There are numerous memorials around Rwanda to those killed in the genocide
In
just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda
by ethnic Hutu extremists. They were targeting members of the minority
Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of
their ethnic origin.
Why did the Hutu militias want to kill the Tutsis?
About 85% of Rwandans are Hutus but the Tutsi minority has
long dominated the country. In 1959, the Hutus overthrew the Tutsi
monarchy and tens of thousands of Tutsis fled to neighbouring countries,
including Uganda. A group of Tutsi exiles formed a rebel group, the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990 and fighting
continued until a 1993 peace deal was agreed.
On the night of 6 April 1994 a plane carrying then President
Juvenal Habyarimana, and his counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi -
both Hutus - was shot down, killing everyone on board. Hutu extremists
blamed the RPF and immediately started a well-organised campaign of
slaughter. The RPF said the plane had been shot down by Hutus to provide
an excuse for the genocide.
Rwanda's mystery that won't go away
How was the genocide carried out?
With meticulous organisation. Lists of government opponents
were handed out to militias who went and killed them, along with all of
their families. Neighbours killed neighbours and some husbands even
killed their Tutsi wives, saying they would be killed if they refused.
At the time, ID cards had people's ethnic group on them, so militias set
up roadblocks where Tutsis were slaughtered, often with machetes which
most Rwandans kept around the house. Thousands of Tutsi women were taken
away and kept as sex slaves.
BBC News reports show how the story of the genocide emerged
French forces in Rwanda were accused of not doing enough to stop the killing
Did anyone try to stop it?
The UN and Belgium had forces in Rwanda but the UN mission was
not given a mandate to stop the killing. A year after US troops were
killed in Somalia, the US was determined not to get involved in another
African conflict. The Belgians and most UN peacekeepers pulled out after
10 Belgian soldiers were killed. The French, who were allies of the
Hutu government, sent a force to set up a supposedly safe zone but were
accused of not doing enough to stop the slaughter in that area. Rwanda's
current president has accused France of taking part in the massacres - a
charge denied by Paris.
A good man in Rwanda
Clothes of people killed in the Nyamata Church, which has been turned into a memorial
Why was it so vicious?
Rwanda has always been a tightly controlled society, organised
like a pyramid from each district up to the top of government. The then
governing party, MRND, had a youth wing called the Interahamwe, which
was turned into a militia to carry out the slaughter. Weapons and
hit-lists were handed out to local groups, who knew exactly where to
find their targets.
The skulls of some of those killed in Nyamata church
The Hutu extremists set up radio stations and newspapers which
broadcast hate propaganda, urging people to "weed out the cockroaches"
meaning kill the Tutsis. The names of those to be killed were read out
on radio. Even priests and nuns have been convicted of killing people,
including some who sought shelter in churches.
Genocide hunters: Fight for Rwandan justice
The Uganda-backed RPF took the capital in July, ending the killing of Tutsis
How did it end?
The well-organised RPF, backed by Uganda's army, gradually
seized more territory, until 4 July, when its forces marched into the
capital, Kigali. Some two million Hutus - both civilians and some of
those involved in the genocide - then fled across the border into DR
Congo, at that time called Zaire, fearing revenge attacks.
Some two million people fled into DR Congo (then Zaire)
Human rights groups say the RPF killed thousands of Hutu
civilians as they took power - and more after they went into DR Congo to
pursue the Interahamwe. The RPF denies this. In DR Congo, thousands
died from cholera, while aid groups were accused of letting much of
their assistance fall into the hands of the Hutu militias.
What happened in DR Congo?
The genocide in Rwanda has directly led to two decades of
unrest in DR Congo, which have cost the lives of an estimated five
million people. Rwanda's government, now run by the RPF, has twice
invaded DR Congo, accusing its much larger neighbour of letting the Hutu
militias operate on its territory. Rwanda has also armed local
Congolese Tutsi forces. In response, some locals have formed
self-defence groups and the civilians of eastern DR Congo have paid the
price.
Persuading the rebels to go home to Rwanda
DR Congo's rebel kaleidoscope
Rwanda is one of Africa's fast-growing economies
What is Rwanda like now?
RPF leader and President, Paul Kagame,
has been hailed for overseeing rapid economic growth in the tiny
country. He has also tried to turn Rwanda into a technological hub and
is very active on Twitter. But his critics say he does not tolerate
dissent and several opponents have met unexplained deaths. Almost
two million people were tried in local courts for their role in the genocide and the
ring-leaders at a UN tribunal in neighbouring Tanzania.
It is now illegal to talk about ethnicity in Rwanda - the government
says this is to prevent more bloodshed but some say it prevents true
reconciliation and is just putting a lid on tensions, which will only
boil over again in the future.
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