Mnakumbuka ya Rwanda 94??
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rwandan Genocide
Background
History of Rwanda · Origins of Tutsi and Hutu · Kingdom of Rwanda · Rwandan Civil War · Hutu Power · Assassination of Habyarimana
Events
Initial events · Gikondo massacre · Nyarubuye massacre · Chronology of the Rwandan Genocide
Responsible parties
Genocidaires:
Akazu · Impuzamugambi militia · Interahamwe militia ·
Hutu Power Media:
Kangura · RTLM Radio
Response
Resistance:
Rwandan Patriotic Front
International Community:
Role of the international community · UNAMIR Mission (United Nations) · Opération Turquoise
Effects
Great Lakes refugee crisis · Gacaca court · International Criminal Tribunal · 1st Congo War / 2nd Congo War
Resources
Bibliography ·
Filmography
v d e
Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role during the April-July 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
The station's name is French for "One Thousand Hills Free Radio and Television", deriving from the description of Rwanda as "Land of a Thousand Hills". It received support from the government-controlled Radio Rwanda, which initially allowed it to transmit using their equipment.[1]
Widely listened to by the general population, it projected racist propaganda against Tutsis, moderate Hutus, Belgians, and the United Nations mission UNAMIR. It is widely regarded as having played a crucial role in creating the atmosphere of charged racial hostility that allowed the genocide to occur. A November 2009 studyby a PhD candidate at the Institute for International Economic Studies of Stockholm Universityestimated that the broadcasts explained an increase in violence that amounted to 45,000 Tutsi deaths, about 9% of the total.[2][3]Contents [hide]
1 Prior to the Genocide
2 During the Genocide
3 Individuals associated with the station
4 After-effects
5 In film
6 References
7 External links
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Prior to the Genocide
RTLM was established in 1993, primarily railing against on-going peace talks between President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose family supported the radio station,[4] and the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front.[5] It became a popular station since it offered frequent contemporary musical selections, unlike the said state radio, and quickly developed a faithful audience among youth-aged Rwandans, who later made up the bulk of the Interahamwe militia.
The station is considered to have preyed upon deep animosities and prejudices between the Hutu and Tutsi populations. The hateful rhetoric was placed alongside the sophisticated use of humor and popular Zairean music.
Critics claim that the Rwandan government fostered the creation of RTLM as "hate radio", to circumvent the fact they had committed themselves to a ban against "harmful radio propaganda" in the UN's March 1993 joint communiqué in Dar-Es-Salaam.[1] However RTLM director Ferdinand Nahimana claimed that the station was founded primarily to counter the propaganda by RPF's Radio Muhabura.
In January 1994, the station broadcast messages berating UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire for failing to prevent the killing of approximately 50 people in a UN-demilitarized zone.[6]
After Habyarimana's private plane was shot down on April 6, 1994, RTLM joined the chorus of voices blaming Tutsi rebels, and began calling for a "final war" to "exterminate" the Tutsi. The code word was 'cut down the tall trees'.[5]
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During the Genocide
Following the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the first relief workers on the scene reported seeing hundreds of Tutsi fleeing their villages with little more than the clothes on their backs and transistor radios pressed to their ears.[citation needed]
As the genocide was taking place, the United States military drafted a plan to jam RTLM's broadcasts, but this action was never taken because of the cost of the operation and the legal implications of interfering with Rwanda's sovereignty.[7]
When French forces entered Rwanda during Opération Turquoise to support the Hutu-dominated interim government, RTLM broadcasted from Gisenyi, calling on 'you Hutu girls to wash yourselves and put on a good dress to welcome our French allies. The Tutsi girls are all dead, so you have your chance.' [8]
When the Tutsi-led RPF army won control of the country in July, RTLM took mobile equipment and fled to Zaire with Hutu refugees.
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Individuals associated with the station This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)
Félicien Kabuga, president
Ferdinand Nahimana, director
Jean Bosco Barayagwiza
Gaspard Gahigi, editor-in-chief
Phocas Hahimana, day-to-day manager
Georges Ruggiu, broadcaster
Valerie Bemeriki, broadcaster
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After-effects
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda's action against RTLM began on 23 October 2000 - along with the trial against Hassan Ngeze, director and editor of the Kangura magazine.
On 19 August 2003, at the tribunal in Arusha, life sentences were requested for RTLM leaders Ferdinand Nahimana, and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza. They were charged with genocide, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity, before and during the period of the genocides of 1994.
On 3 December 2003, the court found all three defendants guilty and sentenced Nahimana and Ngeze to life imprisonment and Barayagwiza to imprisonment for 35 years - this was appealed. The Appeal judgment, issued on 27 November 2007 reduced the sentences of all three - Nahimana getting 30 years, Barayagwiza getting 32 and Ngeze getting 35, with the court overturning convictions on certain counts.
On 14 December 2009, RTLM announcer Valerie Bemeriki was convicted by a gacaca court in Rwanda and sentenced to life imprisonment for her role in inciting genocidal acts.