General information

Call No.:

350-3-1:41/1

Part of series

HU OSA 350-3-1 Records of the International Monitor Institute: Africa: Rwanda

Located at

BetaSP NTSC #41 / No. 1

Digital ver. identifier

HU_OSA_00009754

Date of production

1994

Date

1994

Level

Item

Primary Type

Moving image

Language

English, French, Kinyarwanda, English

Duration

1 hour 33 min.

Content

Form/Genre

Television program

Contents Summary

A compilation of BBC News on Rwanda covering the period between April 1994 and June 1994. Clip 1: Reports about massacres in a church, the history of UN interventions in African civil wars and criticism towards its conduct in Rwanda, and refugees on Tanzania's border coping with precarious water and sanitation conditions. Features an interview with ltd. Gen. Emmanuel Erskine (Former UN Commander). Clip 2 (May, 1994): News report about Benaco, a refugee camps in the Tanzanian fields where almost a quarter of a million of Rwandans gathered after fleeing the massacres back home. Rob Wilson, a missionary who has been living in Rwanda for 11 years and who has fled the country together with the Rwandans, discusses the conditions in the camp and the situation in Rwanda. It contains interviews with mixed families of Hutus and Tutsis. The report continues with the RPF fighters, who do not favor international intervention and who are certain of their victory in Rwanda. It also contains footage with the head of the Tanzanian army coming to meet the RPF forces, talking about possible Tanzanian intervention and complaining about Rwandan bodies floating in the rivers and littering Tanzanian water sources. Clip 3 (May 13, 1994): News report about the situation at the Rwanda-Burundi borders, the situation in Gitarama and several villages around it, as well as the situation in an improvised camp near a village outside of Gitarama. In these areas, almost all Hutus supporting the RPF and the majority of Tutsis were killed by the Hutu militias and the Government troops. The reporter travels in these areas investigating the reasons behind the killings and interviewing, among others, Vjeko Curic (Franciscan priest and the only Westerner to remain in Gitarama during and after the murders), Rwandan ministers and local officials, including the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Education, Rwandan refugees, and spiritual leaders who talk about their incapability to control the military forces. Clip 4 (April 8, 1994): News report presented by Lindsey Hillsum from Kigali in which she is questioning the effectiveness of the UN peacekeeping mission. Clip 5: News report about Rwandans fleeing the country and the international response to the crisis. It contains footage with the massive exodus of the refugees to Goma, Zaire and people dying from exhaustion. It contains a report about the conditions in the camp and the advancement of RPF rebels on one side and defeated Government militias on the other side. The report discusses the possibility of attaining peace, after RPF called for a cease-fire and the new Rwandan government has declared safety to all returning Hutus. Clip 6 (June 29, 1994): BBC Newsnight reports on the siege in Kigali where the RPF captured the last two government strongholds, the paramilitary police camp and the presidential guard camp. It includes an interview with Dr. James Orbinsky (Medecins Sans Frontieres). The report continues with news about RPF capturing Butare and a discussion on the French policies in Rwanda, including the humanitarian mission “Operation Turquoise.” Clip 7: News report about the situation in Rwanda 3 months after the killings started: RPF is advancing in the country towards the border with Zaire and refugees fleeing daily amount to hundreds of thousands. It includes an interview with an RPF military leader, a local prefect who runs a district for the RPF, and Faustin Twagiramungu, interim Prime Minister of Rwanda. The report contains footage of orphan children who escaped the slaughters, images of the massacres sites at Nyarubuye and Rusumo, and scenes with RPF members celebrating their victories. Clip 8: Jeremy Bowen reports on RPF forces taking over Rwandan cities and discusses the possible position that France will take in the conflict. Clip 9 (May 6, 1994): A brief news report of Tom Galvin from BBC News on the heightened violence in Kigali, Rwanda and the position of the UN troops in the conflict. Clip 10: (May 7, 1994): Correspondent Roger Herring from BBC News reports from Rwanda about the consequences of the civil war that afflicted Rwanda since the killings started in April 1994. Includes footage with children who survived the massacres and a discussion about the unfolding battle between RPF forces and Governmental troops for the capital Kigali. Clip 11 (May 9. 1994): News report from the Rwandan border about the refugee camp Benaco where refugees flow in daily in great numbers from both ethnic groups and who live together peacefully despite the hardships in the camp. Clip 12 (May 12, 1994): Mark Doyle reports about the fighting between the government and rebel armies over Kigali and UN’s efforts to try to secure a cease fire. Includes an interview with Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the Force Commander of UNAMIR. Clip 13 (May 5, 1994): Roger Herring reports about a village school in Musha, Rwanda, which became a prison for many of the genocide perpetrators. It contains an interview with a self-confessed murderer of 5 of his neighbors. Clip 14 (May 13, 1994): A report about constant inflow of human bodies from Rwanda in one of Uganda’s lakes due to heavy raining. It discusses the health risks of this situation for the villagers, mostly fishermen, living nearby. Clip 15 (May 30, 1994): Report about UN armored personnel in Rwanda and a UN meeting where neither sides, RPF or the Government, have sent top commanders to represent them in the tentative peace talks. Clip 16: A brief report on Eglise St. Famille where survivors of attacks have gathered and the ICRC compound where the personnel is struggling with the number of casualties and the lack of medical personnel, supplies, and poor operating conditions. Clip 17 (May 13, 1994): George Aligaya reports from Nairobi, Kenya on the presence of UN soldiers on the ground in Rwanda. It includes one of Romeo Dallaire’s (UN Forfce Commander) appeals for equipment, food, and medicine. Clip 18 (June 26, 1994): A report on the teenagers enrolling and joining the rebel forces. Clip 19 ((June 28, 1994): BBC correspondent Ben Brown reports from Rwanda about the ongoing French military operations and their role in stopping the killings in Rwanda. It contains a news report on the French rescue missions in Rwanda, when they rescued 35 nuns, including French, Belgian, British, and American missionaries, from a compound in Kibuye, where previously 10.000 people have been massacred. Clip 20: News report about intensified fighting in Kigali and the difficult evacuation of the injured from the Red Cross compound which was in the middle of the fighting zone. Clip 21: A report about a priest who offered sanctuary in a church to Tutsis who managed to escape the massacres. The report includes news about the Hutu checkpoints in Rwanda and the still existing threats for Tutsis despite the French presence. It also includes an interview with Théodore Sindikubwabo, the interim president of Rwanda, who claims that there has not been any organized killing of Tutsis by the Rwandan government, as well as footage of Francois Leotard (French Defense Minister) visiting the French troops posted in Rwanda. Clip 22: News report about two soldiers serving with the UN force in Rwanda, one killed and the other injured, and a report on the city of Gitarama where the fighting between the Government and RPF forces was won by the RPF troops. The program continues with news about France and Italy offering to send troops to Rwanda and a discussion on their effectiveness, including interviews with the Secretary General of the RPF in Rwanda and the leading spokesman for the governing UDF Party in France.

Context

Associated Names

Rekkas, Faria (Investigator)

BBC (Copyright holder, Creator/Author, Producer)