On April 7, 1994, following the plane crash that killed President Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6, the meticulously planned genocide against the Tutsi began in Rwanda. Over the next 100 days, the interim government systematically carried out the mass slaughter of the Tutsi population. The genocide was ultimately halted by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), whose military campaign led to the overthrow of the genocidal regime.
The origins of the genocide trace back to Rwanda’s colonial era when first the Germans (1897-1916) and later the Belgians (1916-1962) ruled the country. During this period, colonial policies created ethnic divisions, laying the groundwork for future conflicts.
Precolonial Rwanda was a centralized state, united under a King, and characterized by a shared language, beliefs, culture, and customs. This unity contributed to its strength in the region, as evidenced by its numerous successful expansion campaigns.
Under colonial rule, particularly during the Belgian administration, the unity of precolonial Rwanda was shattered through "divide-and-rule" strategies. Racial theories were introduced, and what were once social classes were redefined as distinct ethnic groups—Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Christian Catholic Missionaries, working alongside the colonial authorities, played a significant role in embedding these racial theories into the population. To enforce this division, identity cards were introduced, which explicitly listed ethnic and racial affiliations.
In the 1960s, the colonial administration dismantled the monarchy and transferred power to racially-based political parties, which went on to govern Rwanda until the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. During the First (1962-1973) and Second Republics (1973-1994), the ruling governments systematically persecuted Tutsis, subjecting them to violence, mass killings, and causing widespread displacement into neighboring countries. From the initial PARMEHUTU party of President Grégoire Kayibanda, the first president of Rwanda, to the MRND party of President Juvénal Habyarimana, who seized power through a military coup in 1973 and ruled until April 1994, Rwanda endured years of persecution, massacres, and division targeting the Tutsi population.
In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) launched a liberation struggle to compel the Rwandan government to address the refugee crisis and embrace democratic governance. In response, the MRND regime orchestrated the mass extermination of the Tutsi, branding them as RPF-Inkotanyi supporters. This culminated in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed over a million lives in just 100 days. The genocide was ultimately halted on July 4, 1994, with the RPF-Inkotanyi’s military victory over the genocidal regime.
On July 19, 1994, a Government of National Unity, led by the RPF-Inkotanyi and other political parties that had not participated in the genocide, was sworn in. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in rebuilding Rwanda.
