Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African Nation of Rwanda.Over a period of 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed.

Rwandan Genocide was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62 and overthrown the Tutsi monarchy.Estimates of the death toll have ranged between 500,000 and 1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the country's total population.The Rwandan military and Hutu militia groups set out to murder all the Tutsis they could reach, regardless of age or sex.

The assassination of Habyarimana  in April 1994(On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali , killing everyone on board) set off a violent reaction, during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis (and also pro-peace Hutus, who were portrayed as "traitors" and "collaborationists"). This genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media.


Paul Kagame's Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front(RPF) seized power in the aftermath of the genocide.Kagame has accused the former French president François Mitterrand's administration of training and arming the Hutu militias responsible for the slaughter.

Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda revealed in his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal  that the genocide was openly discussed in cabinet meetings.

The news media played a crucial role in the genocide; local print and radio media fueled the killings while the international media either ignored or seriously misconstrued events. The state-owned newspaper Kangura had a central role, starting an anti-Tutsi and anti-RPF campaign.

Unburied bones of victims of the Rwandan Genocide

Paul Rusesabagina a Rwandan who faced down the militia to protect the terrorised families who had sought shelter at the five-star Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali. He alone had heroically saved hundreds of people.The hotel was owned by the Belgian company Sabena, and it had the benefit of an outside telephone line.

Paul Rusesabagina was awarded the Lantos Human Rights Prize in Washington,USA in Nov 2011. 

Rwanda Genocide: Former Kivumu Mayor Grégoire Ndahimana Guilty

The UN War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda  has found former Kivumu mayor Grégoire Ndahimana guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for planning the slaughter of more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees in 1994.

Rwanda Genocide: Life Sentence Awarded to Two Persons

A UN war crimes court has found two leading figures in Rwanda's  former ruling Hutu-led party guilty of genocide for their key roles in the 1994 massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.Life sentences were handed to Mathieu Ngirumpatse, 72, former chairman of the National Revolutionary Movement for Development party, and his deputy, 60-year-old Edouard Karemera. The party's youth wing, the Interahamwe, carried out most of the atrocities.The pair had pleaded not guilty to the charges laid by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Rwanda Genocide: Report Exonerates Paul Kagame

A French investigation into the causes of the 1994 Rwandan genocide has exonerated the president, Paul Kagame, and his Tutsi allies on Tuesday Jan 10,2012 ,the judges presented their report to Kagame's lawyers.The findings did not specifically point the finger at the Hutus.