Valérie Bemeriki

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Valérie Bemeriki
Born1955 (age 68–69)
Rutshuru, Belgian Congo[2]
(now Democratic Republic of the Congo)[2]
NationalityRwandan
Occupation(s)Radio presenter (animatrice), journalist
Criminal statusIncarcerated in Gikondo Prison (Kigali Central Prison, "1930"), Kigali,[3] Rwanda
Criminal chargeplanning genocide, inciting violence, complicity in several murders
(by a local Rwandan Gacaca court in 2009)[1]
PenaltyLife imprisonment[1]
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Valérie Bemeriki (born 1955)

genocide against the Tutsi
.

Early life

Although born in

MRND party as a propagandist, also writing for the Interahamwe's (MRND's youth wing) publication.[6]

Role in genocide

On April 8, 1994, two days after the

UNAMIR, has described Bemeriki as "very aggressive".[8] On June 28, 1994, over a month after the interview, Bemeriki stated on-air that "Dallaire is the basis of this war".[9]

During the genocide, Bemeriki frequently read out names and addresses of Tutsis alleged to be "RPF accomplices",[10] which led to their murder by Hutu Power paramilitaries such as the Impuzamugambi and Interahamwe. Bemeriki was noted for presenting RTML's genocidal rhetoric through a colloquial type of tongue-in-cheek humor.

Bemeriki was an advocate of machetes as a murder weapon, and instructed viewers to "not kill those cockroaches with a bullet — cut them to pieces with a machete”. Bemeriki was one of the few major women who played a major role in the genocide, along with former Minister for Family Welfare and the Advancement of Women Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and former Minister of Justice Agnès Ntamabyaliro Rutagwera.[11] After Kantano Habimana, Bemeriki was the announcer with the second most airtime, approximately 17% of all RTLM broadcasts.[12] Following the genocide, Bemeriki was named[5] as one its 2,133 "planners, organizers, instigators, supervisors and leaders"[13] in accordance with the Genocide Law of the Republic of Rwanda (1996).[14]

Later life and imprisonment

Bemeriki fled Kigali for her native

Rwandan military.[2][4][5]

She was convicted of and pleaded guilty to planning genocide, inciting violence and complicity in several murders and sentenced to life imprisonment by a

merely acting under the pressure from her employer.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Rwanda jails journalist Valerie Bemeriki for genocide". BBC. London, UK. 14 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e WK/DO/FH (22 June 1999). "VALERIE BEMERIKI, ANCIENNE JOURNALISTE DE RTLM ARRETEE, RECONNAÎT LES FAITS QUI LUI SONT REPROCHES". Hirondelle. Kigali, Rwanda.[permanent dead link]
  3. ISBN 0465008046
    .
  4. ^ a b c "Valerie Bemeriki". TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity). Archived from the original on 2013-04-08. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  5. ^ a b c http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6922 Archived 2023-09-23 at the Wayback Machine Olojede, Dele (4 May 2004). "When Words Could Kill". Newsday. New York City, NY, USA. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ISBN 1899477055
    .
  7. ISBN 1844675424
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-679-31171-3
    .
  9. ^ [1] Archived 2023-09-23 at the Wayback Machine UN transcript; ICTR-99-52-T; June 28, 1994, P137B, p. 17
  10. ^ Cotton, Cassandra (2007). "'Where Radio is King:' Rwanda's Hate Radio and the Lessons Learned". Atlantic International Studies Journal: 4–11. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  11. ^ "When sons rape, kill at the command of mothers". The New Times | Rwanda. 2014-04-07. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  12. ISBN 978-0-74532-625-2. Archived from the original
    on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  13. ^ http://www.rwandaembassy.org/discover-rwanda/the-genocide-in-rwanda.html Archived 2013-03-30 at the Wayback Machine The Genocide in Rwanda: Rwanda Embassy, Washington, D.C., 08. January 2011
  14. ^ http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2d0c2,3df4bea428,0,,,.html Archived 2023-09-23 at the Wayback Machine Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Rwanda: Whether there is a "list" kept by the government of Hutus wanted in connection with the genocide (...) [accessed 17 March 2013]
  15. ^ "Rwanda woman: I incited killings". The Independent. 2011-10-22. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
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