Valérie Bemeriki

Valérie Bemeriki (born 1955) of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which played a significant role in promoting the genocide against the Tutsi.

Early life

Although born in Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of Congo (then Belgian Congo), Bemeriki's hometown is Giciye commune, Gisenyi préfecture, in Rwanda.

Role in genocide On April 8, 1994, two days after the assassination of Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, Bemeriki ironically noted on air that opposition members of the previous government "could not be found", while several, such as prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana had already been murdered. Based on an encounter at an interview at the offices of RTLM, Roméo Dallaire, the Force Commander of UNAMIR, has described Bemeriki as "very aggressive". On June 28, 1994, over a month after the interview, Bemeriki stated on-air that "Dallaire is the basis of this war".

During the genocide, Bemeriki frequently read out names and addresses of Tutsis alleged to be "RPF accomplices", 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. After Kantano Habimana, Bemeriki was the announcer with the second most airtime, approximately 17% of all RTLM broadcasts. Following the genocide, Bemeriki was named in accordance with the Genocide Law of the Republic of Rwanda (1996)''.

Later life and imprisonment Bemeriki fled Kigali for her native Zaire in July 1994