History has a painful sense of absurdity. It often disguises tragedy as farce, the past as mere folly to be repeated with slightly different costumes. And so, in the aftermath of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the world solemnly declared, “Never Again.” It would be a beautiful slogan to engrave onto a monument. Except, of course, for one tiny issue: the same architects of hate speech, who once sent hundreds of thousands to their deaths through the airwaves of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), found gainful employment in the hallowed halls of international journalism. Enter Vénuste Nshimiyimana—one of RTLM’s intellectual godfathers—who later graced the airwaves of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA). Conceived as a political tool to counter the perceived threats of in the early 1990s, RTLM transformed into a full-blown mouthpiece for genocide against the Tutsi. Behind its creation were a sinister coalition of journalists, political elites, business magnates, and propagandists who knowingly used the media to incite mass murder. It is key to delve into the origins of RTLM, the damning testimonies that have come to light over decades of trials, and the lasting implications of global indifference to its architects, some of whom went on to hold reputable positions in international media. The Genesis of RTLM and the Men Behind It To trace the origins of RTLM is to trace the footprints of the architects of Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi. In his 2006 testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (Case No. ICTR-2005-84-1), Serugendo acknowledged that from early 1992 through July 1994, he participated in “political meetings and rallies in order to indoctrinate, sensitize, and incite members of the Interahamwe to kill or cause serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population, with the aim of destroying the Tutsi ethnic group.” See JUDGEMENT AND SENTENCE of THE PROSECUTOR v. Joseph SERUGENDO Case No ICTR-2005-84-1 of 12 June 2006 (Para 20-22) Joseph Serugendo, member of Interahamwe’s national executive committee, acknowledges that from early 1992 through 1994, “as a member of the Interahamwe, he planned with other leaders of the MRND, and the Interahamwe militias, political meetings and rallies aimed at inciting members of the Interahamwe to kill or cause serious harm to members of the Tutsi population with the goal of destroying the Tutsi ethnic group.” Equally revealing was Serugendo’s admission regarding the establishment of RTLM. He admits that from 8 April 1993 through July 1994, “he and others planned to establish, fund and operate the RTLM as a radio station which disseminated an anti-Tutsi message, intended to foment racial hatred and ultimately to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group.” RTLM as a radio station explicitly intended to disseminate an anti-Tutsi message. The purpose was unmistakable: to incite hatred and to lay the groundwork for mass extermination of a people. The last part of this admission is very important, especially the “he and others” who planned to establish, fund and operate the RTLM”. The who are “the others” is an answer that was given by none other than Ferdinand Nahimana on September 23, 2002 when he appeared in a witness stand in his own case before the ICTR. During the examination-in-chief, a question was posed by his counsel Jean-Marie Biju-Duval: “Mr. Nahimana, can you please tell the Chamber, as far as you know, how, by whom, and on what date, was this idea of the creation of RTLM born?” In a composed voice and tone Nahimana responded: “The idea of establishing the RTLM is born -- well, it was communicated to me in September or October 1992. I'm saying it was communicated to me because this was done by two former colleagues who became my friends, Mr. Joseph Serugendo, and the journalist Vénuste Nshimiyimana.” Nahimana had more to tell— “The latter was a journalist and worked for Rwandan television. They came to see me at home and they told me that the idea of the establishment of a radio station was in vogue, ... For them it was seen as a good thing for a radio station, which would be politically established in order to counter what the RPF was doing. I don't know where the idea came from, who initiated it, but this is how I got to know of it.” Counsel Biju-Dual had a follow-up question for Nahimana: “Can you please tell us how the circle of the founders of RTLM developed?” Nahimana responded at length. “That very evening, when they shared that idea with me --first of all, I found it very interesting, as an idea, and I asked them, why me, why did they come to me? Had they talked about this with others? They said, We know you from ORINFOR, you are aware of press matters, and you know quite a number of people. ... So what we are interested in is the funding. And you can contact, in particular, people from MRND...” Quickly Nahimana told the ICTR’s Trial Chamber— the first person who came to his mind. “I thought about Mr. Félicien Kabuga. I said, (to Serugendo and Nshimiyimana) Well, what if we called him and asked him? So I called him at the same time and he answered the call. I told him that I was with some young journalists who are technical persons at the radio station and they have an interesting idea...” In his testimony Kabuga loved the idea and the next day, the trio met Kabuga in his office “and we discussed, Kabuga accepted, and he said no, let's put this to others. We asked him to contact his business men and women colleagues and the others; there were people in administration; they would contact their friends and so on and so forth...” The rest are details, and that is Serugendo’s “others” in the birth of genocidaires’ mouth piece. The answer was simple: Nahimana, as a former director of ORINFOR (Rwanda Information Office), had extensive media contacts and influence. His first thought was to involve Félicien Kabuga, one of Rwanda’s wealthiest businessmen and a key financial supporter of the MRND. Kabuga, infamous today for financing the genocide, quickly endorsed the idea, bringing in other business elites and MRND officials to fund RTLM’s operations. As Nahimana testified, Kabuga immediately arranged meetings and secured the necessary financial backing. Going against a Peace Agreement The timing of RTLM’s creation was far from coincidental. On July 12, 1992, the Government of Rwanda and the RPF signed a Ceasefire Agreement in Arusha, Tanzania. Among its many provisions, Article VII stipulated a cessation of hostilities, including denigrating and unfounded propaganda through the mass media. However, for genocide planners, this provision represented an obstacle, as the national broadcaster, Radio Rwanda, was compelled to moderate its language under the terms of the ceasefire. RTLM, a privately controlled entity, was free to ignore such restrictions, allowing its operators to continue inciting hatred against the Tutsi population without interference. Prosper Musemakweli, then acting Director of ORINFOR, affirmed that following the agreement, he instructed Radio Rwanda and the print media under the organisation to avoid inflammatory language like Inyenzi (cockroaches) or Inyangarwanda (enemies) in reference to the RPF or Tutsis in general—and other broadcasting calls to violence that would later culminate in genocide. So, it is late 1992. There are ongoing Peace negotiations in Arusha Tanzania between the government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front(RPF). Negotiators had already signed the Protocol of Agreement on the Rule of Law on 18th August, 1992; and the two parties had accepted the principle of power-sharing within the framework of a Broad-Based Transitional Government. Rwanda is inching towards the signing of the Protocols of Agreement on Power-Sharing on 30th October, 1992. In Kigali there is an unusual activity. Two men, Joseph Serugendo—a senior Interahamwe militia and Venuste Nshimiyimana—a journalist with extensive media experience met, and invented an idea that would ultimately become one of history’s most toxic tools of mass murder. The two approached their co-conspirator Ferdinand Nahimana. Their pitch? To create a private radio station, RTLM, that would evade the restrictions imposed on state-run Radio Rwanda following the July 1992 Ceasefire Agreement with the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). RTLM would, under the guise of entertainment, stoke racial hatred, incite violence, and lay the groundwork for genocide. Nahimana, dubbed Rwanda’s Josef Goebbels, immediately recognized the strategic potential. This wasn’t just another propaganda machine—it was a loudspeaker for death. The trio moved quickly, enlisting the help of Félicien Kabuga, a wealthy businessman and key MRND financier, to fund the station. Nshimiyimana and Nahimana played a crucial role as ideologues, bringing their media expertise to bear on the station’s operations, ensuring that its message of hate reached every corner of the nation. Specifics are vital in such a historical occurrence. RTLM would use humor, popular music— with direct or coded messages to incite genocide, violence hence eroding any semblance of coexistence in Rwandan society. The brilliance—if one can stomach such a word in this context—of their approach was how it cloaked hate speech with a veneer of entertainment. The radio’s broadcasts incited not merely hate but active participation in genocide. It directed roadblocks, encouraged attacks on fleeing Tutsis, and provided specific details about targets. Serugendo’s testimony, as well as Nahimana’s own admissions, leaves no doubt about the radio’s intent and impact. The ICTR’s judgment against Nahimana, Serugendo, and others affirms this grim reality. Never Again,” but for whom? “Never Again.” It’s a phrase etched into the walls of memorials, invoked solemnly at international gatherings, and featured prominently in speeches by world leaders. A pledge, we are told, to prevent genocides from ever happening again. But like many lofty commitments, the reality often falls woefully short. The world is led to believe Vénuste Nshimiyimana had somehow metamorphosed from an architect of hate and genocide to an employee of reputable Western media outlets. First with the BBC then with Voice of America. What a fascinating twist of fate! The same man who co-conspired with Nahimana to create a genocidal radio station now graced airwaves meant to inform and educate. For example, how do we square the noble promise of Never Again with the BBC's employment of Vénuste Nshimiyimana—a man who, by all accounts, was one of the brains behind the media outlet that cheered on genocide with enthusiasm? To put it bluntly: “Never Again” apparently comes with an asterisk. History may remember the masterminds of RTLM with scorn, but what of the institutions that failed to hold its propagandists accountable? In hiring individuals implicated in genocide incitement, global media outlets sent a message of their own—that the atrocities committed against the Tutsi are somehow lesser, that the perpetrators of propaganda are simply doing their jobs. This indifference must end. Survivors deserve justice, not a world where the voices that called for their deaths are given new platforms. While Holocaust deniers are (rightly) treated with contempt and denied platforms, individuals tied to Rwanda’s genocide against Tutsi—whether through direct incitement or propaganda—have found lucrative careers in journalism. One must ask: would the BBC or VOA have dared to hire a figure linked to Nazi propaganda with same ease? One imagines not. But for Rwanda, a country that endured one of the swiftest genocides in modern history? A shrug and a job offer. The double standard is glaring, and it underscores the Western media’s often selective outrage. By hiring individuals like Nshimiyimana, international broadcasters, consciously legitimized the legacy of RTLM. The messages of hate that once blared from Kigali’s airwaves echoed in ways that transcended Rwanda’s borders. When BBC and VOA brought Nshimiyimana into their ranks, they validated the architects of genocide, ignoring the pain and trauma of survivors who continue to bear the scars of RTLM’s violence. One might think that Nahimana’s 2002 ICTR revelations would have served as a wake-up call to institutions such as the BBC. Alas, in the sanctimonious corridors of the British Broadcasting Corporation, pledges of “Never Again” are, it seems, reserved for special occasions—maybe cocktail parties or carefully curated documentaries. In any just world, this disclosure would have triggered alarm bells across the media landscape. After all, RTLM wasn’t merely a radio station—it was a tool that helped incite the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, resulting in the deaths of over a million people. Surely, institutions like the BBC, with its tooted commitment to journalistic integrity, would have been compelled to take a hard look at their own hiring practices, especially given Nshimiyimana’s ties to such an ominous operation. But instead, there was dead silence! But here we are. Nshimiyimana, fully exposed as one of the men who helped birth RTLM’s genocide idea, enjoyed and keeps enjoying international legitimacy and impunity. The BBC and VOA’s indifference is not just a mistake; it is an indictment of a global media culture that cherry-picks whose crimes it remembers and whose it prefers to overlook. The Hollow “Never Again” One cannot speak of “Never Again” without addressing this moral bankruptcy. International media have long positioned themselves as the righteous gatekeepers of history’s lessons. But what does it say when those same gatekeepers harbor figures like Nshimiyimana? It suggests that for all their condescending declarations, they are willing to turn a blind eye when it suits them. The fact that Nahimana’s detailed testimony about Nshimiyimana’s role in creating RTLM did not provoke immediate outrage from the BBC speaks volumes. It reveals a selective amnesia, an apathetic shrug at the horrors of history when those horrors are inconvenient. This is not just a theoretical critique; it has real implications for survivors of the genocide. Imagine surviving a genocide spurred on by hate-filled broadcasts, only to hear that one of its chief architects now works for a media organization that claims to speak truth to power. How does that align with any meaningful interpretation of justice or accountability? And so, history’s tragicomic cycle continues. The architects of Rwanda’s genocide reemerge, repackaged and legitimized by institutions that should know better. Vénuste Nshimiyimana’s employment with reputable media casts a long shadow over any credible discussion of justice, accountability, or the sanctity of “Never Again.” His presence in the international media makes a mockery of survivors’ suffering and challenges any genuine attempt to learn from the past. Words matter. They can kill, they can heal, and they can be twisted into grotesque parody. For the survivors of the Genocide Against the Tutsi, the world’s indifference to those who spread RTLM’s poison is not merely an oversight; it is a grim reminder that even “Never Again” can become a hollow refrain—especially when those entrusted to uphold it choose, instead, to forget.
