The trial of Kabuga Felicien who is alleged to have financed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi continued with a hearing of a testimony from a witness detailing how the suspect’s radio station, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) fueled the genocide. The witness with the protected code-name KAB053 told the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) how Simon Bikindi performed songs that spread hate and discrimination during the rally that took place in Musave, a suburb in Kigali City. ALSO READ: Simon Bikindi, the extremist musician The female witness pointed out that during that rally that had been called by Kabuga, Bikindi’s songs were played consistently yet they carried lyrics that dehumanized the Tutsi and branded them as enemies who should be killed. ALSO READ: Kabuga participated in hate speech rallies alongside Mugesera, Ngirumpatse - New witness “The entire population was made to understand that the Tutsi were the enemy”, the witness explained. ALSO READ: Kabuga provided training field for Interahamwe militia, says witness She disclosed how Tutsi would be beaten at the rally that was heavily guarded. She also spoke of how she was personally attacked and how she saw many attacks and heard about others as well as some of the beatings that happened before and during Kabuga’s speech at the rally. ALSO READ: Witness pins Kabuga on inciting Interahamwe to “clear the bushes” “People were being beaten, properties were looted and plundered, and I could hear people screaming in the hills” she added. KAB053 also talked about some young people who had been training in military camps near the locality as well as heard people singing in Kabuga’s house when walking by it. She added that the songs sung by the Interahamwe only aimed at disseminate the genocidal ideology and calling for the extermination of the Tutsi. “Interahamwe spread the ideology in different ways, approaching people in their professional and personal lives,” she explained. The trial will continue next week.
