On April 1994, the Rwanda Genocide occurred, which saw upwards of 800000 Tutsis killed by Hutu military and ultranationalist extremist factions. The genocide was heightened and collaborated by Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, and propagandists actively helped locate Tutsi refugees and moderate Hutus.
During the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, media figures, propagandists, and military bloggers helped amplify the Kremlin’s propaganda that the entirety of Ukraine was “full of Nazis” and “rebellious” to justify the war. The invasion has become the largest on the European continent since World War Two, embroiled in war crimes.

 

When international tribunals took place after the Rwandan Genocide, the media figures were tried for complicity, and further back in WWII, Josef Goebbels would’ve been as well. Russian propagandists have played a key role in causing the war and continue to justify massacres and forced deportations. These acts international tribunals should try these as well.

Helping to Ignite a War

Russia, throughout its history, has been an authoritarian state with strict control over media consumption. This has been seen with the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation. The Kremlin owns all networks that broadcast to the general public, and nothing is approved with the state’s review of the media material.