Rwandan Genocide

By emashby

  • Germany colonizes Rwanda

  • Belgians assume control of Rwanda

  • Belgians organize a census and mandate that everyone be issued an identity card classifying them as either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa.

  • The UN passes a resolution which both defines genocide and declares it a crime under international law.

  • Hutu rebellion begins against the Tutsis and Belgians.

  • Tutsi monarchy is abolished.

  • Rwanda gains its independence. Ethnic tensions grow even more extreme.

  • Juvénal Habyarimana takes control of Rwanda in a bloodless coup.

  • The RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) is created in Uganda.

  • World coffee prices plummet. This significantly affects Rwanda's economy because coffee was one of its major cash crops.

  • Hutu political elite blame the Tutsi population for increasing political, social, and economic problems in the country.

  • The RPF invade Rwanda, starting a civil war.

  • A new constitution allows for multiple political parties.

  • Peace agreement is reached.

  • RTLM (Radio Télévison des Milles Collines) begins broadcasting and spreading hate.

  • Arusha Accords are agreed upon, opening government positions to both Hutu and Tutsi.

  • Belgium joins the US in calling for a full UN exit

  • The Rwandan Genocide ends when the RPF gains control of the country.

  • The UN reinstates and revampes the UNAMIR operation in Rwanda, which remained there until March 1996. UNAMIR provided humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the genocide.

  • The UN creates the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), dedicated to bringing those responsible for the genocide to justice

  • Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana is killed when his plane is shot out of the sky. *Official beginning of the Rwandan Genocide.

  • Hutu extremists begin killing their political opponents, including the prime minister.

  • Massacre at Gikondo - hundreds of Tutsis are killed in the Pallottine Missionary Catholic Church. Since the killers were clearly targeting only Tutsi, the Gikondo massacre was the first clear sign that a genocide was occurring.

  • Massacre at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church - thousands of Tutsi are killed, first by grenades and guns and then by machetes and clubs.

  • The Kibuye Massacres - an estimated 12,000 Tutsis are killed after sheltering at the Gatwaro stadium in Gitesi. Another 50,000 are killed in the hills of Bisesero. More are killed in the town's hospital and church.

  • Approximately 250,000 people, mostly Tutsi, flee to neighboring Tanzania.

  • The RPF take control of the presidential palace.

  • The French establish a safe zone in the southwest corner of Rwanda.

  • Approximately one million people, mostly Hutu, begin fleeing to Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

  • ICTR begins trying and indicting perpetrators