Timeline of Rwandan History
and the Genocide
Murambi Genocide Memorial Site
Background Info
• Rwanda is a small country in central Africa, about the size of
the state of Maryland
• Rwanda is populated by two major ethnic groups, the Hutus
and the Tutsis
– Hutus make up approximately 85% of the population
– Tutsis make up approximately 14% of the population
1918 - 1926
The Treaty of Versailles - after WWI, the treaty
created Rwanda controlled by Belgium. The
Belgians put the Tutsis in control of the
country.
Belgians introduce ethnic identity cards for
Hutus and Tutsis
1957
• Party for the Emancipation of the Hutus (PARMEHUTU)
is formed
1959
Hutus rebel against Belgians and Tutsis.
Tutsis flee.
1961-1990’s
• Periodic persecution
of Tutsis
– Tutsis only allowed
small percentage of
available
employment
– Isolated episodes of
violence
– Purges of Tutsi from
universities
– As a result many
Tutsis flee to the
nearby country of
Burundi but they
hope to return to
Rwanda one day.
1986
• Exiled Tutsis form the
Rwandan Patriotic
Front, a Tutsi
resistance
organization fighting
against oppression of
Tutsis in Rwanda
• Hutus form the Interhamwe, civilians armed and
trained to fight against RPF and Tutsis
• RPF continues to randomly invade and fight in
Rwanda.
1990 - 1993
1992-1995
• “Ethnic Cleansing” in Bosnia
– Christian troops led by Slobodan Milosevic terrorized
Muslim citizens of the former country of Yugoslavia. There
was systematic massive slaughter of Muslim men and
Muslim women were held in concentration camps and
repeatedly tortured and raped to extinguish the possibility
of procreation of Muslim children.
– The US failed to respond for a number of years and then
eventually worked with the UN to complete airstrikes and
deploy peackeeping troops to end ethnic cleansing.
October 3-4, 1993
• US Army Rangers were on a peacekeeping mission in
the African country of Somalia.
• On Oct. 3 they were asked to capture a local warlord.
The mission was supposed to take about 90 minutes.
Instead it lasted 17 hours, 18 soldiers were killed and
84 others were wounded. The dead American soldiers
were desecrated and dragged through the streets of
Mogadishu. Videos of this were run on international
news. This battle became the topic of the movie Black
Hawk Down. It was the bloodiest battle the US had
fought since the Vietnam War.
• It led many Americans to wonder about the necessity
of “peacekeeping missions.”
August 1993
• Rwandan
President and the
RPF sign a cease
fire agreement
that stops
violence and
allows many Tutsi
refugees to
return to
Rwanda.
– This angers many
Hutu power
leaders
April 6,
1994
• Habyarimina, the President of Rwanda and
Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi are both
killed when their plane is shot down near Kigali
airport in Rwanda.
• Hutus begin killing Tutsis that night
September 1993-March 1994
• Radical Hutu radio begins promoting attacks
on Tutsis.
Translation for the political cartoon below:
"What does it say?"
"Someone's killed Habyaramina."
Radio: We demand that our Hutu brothers do
not let these crimes go unpunished. Raise
yourselves, our brothers. Raise yourselves and
work! Affute your tools and raise your clubs!
It's time to eradiate the cancer race. Look for
them everywhere..."
April 7,
1994
• Rwandan Armed Forces and the Interhamwe create
road blocks and conduct house to house checks killing
all Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
• UN forces stand by and watch the slaughter, they are
forbidden to intervene even to save lives.
April-June 1994
• Hutus continue hunting and killing Tutsis all
over the country of Rwanda. Most killing
occur by hand with the use of machetes. In
100 days between 800,000 and 1,000,000
people wer slaughtered in Rwanda.
June to
July 1994
• Massacres slow and finally cease in
mid-July as the UN sends French
troops into Rwanda to create “safe
zones” and the Rwandan Patriotic
Front invades and conquers major
parts of Rwanda including the
capital, Kigali.