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Were the media in general, and in particular radio, responsible and cause of the 1994 Rwandan genocide? Is there any direct and causal relationship between the media propaganda for genocide and the genocide itself? Should action have been taken to silence “Radio des Mille
Collines” (RTLM)? Or due to the incompressible human right of freedom of expression, can anyone – even the most extremist racists – use media and radio for the worst appeal for killings?
Rwanda and Burundi are not the only examples of “hate media” neither in Africa nor in the world. But the RTLM Rwandese case is most probably the clearest example of the baleful role that radio can play.
This book examines and analyzes the Rwandan media during the period 1990 – 1994; it documents the use of censorship and propaganda by the Rwandan authorities in the years preceding the genocide; it demonstrates that incitement to violence against Tutsi was propagated by media organs with covert government sponsorship. “Broadcasting Genocide” traces the history of RTLM and documents its links with the interim government and militias which organized the genocide. “Article 19” concludes that the radio station was an instrument, not the cause, of genocide But this conclusion does not lower the media responsibility. |
