The course of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, April to July, and its features

1Why this matters

On 7 April each year, Rwanda begins Kwibuka, the commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the United Nations marks the International Day of Reflection. This lesson sets out what happened between 7 April and July 1994, who carried it out, and the features that identify it as genocide. It does so without graphic detail: the purpose is understanding and remembrance.

2The course of events

• 6–7 April 1994, Kigali. The Presidential Guard, soldiers and Interahamwe set up roadblocks and began killing Tutsi and political leaders who opposed the extremists. Among those killed on 7 April was the Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, together with ten Belgian UN peacekeepers who had been guarding her.
• 8–9 April. Extremists formed an "interim government", with Théodore Sindikubwabo as president and Jean Kambanda as prime minister. It directed the killing through the army, the militias and the whole chain of local government: prefects, burgomasters, councillors and cell leaders. RTLM broadcast instructions and names.
• April–May. The killing spread across the country. Where local officials resisted, the interim government removed them. In Butare, the prefect Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana kept order for almost two weeks; he was dismissed on 17 April and later killed, and on 19 April the interim president went to Butare to urge the population to join the killing.
• Places of refuge. Tutsi gathered in churches, schools, hospitals and stadiums, as they had in earlier waves of violence, hoping to be protected. Many of these places became sites of mass killing. Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero are now memorials, inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023.
• Resistance. At Bisesero, in the west, Tutsi defended themselves on the hills for weeks with very few weapons.
• Until July. The killing continued wherever the RPF Inkotanyi had not yet arrived. By July 1994, more than one million people had been killed.

3Actors

4Features of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

1. Planned and directed by the state: the government, army and local administration organised it.
2. Aimed at every Tutsi: women, men, children, babies and the elderly. No one was spared because of age.
3. Speed: more than one million people killed in about 100 days.
4. Mass mobilisation: ordinary civilians, sometimes neighbours, were pressured or ordered to take part.
5. Media used to incite: RTLM called for killing and named targets.
6. Identity cards at roadblocks were used to identify Tutsi.
7. Places of refuge turned into killing sites, including churches, where some clergy took part while others were killed or protected people.
8. Sexual violence against women and girls was widespread and was used as a weapon of genocide.
9. Looting and destruction of homes, property and cattle.
10. Hutu who opposed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, or refused to take part, or protected Tutsi, were also killed.

5Rescuers

Even in 1994, some people refused. Some Rwandans hid neighbours and strangers in their homes and fields at the risk of their own lives. Rwanda honours people who showed such courage and integrity as Abarinzi b'Igihango. Their example shows that taking part was a choice, and that refusing was possible.

Worked example: identifying a feature

Question: Explain why the role of local government is evidence that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was state-organised.

The killing was spread through the official chain of command: the interim government instructed prefects, prefects instructed burgomasters, and burgomasters mobilised councillors and cell leaders. Officials who refused, like the prefect of Butare, were removed. A state used its own structures to organise the crime.

Practice

Solution. Théodore Sindikubwabo (president) and Jean Kambanda (prime minister).

Solution. Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana kept order at first; he was dismissed on 17 April and later killed. It shows the interim government removed officials who resisted and directed the killing from the top.

Solution. Any three of: state-organised; aimed at every Tutsi regardless of age; speed; mass mobilisation of civilians; use of media; identity cards at roadblocks; places of refuge turned into killing sites; sexual violence; looting; killing of Hutu who opposed it.

Solution. Tutsi there resisted on the hills for weeks with very few weapons. It is now one of the memorial sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.