ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the steps leading to the Rwandan genocide, tracing the importance of hate speech, disseminated in print and by radio, in preparing Rwanda's "willing executioners". It describes the drafting history of the convention, including opposition by the United States to the criminalization of direct and public incitement to genocide, motivated by concerns to protect freedom of the press. The chapter discusses the judicial interpretation of the Genocide Convention and the meaning of "direct" and "public". Genocide is prepared with propaganda, a bombardment of lies and hatred directed against the targeted group, and aimed at preparing the "willing executioners" for the atrocious tasks they will be asked to perform. In specifying a distinct act of "direct and public incitement", the drafters of the Genocide Convention sought to create an autonomous in-fraction, one that, like conspiracy, is an inchoate crime, in that the prosecution need not make proof of any result.
