Interview: Joyce Leader

September 30, 2003

20030930

Ghosts of Rwanda

Interview: Joyce Leader

She was second-in-command at the U.S. embassy in Kigali. In this interview, she talks about the political background to the genocide and America's effort to support the Arusha peace accord. She also recounts her experience during the first 48 hours of the killing before being evacuated. And she talks about the lessons of Rwanda, in particular, the embassy's failure to see or understand the signs of what was coming. "I think the formation of the militia was something we knew about, but we just never got out and tried to really track it down. We went on what we gathered from other people without any firsthand information. When we would confront people in positions of authority, which we did, they would of course deny that any such militarization was going on." This interview was conducted on Sept. 30, 2003.

JoyceLeader30September2003.pdf

189352 octets

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Frontline

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/interviews/leader.html

Interview

EN

Joyce Leader, conseillère à l'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Kigali, a suivi les négociations d'Arusha entre le gouvernement rwandais et le FPR. Voisine d'Agathe Uwilingiyimana, elle témoigne de ce qu'elle a vu quand celle-ci a été assassinée le 7 avril 1994.