Chronology of the Rwanda Genocide

 

1500s The kingdom of Rwanda-Urundi was one of the most organized states in East Africa. Despite being stratified into three major ethnic groups, there was no ethnic hatred. The Batutsi (Tutsi), who were pastoralists, formed the royal family. The Bahutu (Hutu), on the other hand, were simply agriculturalists, while the small Batwa tribe consisted of hunters and potters.  The relationship between the ordinary Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa was one of mutual benefit mainly through the exchange of their labour.

Although the ruling class was the Tutsi in Rwanda and Burundi, only a minority of Tutsi were nobles and rulers. Most were poor and benefited little materially from their class system.  Social mobility and intermarriage blurred the caste distinctions. The division became more of class than ethnicity.

Despite some minor differences, Hutu and Tutsi coexisted amicably. Matters of concern were sorted out peacefully by a council of elders, whose members were drawn from both sides.

 

1884 After the partition of Africa through the Berlin Conference, Germany establishes colonial rule in both Rwanda and Burundi. By 1889, Rwanda-Urundi comes under direct German control.  The defeat of Germany in the First World War allows Belgium to take control of the countries.

1918 Under the Treaty of Versailles the former German colony of Rwanda-Urundi is made a League of Nations protectorate to be governed by Belgium. The two territories (later to become Rwanda and Burundi) are administered separately under two different Tutsi monarchs.

Background: The Belgian society was stratified into two main classes. The Walloons were largely wealthy and powerful, whereas the Flemish were considered lower class people. There was hatred between the two. This was indirectly exported and could not be hidden in their colonies of Rwanda and Burundi.

The Belgians introduce the policy of "divide and rule" to control and exploit the enormous natural and human resources in Rwanda-Urundi. In Rwanda for instance, they introduce western-style education and other special privileges for the Tutsi only (14% of the population). By so doing, Belgians advance the Tutsi at the expense of the Hutu (85% of the population). Consequently, only learned Tutsi were given decent jobs. The Belgians use the Tutsi minority to enforce their rule - done to maintain divisions between the Hutu and Tutsi - and it worked.   

 

1926 Belgians introduce a system of ethnic identity cards differentiating Hutus from Tutsis.

 

1957 PARMEHUTU (Party for the Emancipation of the Hutus) is formed while Rwanda is still under Belgian rule.

 

1959 Hutus rebel against the Belgian colonial power and the Tutsi elite; 150,000 Tutsis flee to Burundi.

 

1960 Hutus win municipal elections organized by Belgian colonial rulers.

 

1961-62 Belgians withdraw. Rwanda and Burundi become two separate and independent countries. In Burundi, Tutsis retain power. But in Rwanda, a Hutu revolution installs a new president; fighting continues and thousands of Tutsis are forced to flee.

 

1963 Further massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda, this time in response to military attack by exiled Tutsis in Burundi. Again more refugees leave the country. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s half of the Tutsi population is living outside Rwanda.

 

1967 Renewed massacres of Tutsis.

 

1973 Purge of Tutsis from universities. Fresh outbreak of killings, again directed at Tutsi community.

The army chief of staff, General Juvenal Habyarimana, seizes power, pledging to restore order. He sets up a one-party state. A policy of ethnic quotas is entrenched in all public service employment. Tutsis are restricted to nine percent of available jobs.

 

1975 Habyarimana's political party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) is formed. Hutus from the president's home area of northern Rwanda are given overwhelming preference in public service and military jobs. This pattern of exclusion of the Tutsis continues throughout the '70s and '80s.

 

1986 In Uganda, Rwandan exiles are among the victorious troops of Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army who take power, overthrowing the dictator Milton Obote. The exiles then form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-dominated organization.

 

1989 Coffee prices collapse, causing severe economic hardship in Rwanda.

 

1990 Under pressure from Western aid donors, Habyarimana concedes the principle of multi-party democracy.  RPF guerillas invade Rwanda from Uganda. After fierce fighting in which French and Zairean troops are called in to assist the government, a cease-fire is signed on March 29, 1991.

 

1990/91 The Rwandan army begins to train and arm civilian militias known as interahamwe ("Those who stand together") For the next three years Habyarimana stalls on the establishment of a genuine multi-party system with power-sharing. Throughout this period thousands of Tutsis are killed in separate massacres around the country. Opposition politicians and newspapers are persecuted.

 

November 1992 Prominent Hutu activist Dr. Leon Mugusera appeals to Hutus to send the Tutsis "back to Ethiopia" via the rivers.

 

February 1993 RPF launches a fresh offensive and the guerillas reach the outskirts of Kigali. French forces are again called in to help the government side. Fighting continues for several months.

August 1993 Following months of negotiations, Habyarimana and the RPF sign a peace accord (the Arusha Accords) that allows for the return of refugees and a coalition Hutu-RPF government. 2,500 U.N. troops are deployed in Kigali to oversee the implementation of the accord.

Sept.1993-Mar.1994 President Habyarimana stalls on setting up of power-sharing government. Training of militias intensifies. Many Rwandan human rights activists evacuate their families from Kigali believing massacres are imminent.

 

The Rwandan Genocide (lasted 100 days)

April 6, 1994 President Habyarimana and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, are killed when Habyarimana's plane is shot down near Kigali Airport. Extremists, suspecting that the president is finally about to implement the Arusha Peace Accords, are believed to be behind the attack. That night the killing begins.

April 7, 1994 The Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and the interahamwe set up roadblocks and go from house to house killing Tutsis and moderate Hutu politicians. Thousands die on the first day. U.N. forces stand by while the slaughter goes on. They are forbidden to intervene, as this would breach their "monitoring" mandate.

April 8, 1994 The RPF launches a major offensive to end the genocide and rescue 600 of its troops surrounded in Kigali. The troops had been based in the city as part of the Arusha Accords.

April 21, 1994 The U.N. cuts its forces from 2,500 to 250 following the murder of ten Belgian soldiers assigned to guard the moderate Hutu prime minister, Agathe Uwiliyingimana. The prime minister is killed and the Belgians are disarmed, tortured, shot,  and hacked to death. They had been told not to resist violently by the U.N. force commander, as this would have breached their mandate.

April 30, 1994 The U.N. Security Council spends eight hours discussing the Rwandan crisis. The resolution condemning the killing omits the word "genocide." Had the term been used, the U.N. would have been legally obliged to act to "prevent and punish" the perpetrators. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of refugees flee into Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire. In one day 250,000 Rwandans, mainly Hutus fleeing the advance of the RPF, cross the border into Tanzania.

May 17, 1994 As the slaughter of the Tutsis continues the U.N. agrees to send 6,800 troops and policemen to Rwanda with powers to defend civilians. A Security Council resolution says "acts of genocide may have been committed." Deployment of the mainly African U.N. forces is delayed because of arguments over who will pay the bill and provide the equipment.

June 22, 1994 With still no sign of U.N. deployment, the Security Council authorizes the deployment of French forces in south-west Rwanda. They create a "safe area" in territory controlled by the government. Killings of Tutsis continue in the safe area, although some are protected by the French. The United States government eventually uses the word "genocide."

July 1994 The RPF captures Kigali. The Hutu government flees to Zaire, followed by a tide of refugees. The French end their mission and are replaced by Ethiopian U.N. troops. The RPF sets up an interim government of national unity in Kigali. A cholera epidemic sweeps the refugee camps in Zaire, killing thousands. Different U.N. agencies clash over reports that RPF troops have carried out a series of reprisal killings in Rwanda. Several hundred civilians are said to have been executed. Meanwhile the killing of Tutsis continues in refugee camps.

November 1994 U.N. Security Council establishes an international tribunal that will oversee prosecution of suspects involved in genocide.

 

Jan. 5-10 1995 U.N. begins process towards finalizing plans with Zaire and Tanzania that will lead to the return of one and a half million Hutus to Rwanda over the next five months. U.N. Security Council refuses to dispatch an international force to police refugee camps.

Feb. 1995 Western governments, including the U.S. ($60 million), pledge $600 million in aid to Rwanda.  U.N. Security Council urges all states to arrest people suspected of involvement in the Rwandan genocide.

Mid-May 1995 Tensions increase between the United Nations and the Rwandan government; the government growing resentful of the lack of international financial aid.

June 10, 1995 U.N. Security Council unanimously agrees to cut by more than half the number of U.N. troops in Rwanda after a direct request from the Rwandan government to withdraw U.N. forces.

July-Sept. 1995 More than 720,000 Hutu refugees around Goma refuse to return to Rwanda.  U.N. Security Council lifts arms embargo until September 1, 1996.  At a Mass in Nairobi, Pope John Paul II urges an end to the bloodshed in Rwanda and Burundi.

Dec. 1995 United Nations Tribunal for Rwanda announces first indictments against eight suspects; charges them with genocide and crimes against humanity.  U.N. Security Council extends its peacekeeping mission for three more months and agrees to reduce the number of troops.

 

Nov. 1996 Mass repatriation from Zaire begins; the Rwandan government orders a moratorium on arrests of suspected genocide perpetrators.

Dec. 1996 Trials begin for Hutus involved in 1994 genocide. Tanzania closes refugee camps and repatriates Rwandans, bringing the total to over one million.

 

Jan. 1997 First case in the Rwandan genocide trials comes before the International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. The case is against Jean Paul Akayesu, a local government official accused of ordering mass killings in his area.  A woman who testified against Jean Paul Akayesu is murdered along with her husband and seven children by Hutu extremists.

January 22, 1997 Over 300 are killed in an attempt by the Rwandan army to capture Hutu insurgents responsible for killings in Northwestern Rwanda, including the murder of the three Spanish aid workers. U.N. officials state many victims are recently returned refugees who witnessed the 1994 genocide and are potential trial witnesses.

Feb. 1997  A U.N. Human Rights official in Rwanda expresses "serious concern" over the lack of lawyers and adequate defense for those accused of participation in the 1994 genocide. Five human rights observers are killed in an ambush in Cyangugu, Rwanda. The murders are viewed as an effort by Hutu terrorists to get foreign observers out of the country. All human rights observers in Cyangugu, Kibuye, and Gisenyi are withdrawn by the U.N. to Kigali.

February 14, 1997 United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asks the five permanent security council members to look into reports that the Zairean army is providing arms to Rwandan Hutus in an Eastern Zaire refugee camp.

February 14, 1997 Frodouald Karamina, leader of a Hutu extremist political movement, is sentenced to death for his involvement in the genocide. Karamina is believed to be one of the leaders and organizers of the genocide, having coined the slogan "Hutu Power" and made many racist radio broadcasts urging mass murder. Karamina expressed no remorse for the part he had played in the genocide. Karamina was born a Tutsi and assimilated himself as a Hutu only later in life.

February 23, 1997 Israel Nemeyimana is the first defendant in the genocide trials to be found not guilty. Authorities state there was a lack of evidence and witnesses.

February 26, 1997 Citing mismanagement and inefficiency, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fires the chief administrator and deputy prosecutor in the Rwanda criminal trials. A new chief minister is appointed. By this date, the court has indicted 21 suspects.

 

December 1999 A leader of a Hutu militia that helped lead the genocide, businessman Georges Rutaganda, is found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, and sentenced to life in prison. He is the sixth person found guilty since the tribunal began hearings in Arusha, Tanzania.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.