Radio Muhabura

Radio Muhabura was a radio station of RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) during the Rwandan Civil War from 1990 to 1994. It was created in 1991 and broadcast from Uganda. It was the first alternative to Radio Rwanda, reaching all but the south of Rwanda by mid-1992. It was recorded by the BBC starting in 1992. It promoted armed resistance to the "extremist" Rwandan government. In an October 1992 broadcast it claimed that militia forces of the government's party had "devised traps aimed at exterminating the youth."[1] As early as January 1993, months before the RTLM went on-air, Radio Muhabura accused the Rwandan government of genocide.[2] It routinely denied RPF involvement in civilian killings,[3] and promoted resistance to "Hutu power", to the Habyarimana government, and desertion by the military.[4]

It regularly discussed the return of the Rwandan diaspora and the creation of a new government.[5]

Although the pro-Hutu RTLM (which became an inciting instrument of the Rwandan genocide of 1994) was extensively listened to, Radio Muhabura had a much smaller audience, probably because it broadcast in English instead of Kinyarwanda, and its contribution to the Rwandan Civil War is not as widely discussed.[6]

The existence of Radio Muhabura was cited as a part of the defense in the trial of Ferdinand Nahimana in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

See also

References
  1. "Broadcasting Genocide: Censorship, Propaganda and State-Sponsored Violence in Rwanda, 1990–1994" (PDF). Article 19, London, UK. 1996.
  2. "Radio Muhabura 0030, 30 Jan 1993". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 2 Feb 1993. 1993-01-30.
  3. "Radio Muhabura 1715, 11 Feb 1993". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 13 Feb 1993. 1993-02-11.
  4. "Hate Media in Rwanda > Question Period". Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication). 2004-03-13. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  5. "Echoes of violence: considerations on radio and genocide in Rwanda". Journal of Genocide Research 6 (1)). March 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  6. "Hate Media in Rwanda > Question Period". Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication). 2004-03-13. Retrieved 2007-06-05.


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