MARCH 2023:

NO VACANCY FOR TUTSI’S…
The Rwandan genocide, one of the darkest chapters in modern history, unfolded in the Spring of 1994, leading to the mass slaughter of approximately 800,000 people, primarily from the Tutsi ethnic group. The roots of this tragedy can be traced back to the colonial era when Belgium, the colonial power, favored the Tutsis, exacerbating ethnic tensions.





The Rwandan genocide occurred between April 7 and July 15, 1994, during the Rwandan Civil War. During the period, that lasted 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 662,000 Tutsi deaths during that period.
![Origins of the genocide 1959 social revolution: Rwanda, under Belgian trusteeship since 1922, is the scene of attacks against the Tutsi ethnic group and their property by the Hutu ethnic majority. A government composed entirely of Tutsis is formed with Belgian support. 1962: The United Nations Trusteeship Council asks Belgium to grant independence to Rwanda. It will be proclaimed on July 1, 1962. 1963 – 1967: Exiled Tutsis attempt to return to Rwandan territory by force. They fail and their attempt triggers new attacks on their community. Nearly 20,000 Tutsis are massacred and another 300,000 flee the country. 1972 - 1973: Grégoire Kayibanda, elected in 1961 as the first president of independent Rwanda, launches an anti-Tutsi propaganda to create a Hutu support base around him. This campaign will cause more Tutsis to flee. Nevertheless, Kayibanda loses power after a military coup in 1973 led by Juvenal Habyarimana. 1975 - 1990: Habyarimana attracts western countries by portraying Rwanda as the Switzerland of Africa. Although he does not practice a clear policy of ethnic discrimination like his predecessor, only 10 percent of places in schools, universities, and jobs are granted to Tutsis. Oct. 1, 1990: The Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR), founded in 1987 by Tutsis in exile, attacked the country's northern border from Uganda. Ten thousand Tutsis and political opponents are arrested in Kigali. A first Tutsi massacre is committed in Kibilira (in the Gisenyi prefecture, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo). Oct. 4, 1990: French, Belgian and Zairean [present day Democratic Republic of Congo] troops stationed in the territory intervene in order to evacuate the western nationals in the country (Operation Noroit). Unlike the Belgians, the French troops remain behind after the evacuation of the expatriates. The Rwandan civil war begins, with conflicts breaking out between the patriotic army of the FPR and the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) -- the government forces backed by France. 1992: In March, the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), comprised of radical Hutus, is created. Hutus form armed militias (interahamwe militia). A new massacre of Tutsis is perpetrated in Bugesera. Despite negotiations under the Ashura agreements in June 1992 between the Hutu government, the democratic opposition, and the FPR, new massacres of Tutsis and moderate Hutus [Hutus who did not support the killings] are organized by pro-government interahamwe militias from August to December. 1993: On Aug. 4, in Arusha, Tanzania, peace and power-sharing agreements are signed with the supposition they will end the war. In Oct., the UN Security Council Resolution 872 creates UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda), composed of 2,500 peacekeepers and military observers. Two months later, the French troops of Operation Noroit leave Rwanda, giving way to UNAMIR. April 6, 1994: An airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down while preparing to land in the capital Kigali. The plane crashes near the airport, leaving no survivors. The incident triggers a genocide against the Tutsis. Several moderate Hutu political figures are murdered only hours after the announcement of Habyarimana's death. Hutu militias set up checkpoints across the country and start slaughtering all those who are identified as Tutsis. Nearly 1 million victims in 100 days One million victims in 100 days means that almost 10,000 people were murdered daily for more than three months. April 6 - 7: The killing of Tutsis begin in Kigali and spreads to the whole country in a few hours. April 8: The Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) launches an offensive towards Kigali. April 9 – 16: Western nationals are evacuated. April 21: The UN reduces its peacekeeping force from 2,500 to 250 troops. April 30: The UN Security Council demands a cease-fire between the FAR and the FPR, but the latter is already limited to diplomatic and humanitarian actions. May 12: The number of civilian casualties is estimated at 200,000 although the UN presidency refuses to pronounce the word "genocide". May 17: The UN Security Council decrees an arms embargo on Rwanda. May 31: A UN Secretary-General's report estimates the number of victims to be between 250,000 and 500,000. June 8: The UN Security Council denounces the acts of genocide and extends the mandate of UNAMIR. June 23: France launches Operation Turquoise, French soldiers enter southwestern Rwanda to set up a humanitarian safe zone for refugees. July 4: The FPR takes control of the cities of Kigali and Butare. July 17: The FPR takes control of almost the entire country. A date that marks the end of the genocide. Over 800,000 Tutsis, and moderate Hutus who were opposed to the killings, were massacred in just over three months. Photo Credit: AA.com](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rwandan-Civil-War-.jpeg?resize=525%2C909&ssl=1)

The earliest inhabitants of what is now Rwanda were the Twa, a group of aboriginal pygmy hunter-gatherers who settled in the area between 8000 BC and 3000 BC and remain in Rwanda today. Between 700 BC and 1500 AD, a number of Bantu groups migrated into Rwanda and began to clear forest land for agriculture. Historians have several theories regarding the nature of the Bantu migrations: one theory is that the first settlers were Hutu, while the Tutsi migrated later and formed a distinct racial group, possibly of Cushitic origin. An alternative theory is that the migration was slow and steady from neighboring regions, with incoming groups bearing high genetic similarity to the established ones, and integrating into rather than conquering the existing society. Under this theory, the Hutu and Tutsi distinction arose later and was not a racial one, but principally a class or caste distinction in which the Tutsi herded cattle while the Hutu farmed the land. The Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa of Rwanda share a common language and are collectively known as the Banyarwanda.




In the early 1930s, Belgium introduced a permanent division of the population by classifying Rwandans into three ethnic (ethno-racial) groups, with the Hutu representing about 84% of the population, the Tutsi about 15%, and the Twa about 1%. Compulsory identity cards were issued labeling (under the heading for “ethnicity and race”) each individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, Twa, or Naturalized. While it had previously been possible for particularly wealthy Hutus to become honorary Tutsis, the identity cards prevented any further movement between the groups and made socio-economic groups into rigid ethnic groups.


The ethnic identities of the Hutu and Tutsi were reshaped and mythologized by the colonizers. Christian missionaries in Rwanda promoted the theory about the “Hamitic” origins of the kingdom, and referred to the distinctively Ethiopian features and hence, foreign origins, of the Tutsi “caste”. These mythologies provided the basis for anti-Tutsi propaganda in 1994.

In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees invaded northern Rwanda from their base in Uganda, initiating the Rwandan Civil War. Over the course of the next three years, neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage. In an effort to bring the war to a peaceful end, the Rwandan government led by Hutu president, Juvenal Habyarimana signed the Arusha Accords with the RPF on August 4, 1993. The catalyst of the genocide in Rwanda was the assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994.





The assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana created a power vacuum and ended the peace accords. It triggered a systematic, organized campaign of violence by the Hutu-led government against the Tutsi minority. The genocidal killings began the following day when the majority Hutu soldiers, police, and militia murdered key Tutsi and moderate Hutu military and political leaders.

The scale and brutality of the genocide caused shock worldwide, but no country intervened to forcefully stop the killings. Most of the victims were found killed in their own villages or towns, many by their neighbors and fellow villagers. Hutu gangs hunted down victims hiding in churches and school buildings. The militia’s weapons of choice were machetes and rifles. With an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women raped during the genocide, sexual violence was prevalent. The RPF quickly resumed the civil war once the genocide started and captured all government territory, ending the genocide and forcing the government, and génocidaires into Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


The genocide would have a lasting and profound effect. In 1996, the RPF-led Rwandan government launched an offensive into Zaire, home to exiled leaders of the former Rwandan government and many Hutu refugees, starting the First Congo War, and killing an estimated 200,000 people. Today Rwanda acknowledges two public holidays to mourn the genocide, and “genocide ideology” and “divisionism” are criminal offenses. Although the Constitution of Rwanda states more than 1 million people perished in the genocide, the real number killed is likely lower.



The genocide is forever marked by gruesome acts of violence, but from that darkness came countless instances of heroism and survival.


Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel manager, played a pivotal role during this horrific period. Rusesabagina managed the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, which sheltered over 1,200 Tutsi refugees. His story of courage and humanity amidst the chaos of the genocide became widely known. He used his position and influence to protect those seeking refuge, often at great personal risk.

![The Hôtel des Mille Collines (French pronunciation: [otɛl de mil kɔlin]) (English: Hotel of the Thousand Hills) is a large hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. It became famous after 1,268 people took refuge inside the building during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The story of the hotel and its manager at that time, Paul Rusesabagina, was later used as the basis of Terry George's film Hotel Rwanda in 2004. Photo Credit: Alamy Images](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hotel-des-Mille-Collines.png?resize=515%2C325&ssl=1)
Rusesabagina‘s story gained international attention and was later adapted into the film titled Hotel Rwanda, released in 2004. The movie, directed by Terry George, with a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and starring Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina and Sophie Okonedo as Paul’s wife, Tatiana Rusesabagina offered a poignant portrayal of the genocide’s horrors and Rusesabagina’s efforts to save lives. The film sheds light on the broader tragedy while also honoring individual acts of heroism.












After the genocide, Rusesabagina faced a complex and controversial legacy. Some praised him as a hero, while others questioned his actions and motivations during and after the genocide. In later years, Rusesabagina became a vocal critic of the Rwandan government, which accused him of supporting rebel groups and arrested him in 2020.


The Rwandan genocide, the story of Paul Rusesabagina, and the film Hotel Rwanda serve as important reminders of the capacity for both unspeakable cruelty and extraordinary bravery in times of conflict. It also highlights the complex moral and political issues surrounding such tragic events.

Archives
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022