basis of appearance alone

Umwanzi wacu n’umwe / turamuzi / n’umututsi (Our enemy is one / We know him / It is the Tutsi.) Witness says this song was sung in the streets in Kigali on April 12, 1994

Umubisha, which signifies a deadly enemy who must be destroyed.Robert Kajuga, observed the expert, used the term Umwaanzi, meaning an opponent with whom one can negotiate, rather than for Umwaanzi et Umubisha: Both terms refer to the enemy. However, whereas Umwaanzi applies to an adversary, or to a person who is not on one's side but with who one can live, Umubisha is a mortal enemy who one is entitled to kill in self-defence.

Umuganda communal work "we ask that people do patrols [amarondo], as they are used to doing, in their neighborhoods. They must close ranks, remember how to use their usual tools [i.e., weapons] and defend themselves...I would also ask that each neighborhood try to organize itself to do communal work [umuganda]" Umuganda, the Kinyarwanda word for the wood used to construct a house, was one of Habyarimana's favorite speech topics. See also to clear the brush.Barriers and Patrols: Obligatory Participation authorities at various levels began the formal implementation of “civilian self-defense”

Umusanzu, "contribution" At the Kabgayi nursing school, soldiers ordered the directress to give them the young women students as umusanzu, a contribution to the war effort. See rape

Umusanzu mu Bwiyunge, the Information and Documentation Centre of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was opened Sept 25, 2000 in Kigali, Rwanda, by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Registrar of the ICTR, Mr. Agwu U. Okali. In his address, Mr. Okali told the guests that the principal work of the Tribunal is to try genocide suspects but also, and most importantly, that those trials must make justice a reality to the Rwandan people and thus contribute to the process of national reconciliation within Rwanda itself. Umusanzu mu Bwiyunge in Kinyarwanda means a "Contribution to Reconciliation".