Valérie Bemeriki

Valérie Bemeriki
Born	1955 Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of Congo (then Belgian Congo)
Nationality	Rwandan
Occupation	Radio presenter (animatrice), journalist
Criminal charge	planning genocide, inciting violence, complicity in several murders (by a local Rwandan Gacaca court in 2009)
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment
Criminal status	Incarcerated in Gikondo Prison (Kigali Central Prison, "1930"), Kigali,Rwanda

Valérie Bemeriki (born 1955 in Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of Congo) was a presenter on the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which played a significant role in promoting the Rwandan Genocide.

Although born in Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of Congo (then Belgian Congo), Bemeriki's hometown is Giciye commune, Gisenyi préfecture, in Rwanda. Prior to working at RTLM, Bemeriki worked for the ruling MRND party as a propagandist, also writing for the Interahamwe's (MRND's youth wing) publication.

One of the main animatrices of RTLM, Bemeriki frequently read out names and addresses of alleged "RPF accomplices", inciting targeted violence and often murder on the named individuals by groups such as the Impuzamugambi and Interahamwe militias. Bemeriki's style of presenting was representative of RTLM's overall hateful rhetoric, used alongside a colloquial type of tongue-in-cheek humor. On April 8, 1994, two days after the assassination of Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, Bemeriki ironically noted on air that opposition members of the previous government "could not be found", while several, such as prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana had already been murdered. Based on an encounter at an interview at the offices of RTLM, Roméo Dallaire, the Force Commander of UNAMIR, has described Bemeriki as "very aggressive." On June 28, 1994, over a month after the interview, Bemeriki claimed on-air that "Dallaire is the basis of this war."

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