DAUGHTERS OF A KING
and eliminated Rwanda ' s moderate leadership ( Bystanders to Genocide ).
The Power of Radio
Radio Milles Collines was a free radio station that will probably go down in history as ' the most successful hate radio in the history of the world ' ( RTLM Transcripts ). Based in Kigali , it was privately owned and was staffed exclusively by Hutus , broadcasting without interruption throughout the entirety of the genocide .
Not only did Radio Milles Collines propagate hate speech against Tutsis , it explicitly directed they be exterminated . 1 Killers often carried a machete in one hand and a transistor radio in the other ( Bystanders to Genocide ).
Detailed lists of Tutsi targets were prepared in advance and staff at Radio Milles Collines called out the names of those on the lists , urging Rwandans to murder their neighbors . The specific lists included names , addresses and sometimes license plates . The radio was also used to dehumanize Tutsis , by calling them ' cockroaches ' and reminding Hutus of the years of discrimination they suffered , justifying the genocide .
100 Days of Slaughter
The Hutu ' s initial strategy to target selected people soon turned into the unspeakable , as they began to encounter resistance from the RPF . As the RPF fought back , violence grew more severe . The Hutu responded by implementing a new plan of extermination . They believed , if the opposition was completely eliminated , their power and social status would be preserved .
In a matter of weeks , mass killings of Tutsis began to take place . Local officials assisted in rounding up victims and making suitable places available for their slaughter . Tutsi men , women , children , and babies were herded in the thousands to schools and even churches . To add injury to those who were facing death , their killers were people they knew - their neighbors , workmates , former friends , and sometimes even relatives through marriage ( Peace Pledge Union ). There are even accounts of priests and nuns who participated in the massacres . In addition to brutal mass murders , there were unimaginable atrocities
In this April 4 , 2014 file photo , skulls and bones of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge , are laid out as a memorial to the thousands killed in and around the Catholic church during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide . Source : Chicago Tribune ( Ben Curtis / AP )
committed , including people being skinned and burned alive , cooked in vats of oil , babies cut from mother ' s wombs , dismembering of genitalia and the systematic rape of an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women - often times , these women were killed immediately after .
The World ' s Response
According to a report from End Genocide , from the beginning , despite claiming to be caught unaware by the killings , the United States and international community knew of the danger and disorder in Rwanda . Months before the killings began , the commander of the UN Peacekeepers in Rwanda sent a now infamous " genocide fax ", warning of the " anti-Tutsi extermination " plot .
The media covered eyewitness accounts and direct stories from missionaries who were unable to save their Rwandan friends from inevitable death . Stories hit the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times , even with descriptions of ' six-foot high corpses '. Despite these reports , very little was done to intervene on Rwanda ' s behalf . The UNAMIR ( United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda ) sent a mission to Rwanda , but with sub-par equipment , inadequate supplies , and