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During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, radio was one of the most ubiquitous sources of news and information available to the population. The era predated the use of cell phones, email, and the internet, and television was not as widely available as in western nations. For the Force Commander of UNAMIR (the United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda), radio monitoring of broadcasts about Rwanda, emanating from within and outside of Rwanda was an important method for tracking reported events occuring in the country and responses to the violence from other parts of the world, from the perspective of national and international journalists. Radio was used as a propoganda tool by government extremists orchestrating the genocide to incite violence among the broader population and to call for the taking up of arms against the Tutsi population and Hutu moderates who did not support the campaign of violence.
These transcripts, from the gift of the professional papers of Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, were transcribed and compiled by UNAMIR staff members. Many of the transcripts are hand annotated and highlighted, either during the mission or at a later date. News outlets that were monitored include Radio-Television des Milles Collines (RTLM), broadcasting from Kigali which was instrumental in calling ordinary citizens to kill their neighbors and family members. Other local radio stations include Radio Rwanda and Radio Muhabura (The Voice of the RPF or Rwandan Patriotic Front)--the opposition force that eventually occupied the country and vercame the extremist elements of the existing goverment, prevailing in the conflict to forming a new government.
Transcripts from sources such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cable News Network (CNN), Deutsche Welle, Radio France International, and the Voice of America (VOA) chronicle events from an international perspective. Broadcasts report on events as they unfolded, and some feature interviews with key military, political and diplomatic figures on the ground during the civil war and the genocide.