The BBC documentary Rwanda, The Untold Story has triggered protests
by the people and government of Rwanda, who believe the film to be an attack on
their country. The hour-long documentary questions the role which former Rwandan
President Paul Kagame played in the country’s 1994 genocide and places claims of
war crimes carried out by his forces under scrutiny. As a result, Rwanda’s
parliament has opted to ban BBC radio broadcasts in the local language,
Kinyarwanda.
The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) stated, “Over the last three
weeks, RURA has received complaints of incitement, hatred, divisionism, genocide
denial and revision from the public following the documentary aired by BBC on 1
October 2014 titled Rwanda, The Untold Story and other violations of
journalistic responsibility spanning a number of years.’
The BBC responded to the protests and said it had a “duty to investigate difficult
and challenging subjects” and that the film “made a valuable contribution to the
understanding of the tragic history of the country and the region.”
In Rwanda, The Untold Story Kagame, who has been known as the man
who rescued Rwanda and ended the 1994 killings, is suggested to have been
involved in taking down the airplane carrying Habyarimana and Burundian president
Cyprien Ntaryamira, an event which incited the genocide.
The BBC website describes further revelations in the film, “Former close associates
from within Kagame’s inner circle and government speak out from hiding abroad.
They present a very different portrait of a man who is often hailed as presiding
over a model African state. Rwanda’s economic miracle and apparent ethnic
harmony has led to the country being one of the biggest recipients of aid from the
UK.’
