Machete Season

Hatzfeld interviewed the killers so that they could tell their side of the story and explain why they participated in the Rwandan Genocide. Even though the answer might seem obvious—they killed because they hated the Tutsis—the theme that emerges is that the motivations for killing were complex. As the book unfolds, a number of possible motivations emerge.

One possible motivation was self-preservation. The killers, most of whom were Hutu peasant farmers, were only following orders. Failure to do so could result in punishment. Some killers saw the order in starker terms: they had to kill or be killed. Yet the fact that no Hutus were reportedly arrested for refusing to participate in the genocide casts doubt on this premise.

Another motivation was glory in the end result. Since 1959, the Hutus openly resented the Tutsis and engaged in episodic violent clashes. After independence, and particularly with the rise of the Habyarimana’s dictatorship in the 1970s, hatred toward Tutsis turned into state policies of murder, separation, and discrimination. By the early 1990s, the rise of a Tutsi rebel force and its attacks on Rwanda’s army led to constant calls for the extermination of the Tutsis. This led to a plan for genocide with the eventual goal of removing all Tutsis from Rwanda.