Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines

RTLM
Monogram of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
  • Kigali
  • Rwanda
Frequencies106.0 and 94.0 MHz
Programming
LanguagesKinyarwanda, French
Ownership
OwnerRadio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines S.A.
History
First air date
July 8, 1993 (1993-07-08)
Last air date
July 31, 1994 (1994-07-31)

Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) (Kinyarwanda: Radiyo yigenga y'imisozi igihumbi, lit.'Free Radio Television of the Thousand Hills'), nicknamed "Radio Genocide" or "Hutu Power Radio", was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993, to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been described by some scholars as having been a de facto arm of the Hutu regime in Rwanda.

The station's name in French derives from the description of Rwanda as "Land of a Thousand Hills". It received support from the government-controlled Radio Rwanda, which initially allowed it to transmit using their equipment.

Widely listened to by the general population, it projected hate propaganda against Tutsis, moderate Hutus, Belgians, and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). It is regarded by many Rwandan citizens (a view also shared and expressed by the UN war crimes tribunal) as having played a crucial role in creating the atmosphere of charged racial hostility that allowed the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda to occur. Scholars have concluded that RTLM broadcasts were an important part of the process of mobilising the population, which complemented the mandatory Umuganda meetings. RTLM has been described as "radio genocide", "death by radio" and "the soundtrack to genocide".